New coach. New players. New year. Same Rapids.
It’s the start of the 2024 Major League Soccer season and the Colorado Rapids opened up their campaign with a road start against the Portland Timbers. Despite signing Chris Armas as the new head coach, bringing in new players to bolster the team, and facing off against a Timbers team that had no Designated Players on the field, the Rapids left Portland taking an absolute beating 1-4.
After going down 4-0 in the first half alone, the Rapids were able to find some energy and motivation to attempt a comeback but ultimately felt short and only scored one goal during the game.
Now the Colorado Rapids head back to DICK’S Sporting Goods Park for their home opener on MLS Match Day 2 against Nashville SC on Saturday March 2nd, kickoff at 7.30 pm MT.
The Game Against Portland
Formation and Starting XI
The Colorado Rapids went in to this game with the idea of playing a high line, making one-two passes to get past opposition, and beat Portland in transition, however, Portland was able to easily read the game and bring players back and during their transitions exploit the spaces that Colorado had behind the line.
The Colorado Rapids under Chris Armas lined up in the 4-2-3-1 formation and saw a handful of new faces on the team sheet that were not part of the 2023 disastrous campaign. In goal, United States Mens National Team and now Colorado Rapids goal keeper Zack Steffen got the nod for his first game back in MLS having completed a move from Manchester City during the winter break.
The defense was led by team captain Keegan Rosenberry at the right back position and Sam Vines on the left flank. Vines returns to not only MLS but to the Colorado Rapids following a spell in Europe with Royal Antwerp. Center back pairing of Andreas Maxso and Moise Bombito stood tall in front of Steffen commanding the defensive structure. Lots of season for these two to work on being able to play together in this high line system.
The midfield block saw two pivot sixes play next to each other, the ginger combo, consisted of Connor Ronan and Oli Larraz. Having had a great 2023 season in MLS Next Pro with Rapids 2, Oli Larraz not only gets promotion to the first team but his first MLS start for the Colorado Rapids. Larraz played 63 minutes before being subbed out. In front of both Connor and Oli was Cole Bassett at the #10 position.
Both Calvin Harris and new comer Djordie Mihailovic played on the wings to provide pace, a threat on the ball, and crosses in for Rafael Navarro who was playing up top.
The Rapids made four substitutions in the game:
- Jonathan Lewis came in the 63rd minute for Oli Larraz and added an extra presence in the attack, not playing center defensive midfield
- Jackson Travis came in the 63rd minute for Sam Vines
- Omir Fernandez came in the 64th minute for Calvin Harris
- Darren Yapi came on in the 77th minute for Rafael Navarro
Game Highlights
(Rapids substitutions mentioned above)
1′ – Kickoff
9′ – Eryk Williamson scores for Portland Timbers; assisted by Juan Mosquera (POR 1 – 0 COL)
14′ – Antony scores for Portland Timbers; assisted by Christhian Paredes (POR 2 – 0 COL)
29′ – Antony scores for Portland Timbers; assisted by Eryk Williamson (POR 3 – 0 COL)
45′ – Yellow card shown to Portland Timbers player Cristhian Paredes
45 + 4′ – Yellow card shown to Colorado Rapids player Moise Bombito
45 + 5′ – Sam Vines scores an own goal (POR 4 – 0 COL)
Half time
49′ – Yellow card shown to Portland Timbers player Kamal Miller
55′ – Calvin Harris scores for the Colorado Rapids; assisted by Connor Ronan (POR 4 – 1 COL)
59′ – Yellow card shown to Colorado Rapids player Andreas Maxso
77′ – Yellow card shown to Colorado Rapids player Djordie Mihailovic
Full Time
Head Coach Chris Armas shared his post game thoughts on the match,
“The first thing I’d say is it’s not the night that we expected, not the result that we wanted and came here for. But the guys stuck in there, they fought hard to the end and they showed a lot of character and this is a takeaway and as we move forward. I think nights like this, games in general, reveal a lot about our guys. We get punished for a few mistakes, don’t finish a few big chances that we have, but we stuck with it. We win the second half, we come out, we fight, and that gives me a lot of confidence in our young team. None of us feel good about it, it’s not the standard that we were going to have around here, but every single staff member and player hurts right now. But it’s not the time to feel too bad for ourselves. We have a lot to look forward to. We’re a good team. I know that and I hope our fans know that. They were in the building tonight, we appreciate that support. There’ll be some more to be happy about moving forward.”
The Colorado Rapids actually held most of the possession throughout the match but were unable to convert their chances in the final third and punished for being high up while having one on one matchups in the defense. The Rapids saw the ball 59% of the time compared to Portland, and although the Rapids had 1.22 xG, it was Portland with 4 goals and only 0.54 xG that stole the show. The Timbers went into the second half only having three shots off, but scoring four goals. Portland finished the game with seven total shots, three on target, compared to the Rapids’ 12 shots and three on target.
Calvin Harris was the Colorado Rapids best player of the night also getting himself on the score sheet. He played a total of 63 minutes, scored once on his only shot. Harris is the Rapids first goal scorer of 2024.
The Rapids have not won an away game in their last 12 matches, including 2023 but not 2024 pre season, only managing to score five goals in their last five matches. The current head to head record between Porltand and Colorado is; 13 wins for Portland, 7 draws, and 10 wins for Colorado.
My pre game prediction of a 2-0 victory for Colorado was blown out the water as I must have underestimated the capabilities of Phil Neville. However, I was sure since Eryk Williamson was coming back from injury, they didn’t have any DPs on the field, and the Rapids were good in pre season that the Rapids would come out victorious. Ya get some right, but you get most of them wrong!
What’s Ahead for the Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids will look to bounce back after that defeat and start their home campaign with a win, but it won’t be easy going up against Nashville SC. Nashville is coming off a 0-0 draw against New York Red Bulls and they are hungry to score goals. The Chris Armas era has to start on a positive for the Colorado Rapids fans because, excluding the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, Rapids fans did not see a home win at DSGP until early July 2023. The schedule only gets harder from here, respectively, as the Colorado Rapids still have to face off against Real Salt Lake (Away), Seattle Sounders (Away), Houston Dynamo (Home), LAFC (Home) to close out the early stage of the season in March. Realistically the Rapids do need a win at home against Nashville to give them the confidence and momentum going forward, it would be too early in the season to already lose morale and belief.
So far this season, when we compare both the Colorado Rapids and Nashville (yes it’s way too early) the Rapids sit in 14th in the Western Conference and Nashville SC sits in 9th in the Eastern Conference. The Rapids have conceded four goals and Nashville has conceded zero. The Rapids do have one goal so far this season compared to none from Nashville.
Both teams are looking for their first win of the season and we could be gifted with a thrilling game at DSGP this Saturday.
Stick around to hear me bring live coverage of the game and post game interviews this Saturday, kick off at 7.30 pm MT.