COMMERCE CITY, Colo. - With the middle game of a three-game homestand on tap Saturday, Colorado Rapids captain Pablo Mastroeni is putting it on the line for his club, setting up the contest with Chivas USA as a must-win match for a team eager to build momentum.
"Anything less than nine points for us will be a disappointment," Mastroeni said of the home stretch that began with a 2-0 blanking of Real Salt Lake and ends June 1 with a match against FC Dallas. "Going away, that game in Houston, I think we were on the wrong end of a result. I thought we played well enough for a tie. And to come home and know you have three games - we're really shooting for nine points."
The Rapids are not about to complain about facing another side that faced early season struggles when Chivas USA comes to Commerce City Saturday, but neither are they taking anything for granted. Chivas won their second match last week against D.C. United, and is tied for fifth in the Western Conference with RSL.
Two of Colorado's four losses on the season have come against clubs that had been winless until they faced the Rapids - San Jose and Houston - and head coach Fernando Clavijo does not want his team to let their spot atop the West standings make them overconfident.
"It's very clear to us that we don't have any easy teams anywhere," Clavijo said of the upcoming match. "We played Houston who hadn't won a game, hadn't scored, and boom. I thought we played well, but still. Anybody can beat anybody this year. We have to be prepared to get points at home. We have to make sure that we keep working the way we are on the road. If we keep doing what we did [against RSL] we should have no problem."
Though he is not averse to consistency, Clavijo has also shown a willingness to mix things up throughout the early part of the season, mining his roster for the hot foot, using 18 different starts, and changing formations as injured players have returned to the lineup, finally settling on a 3-5-2 setup to open the homestand against RSL.
Midfielder Terry Cooke has missed two games with a hamstring injury, but he will likely be available against Chivas USA, and it should be interesting to see how Clavijo uses him amidst a flourishing lineup.
"Everybody's eager to get back into the first team," Clavijo said, happy with the results of internal competition for playing time. "Cookie finally was able to dress [against RSL]. We were lucky not to have to use him. We'll see how he develops the rest of the week. We have 10 days [between games], which is also good for us. Changes will happen. We don't know if it's going to be system or personal. We don't know yet."
Forward Tom McManus was also missing against RSL, serving a red card suspension incurred against Houston. Though he had proven himself a productive part of Colorado's attack, his absence opened the door for Herculez Gomez to make his first start of the season last week, playing 84 minutes, getting off a team-high three shots and connecting with Colin Clark and Omar Cummings for his first assist of the season.
Gomez's season started slowly as Clavijo eased back following his 2007 season-ending ACL tear, but he adds a dynamic energy to the Rapids attack, and even with limited playing time in 2008, he is second only to Cummings in shots taken.
"Coming from the injury I had, my main thing I had to do was prove my fitness," Gomez said. "I felt I came in and did that. The little time that I have been playing, I felt like I've been dangerous. I'm just trying to give Fernando no excuses. That's all you can do with any coach.
"If you just keep plugging away, pretty soon he's forced to play you, and pretty soon - look at LaBrocca - pretty soon he can't take you out of the lineup," Gomez added, referencing midfielder Nick LaBrocca, who entered the season with only 67 minutes of MLS playing time to his credit, but won a starting job and is second only to goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul and defender Facundo Erpen (who have played every minute) in playing time this season. "That's what it's all about. That's how I broke into the league, and that's how you stay in the league."
The Rapids will be especially eager to take advantage of Coundoul's last start in goal before heading to Africa for a month-long call-up to the Senegal national team as the Lions of Teranga enter the first group round of World Cup qualifying.
Coundoul is expected to play at home in Senegal against Algeria on May 31, at Gambia on June 8, at Liberia on June 15, and at home against against Liberia on June 21. He is likely to miss four Rapids games while playing for his national team, returning to the nets when Colorado travels to Columbus on June 28.
In a related move, the Rapids traded Jovan Kirovski and Kelly Gray to San Jose for goalkeeper Preston Burpo and a fourth-round SuperDraft pick in 2009. Burpo played 22 games for Chivas USA over the past two seasons, posting a 1.18 goals against average, but has not seen any time with the Quakes behind Joe Cannon this season.
"With the expected absence of Bouna Coundoul and unexpected duration of the injury to [Rapids back-up goalkeeper] Justin Hughes, we needed to address our goalkeeping situation," Clavijo said after the trade was announced Wednesday. "Preston is an experienced 'keeper in MLS and will help solidify that position for us."
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
