By Brian Jennings
Fans and pundits have been counting and quoting Colorado’s
record during their less-than-stellar run as of late. However, a gritty win at Dallas last week has
the Rapids flying high again and hopes are back up as is the team in the
Western Conference standings. The next 7
games are the most important ones of the season for the Rapids beginning
Saturday night at home against San Jose.
Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni goes a bit further saying, “Every game is the
most important game of the season for us moving forward. I swear to you I’d be
lying to tell you I looked at it differently”.
Sound like coachspeak?....not really when you hear how Pablo
approaches teams in different ways and how the Rapids have to adapt styles but
not attitudes. “You’ve got to maximize
the concentration, the effort, and the results going forward.”
“What teams ended up doing in that little stretch (2 wins in
10 matches) was really identifying the way we play, where we’re susceptible to
the attack, and us continuing to try and play in that fashion led to a lot of opportunities
for our opponents,” Mastroeni told Voice of C38 this week.
“You’ve got to be able to mix it up. It’s too simplistic to say, ‘this is the way
we’re going to do it all the time’. You
end up running your head into a wall eventually and teams begin to suss you
out.”
Against FC Dallas, Colorado was trying to avoid their third
straight loss on the road. Even missing
starters Shkelzen Gashi, Bobby Burling, as well as Marco Pappa and the long-lost
Jermaine Jones, the Rapids rallied around themselves and stood tall in a game
very few thought they would take points let alone all three.
“At the weekend (FC Dallas) we had nothing to lose-playing
away, playing short-handed. The
camaraderie amongst the group is fantastic, because I think when you’re short-handed
you realize you have to give an extra 5 or 10%,” said Mastroeni.
Will that be enough to make a difference as Colorado tries
to catch FC Dallas, hopefully benefiting from two games in hand on the current
leaders? “I think moving forward we just want to
improve on every performance, although every performance is going to look
different,” Pablo admits.
“Teams are going to come in and do different things, or
we’re going to go on the road and teams are going to do different things. It’s being intelligent in how you approach
the game, being intelligent in how you execute, and the way you perform. At the root of all this is the camaraderie,
the ability to compete the right way, and a desire to overcome-a driving force
with the ball or without the ball.”
