Denver, CO, July 23, 2004 (CSA) — Devastating back-to-back losses on the road against San Jose, 3-1, in League play and the Dallas Burn, 3-0, in US Open Cup play have the Rapids reeling.

It is hard to find positives in Colorado’s play and Head Coach Tim Hankinson knows it.

“There’s no more sugarcoating,” Hankinson stressed. “No more cups are half-full.”

Following a streak of three indecisive wins, Colorado is facing the wrong end of the stick.

Tying their worst four-game stretch of the season, giving up three goals (twice) for the first time this year as the defense finally cracks, and scoring just once in the last 375 minutes of play to continue an offensive drought, the Rapids can only hope that the Columbus Crew provide much needed relief this Saturday in Denver.

It remains cloudy as to how the Black & Blue expect to overcome embarrassing Red-faced losses due to injury and lack of coordinated play.

Looking more scared than professional of late the Rapids have only one possible chance left in 2004 to finally put some hardware in their trophy cabinet: the MLS Championship.

Their U.S. Open Cup dreams were shaken by the Burn, and San Jose burnt down Denver’s hopes of fielding a quality team in front of a national TV audience.

“Most of our shots have been taken like there’s not any air in the ball,” said Hankinson.

Admittedly, the Rapids were without All-Star defender Pablo Mastroeni for both games, who went down with injury last Friday, one day before the Richter Scale meltdown in the Bay Area last Saturday.

But Mastroeni is not coming back, at least not anytime soon, so there’s no more use crying over spilt milk. Coach Hankinson needs to find fresh meat and get them covering the back line.

With the untimely release of Canadian defender Adrian Cann and injuries to fellow backline gents Ritchie Kotschau and Darryl Powell, it is unclear where Hankinson’s starting 11 will come from.

“Our strategic level [of thinking] is ‘who’s healthy enough to play?’” said Hankinson.

“At center back we’ve run out of depth. I’m not certain we can reason at a higher level when you’re dealing with the reality [of injuries]. We don’t have the depth right now to stay fresh (with all the recent games and travel).”

Two Steps Back
Against Dallas on Tuesday in the fourth round of the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, backup keeper Scott Vallow got his first chance to play, benching the best defensive player in MLS this year, Joe Cannon. If Vallow had proved strong enough, perhaps Hankinson would consider a new striker, a cannon shall we say?

Hankinson was quick to clear up any questions over the reason for this substitution.

“I spelled it out very clearly that Scott will start against Dallas in the Open Cup,” Hankinson said, “and Joe’s job is to prepare for Saturday. This is not about who’s getting the nod.

“The change had nothing to do with the San Jose game. If Joe hadn’t been in goal for us, it would have been 10-1. He had a very good game, considering. It had to do with giving our number two a pure shot at saying, ‘show what you’ve got, you’ve worked for it all season.’”

And how did Colorado’s number two do?

”There were some cramping issues,” said Hankinson. “it was in 98 degree heat; dehydration issues. So Joe had to finish the game.

”Scott played very good the first 60 minutes. Then we had about 15 minutes where things went a bit haywire and the cramping started.”

Certainly, the coach bears responsibility for poor results, but individual players have shown a surprising lack of interest in continuing to be paid to spend 15 hours a week outside in the beautiful Colorado sunshine playing a little footie with their friends.

Maybe the guys long for the 40-hour weeks spent inside small cubicles, enjoyed by so many of their fellow 20-somethings around the world?

In the locker room after the loss in Dallas, Hankinson said he finally laid out the harsh truth about where the Rapids now find themselves.
“In reality, at this point people get fired,” the coach said. “People sell their houses and start packing because you get evaluated as not good enough.”

Hankinson is looking for every player to prove themselves.

He feels “every single one of our players has to have moments in the game that they show they are clearly better than the guy they are playing across. And the last two games, not one of our players has played better than the guy they are playing across.

“There’s an inner belief in the team that we are good enough. But we’re not showing it right now. [Thursday] was a very good-spirited, competitive training session. We’re trying to make sure in training that everything we do is about success. We keep talking about 13 games left, it’s not a long season. It starts Saturday.”

The Columbus Formation
(a.k.a. The 4-2-3-1)
Speaking of which, Columbus is a team the Rapids have had luck with this year. Old-fashioned luck, as the game-winning tally in their first meeting was an own-goal by Crew defender Eric Denton under pressure from forward Jordan Cila.

Cannon thinks the Rapids have a shot at taking the win.

“At home we bring something different,” Cannon said. “At the same time I think for this team it’s going to be important for the rest of the way in to get that first goal.”

Kyle Martino, attacking midfielder for the Crew, also sees difficulty in facing the Rapids at home. “They have a strong defense. Going into Colorado is tough because of the altitude and the environment,” Martino said on MLSnet.com.

“There's a large field, and the altitude makes it difficult to get through the game and be intense and run around. So, it's going to be tough, and we're going to have to deal with that.”

Looking at possible formations, Hankinson has said the “4-2-3-1 did well for us at Columbus” during their 2-1 win on the road. The coach believes this allowed for a more tactical game in the midfield and a more decisive six players focused on defense.

But injuries and losses are causing a change in philosophy and the likelihood of a return to the Rapids more traditional 4-4-2 lineup.

“We’ve been getting through this,” Hankinson said, “at certain times having to create a way to play to help us out, but now’s the time that you just have to play in a way you know and show the confidence and show a better brand of ball, show better individual play.”

“I’ve always said: ‘systems of play are there for weak players. Stronger players don’t need the structure of a system’.”

However, Hankinson is concerned about the Crew’s center positions.

“They have a good playmaker in Martino,” the Rapids manager said, “and a good defensive midfielder in Simon Elliott. We know [former Rapids central defender] Robin [Fraser] will be up for the game because it’s his first time back in Colorado.

“They have two strikers that, very much like [San Jose’s Brian] Ching and Landon Donovan, can have a dynamic game, in [forwards Edson] Buddle and [Jeff] Cunningham. Both these guys are a handful.”

For Cannon, the question is, “How are we going to contain Cunningham and Buddle? With their speed, they can create something out of nothing.”

The Crew’s Martino sees opportunity in the Rapids’ loss of center back Mastroeni.

“I think they [are] missing Pablo Mastroeni, which is going to be a positive for us,” Martino said in his MLSnet.com journal. “Whoever replaces him, we're going to try to go after them and go at their defense right away and try to score an early goal.”

Ultimately, the Rapids have more to worry about than where Columbus plans to attack.

“[After the past two games] we can not be overly concerned with who we are playing with,” said Hankinson.

“It’s about getting our shit together, is what it really comes down to. And playing a way we are really familiar with. It comes down to just playing better.”

MVP?
Utility player Matt Crawford is likely to start again at right back for the Rapids, based on a last-minute injury status review.

Hankinson feels Crawford is playing “Most Valuable Player” quality soccer overall in that he has stepped up to every position he’s been asked to play due to the Rapids frequent injury substitutions.

“He’s clearly our most versatile guy,” Hankinson said.

But where does Crawford feel he can help the most?

“Tim’s trusting me to play wherever he wants to put me,” the dependable midfielder/defender/midfielder said. “In college I was accustomed to playing central and outside right midfield. Outside back isn’t too much different than that.”

“As a player you can always make an excuse, but as long as I’m on the field I’m going to give my best effort,” he added.

Hankinson likes Crawford’s work ethic, and thinks he can play most any position.

“We’ve kidded him that eventually he’ll play forward, play goal, and he’ll be the first player in the history of the league that will play every position,” the coach said. “And that is maybe the mark of an MVP because of his ability to fill in holes and because we’ve had him all season.”

Positives aside, the coach realizes the team must simply do more.

“We just need the best of everyone right now,” he said. “The players are at a point right now where they realize they need to bring more and hopefully this is reflected Saturday.”

Unfortunately, four players are guaranteed not to give their best. Due to injury, Mastroeni and Darryl Powell are about four weeks away from playing, and Gary Sullivan and Jean Philippe “Pedro” Peguero are both about two weeks away. Pedro is not expected to play until after the All-Star break.

“As we saw against San Jose, [Pedro] wanted to give it a try, but he wasn’t able to run, which is his strength,” said Hankinson in review of last week’s loss.

“We’re not at a point where we’re going to force guys in. We owe them more as professionals to get their bodies prepared and fit, and then we know they can help us.”

Coming off embarrassing losses on the road, Colorado hopes “The Fortress” in Denver proves to be the difference against fellow strugglers Columbus Crew Saturday afternoon at Invesco Field at Mile High at 3 p.m. (MDT), televised nationally for all to see on ESPN2.

BilFish can be reached at bilfish@cybersoccernews.com.
© Fisher/Cyber Soccer Associates, LLC 2004