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The Colorado Rapids and Portland Timbers met for the first time in 2015 at a blissfully sunny (and more importantly dry) late Spring evening in Commerce City in a match that was about as atrocious a 90 minutes possible for the Rapids. They were absolutely terrible for the bulk of the match and somehow were within striking distance of a result.
And then....they pulled a Rapids. A 2-1 loss to the Timbers was the ultimate result for the Burgundy Boys. And while the loss is a crusher, more importantly, it shows the Rapids are miles away from being a playoff team, let alone competing with the average teams in the Western Conference.
The Rapids marched out onto the field with a formation that had a few surprises in it.
Clint Irwin, Michael Harrington, Drew Moor, Axel Sjoberg, James Riley, Nick LaBrocca, Sam Cronin, Juan Ramirez, Kevin Doyle, Vicente Sanchez, Gabriel Torres
Yes, that meant that Lucas Pittinari, Dillon Powers, Bobby Burling, Luis Solignac, Marc Burch and Jared Watts were all dropped from the starting lineup. I am sure that more than a few supporters said WTF Pablo when this lineup was rolled out. But for me, this made some sense. The team was flat in the first half in Seattle and the performance was such that the folks in that lineup did not necessarily deserve an automatic start. Also, it is s short week and you can't have players in there that are fatigued as the Portland match is a critical match for the Rapids.
My thoughts on the match:
1) Vicente looks done: I am a big fan of Sanchez and what he has brought to the club has been invaluable, but right now he looks a shadow of himself. He was off all night, could not connect a pass to save his life and his touch was just a disaster. He appears to be nothing more than a super sub at this time and seeing him start was a disappointment.
2) That first half: The first half was an absolute disaster for the Rapids. For whatever reason they simply were not prepared to play and it showed. Their passing was poor, their shots did not trouble the keeper and their defense was a total joke. To be honest, the Rapids were lucky to only be down 1-0 after the first 45.
3) That second half: the second half was soooooooooooooo much better from the Rapids, but they were still second best for the bulk of the match. While it was better, it was still not good enough.
4) Cause....for the love of all that is holy....how you give up a stoppage time winner at home, I will never know.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Called my Dad: "son that was a disgusting display by the Rapids and they should be embarrassed to call themselves MLS players"</p>— John Rosch (@jpatrickrosch) <a href="https://twitter.com/jpatrickrosch/status/604847016665964544">May 31, 2015</a></blockquote>
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or there is this
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">That's embarrassing from Colorado. No excuse for only 3 guys getting back on that final sequence. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/COLvPOR?src=hash">#COLvPOR</a></p>— Matthew Doyle (@MLSAnalyst) <a href="https://twitter.com/MLSAnalyst/status/604844238958792704">May 31, 2015</a></blockquote>
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Regardless, the Rapids are in a world of hurt right now and only have themselves to blame.
The Rapids are next in action on Sunday, June 7 at 3:00 PM MDT when they play the first leg of the Rocky Mountain Cup in Sandy, Utah against Real Salt Lake.