The Colorado Rapids open their 2016 MLS campaign away to San Jose Earthquakes on Sunday, March 6th. The burgundy and white will hope for a much different season than 2015, when they finished dead-last in the Western Conference.
Dillon Powers could prove to be a pivotal figure in the Rapids resurgence. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)
Hope #1 Goals, goals, goals!
The 2015 Colorado Rapids scored just 33 goals in 34 games, the lowest total for any MLS team.
The Rapids have made a solid effort to correct that during the offseason. They picked up a new DP and proven goal scorer in Shkelzen Gashi from FC Basel. Gashi took home the Golden boot in the Swiss Super League the past two seasons and can be devastating cutting in from the left wing. If he’s able to bring in some goals and relieve some of the pressure on Kevin Doyle, Colorado should be among the goals much more than in 2015.
Colorado also brought in former striker and former Timbers Head Coach John Spencer as Assistant to Pablo Mastroeni. With Spencer focusing on the offensive side of the ball and Kevin Doyle getting his first pre-season with the team, Rapids fans should be optimistic about the offense’s improvement.
Hope #2 Make Dick’s Sporting Good’s Park a Fortress
The 2015 Colorado Rapids only won 5 games at home last season, the lowest total in the league. If the Rapids would like to occupy a 2016 Western Conference playoff spot, that has to change.
A lot of teams have unique home field advantages, anyone who has heard the noise at CenturyLink Field or seen the passion at Providence Park understands the point. Denver’s sports teams have an altogether different kind of advantage, being a part of the mile-high club.
Altitude! The shortness of breath that sets in quicker for traveling teams than it does for the acclimatized home team. For years the Denver Nuggets basketball team has played a high tempo game to keep their opponents lungs burning, and it’s time for the Rapids to use the altitude to their advantage as well.
Colorado needs to press the opposition more when they’re tired, send in long diagonals over the top and let our wingers and strikers test their defenders fitness. Mainly, get the opposing team tired earlier in the match. When defenses are tired, they leave channels they’d normally close open for attack, they aren’t as sharp getting to rebounds and they aren’t as strong in 50/50 challenges.
If the Rapids can take advantage of the altitude, they may be able to find match winning or match tying goals in the final ten minutes of home games. It needs to be a chore for any MLS side to come and play in Colorado.
Hope #3 Tim Howard is a Wall
It’s looking like a done deal that Tim Howard is going to be between the sticks at Dick’s Sporting Good’s Park this summer. The Rapids are a team with a lot of needs and goalkeeper isn’t at the top of the list. If Tim Howard does join the Rapids, he needs to play with the confidence, leadership and the reliability we’ve come to expect from the U.S. number 1.
Howard will not only need to be the great shot-stopper we expect him to be, but will also need to be the general of the defense. If Howard is able to help organize the back line, push them forward when needed and keep them from being shredded apart by some of the Western Conferences elite attacking units, then he’ll be a valuable addition.
At 36, Tim still has a few years of solid goalkeeping ahead of him before he retires to the commentary booth. If he can stay healthy, consistent and can remove some of the questionable decision making that has followed him his entire career, he’ll be a great acquisition and captain for the Rapids.
Fear… No Chemistry
The Rapids were one of the most active teams in the offseason, sending veterans and fan favorites away while bringing in a bunch of new names. The Rapids starting eleven in San Jose on March 6th will look very different than the team that opened the season in 2015. A lot of those changes revolve around the midfield and attacking side of the ball and it’ll be important for the Rapids to develop chemistry early in the season.
New attacking players like Shkelzen Gashi and Marco Pappa will need to get on the same page as Veterans like Dillon Powers and Kevin Doyle as soon as possible.
The fear is that the process of gelling may take too long. If the Rapids open the season poorly and the midfield can’t supply the attack or keep possession, it’s easy to see a scenario where early results are poor, frustration sets in and this group of players doesn’t reach their full collective potential. If that happens then it will be another long season for Rapids supporters.
The sooner everyone learns each other’s tendencies, understands the runs that Gashi and Doyle like to make and what passes to play, the sooner Rapids supporters will have goals and results to cheer at Dick’s Sporting Good’s Park.
