Sunday, March 6th the San Jose Earthquakes welcome the Colorado Rapids into Avaya Stadium for each clubs opening game of the 2016 Major League Soccer regular season. The match kicks of at 3pm ET.
Colorado’s Dillon Serna tries to weave through the San Jose defense. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)
The match features two Western Conference teams that failed to make the playoffs during the 2015 season. Colorado missed the playoffs because they were flat-out bad, specifically going forward. 33 goals in 34 goals, the lowest goal tally for any MLS team saw the Rapids finish dead last in the Western Conference despite being fairly solid at the back.
San Jose was disappointed to miss the playoffs in 2015. The Quakes dropped points late in matches and struggled to finish out games throughout the 2015 season. Those points turned out to be pivotal as San Jose finished 7th and watched the playoffs from afar as one of four Western Conference teams to miss out.
Neither team has made the MLS playoffs in either off the past two seasons and both fan bases are eager to make it back to the dance in 2016. Both Clubs have had busy off-seasons and the starting 11 for each team has some significant changes.
For San Jose, the return of Simon Dawkins could be the most significant off-season addition. As Prost Amerika’s Earthquakes beat writer John Marshall points out in his 3 Hopes and One Fear for 2016 article, the last time Simon Dawkins was featured in the Black and Blue of San Jose, the Quakes won the Supporter’s Shield and Dawkins played an essential role in leading the team. Last season Chris Wondolowski recorded just 16 goals, a drop from his previous prolific returns, as there was far too much pressure on him to provide all of the Quakes goals. With Dawkins back in the lineup and Quincy Amarikwa (signed from Derby County) providing support up front, expect the San Jose attack to be revamped and sharper than in 2015.
Colorado has had maybe the busiest off-season in MLS. In 2015 they were rotten going forward but fairly stout at the back. Instead of strengthening just in midfield and attack and keeping their defense intact, the Rapids shuffled around their entire team. MLS All-Stars Drew Moor and Klint Irwin, both players who anchored the Rapid defense, are now in Toronto and Colorado has added attacking players in Marco Pappa from Seattle, Shkelzen Gashi from FC Basel, Zac Pfeffer from Philadelphia Union and most recently the United States Men’s National Team’s Jermaine Jones.
Jones is ineligible to play the in the first six matches of the 2016 season after he was suspended by MLS for making contact with a match official during New England’s October 28, 2015 MLS Cup match. The first game Jones could see action for Colorado is April 16th when the Rapids host New York Redbulls.
It’s difficult to tell what we’ll see from Colorado to open the season. With so many changes from 2015 the team will need some time to gel beyond what they were able to accomplish during the preseason. Expect to see San Jose attack the Rapids early and often as they try to provide chances to Chris Wondolowski. San Jose would also be smart to press the Rapids, especially in midfield, as soon as Colorado wins the ball. With chemistry still being built for Colorado, San Jose will look to reduce time on the ball and keep the Rapid’s attack disjointed.
Dillon Powers will be an interesting player to watch for the Rapids. Powers spent some time in the off-season training with English Championship side Reading and Powers is expected to have a larger role in 2016’s edition of the Rapids. With Powers playing box to box and shouldering greater defensive responsibilities, his performance may set the tempo and tone of Colorado’s play.
The outcome of the game may come down to how well Chris Wondolowski takes his chances, because he will have chances. If he’s able to open the season in his usual sharp form than it’s difficult to see the newly rebuild Rapids leaving Avaya Stadium with any points. Colorado fans will hope that there will be a spark in attack, something that’s been vacant from the team for some time, but there hasn’t been a great deal of evidence in preseason to say who that spark could be. Kevin Doyle will hope to open his account early, but it remains to be seen if he’ll get the service he needs to have any chances.
