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Lingering worries from LA loss
A questionable call, a perfectly placed ball and a momentary lapse in Colorado’s defense was just enough to help the Los Angeles Galaxy steal three points at Dicks Sporting Goods Park the past week.
Truth be told, the game could have gone either way, but with the absence of a finishing touch in the penalty box and lackluster defense on a set piece, the Rapids were forced to bite the bitter lemon of defeat.
The biggest concern for Gary Smith and the Rapids shouldn’t be suffering their first home loss of the season or conceding goals off set pieces, it should be the production from the forwards, or lack of.
“Tonight we created some fantastic opportunities, but we gotta’ score, if we don’t score we don’t get any points,” Smith said. “We need to ask for a bit’ more out of our forwards.”
Conor Casey, last year’s leading scorer, has found the net only three times this season and not once through the run of play. Omar Cummings is a constant threat up top, but has been pushed out wide for a different attacking dynamic. So the question remains; where will the Rapids goals come from this year?
If Colorado is to succeed this season, Marvell Wynne and the rest of the back four will have to remain patient and continue to play tight defense while the forwards work to hit their stride, which for the past four games has been more like a limp. Despite the scarcity of goals, the Rapids have played admirable soccer.
“You gotta’ give Colorado a lot of credit,” said LA Galaxy coach Bruce Arena, “they were pressuring us to get a second goal, we didn’t end up needing it, but I thought they played really well tonight.”
Smith agreed, aside from the frustration of missed opportunities and the heartache of a home loss, he was pleased with the way the Rapids performed.
“To come out and dominate in the second half the way we did was, I thought, some very good character from the group,” Smith said, “the big difference between this week and last, was that we created some very good chances, there were a multitude of chances, that unfortunately today, we couldn’t force on.”
The Rapids have done well to create the chances, Casey has been strong in the box, Cummings and Clark have been dangerous on the flanks, Pablo Mastroeni has been a rock in the midfield, but all of these things have come together too few and far between. Creating chances lead to goals, no doubt, but a chance is not a goal.
Casey knows this better than most, and if the Rapids are to succeed, he needs to be the exclamation point to the question marks up top.
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