After falling from first place with their second loss of the season last weekend, the Colorado Rapids look to shake things up as they hit the road to take on the Chicago Fire on Saturday night at Toyota Park.
Head coach Fernando Clavijo used the same lineup in Colorado's first four games of the season, but after an embarrassing shutout at the hands of the San Jose Earthquakes, Clavijo signaled it was time for a new look as his team works to get back on track with the trek to the Windy City.
"Changes are going to happen, absolutely," Clavijo said after Saturday's defeat. "You don't change a team that's winning, but [Saturday's] performance was below par. We didn't play well enough. We didn't connect well enough. We never felt the urgency to play. It was one of those games when nothing goes your way."
One of the changes is likely to be increased time on the field for newly signed Scottish striker Tom McManus. Signed April 10, the 27-year-old is a veteran of 10 professional seasons, including eight with Hibernian in Edinburgh. He came in for Omar Cummings in the 69th minute Saturday, stepping up the attack with a couple shots, one on goal.
"Thomas did a couple good things in the 20 minutes that he played," Clavijo observed. "I think you're going to see him more often, because we need to create more chances, we need people to hold the balls to give us a chance to go forward. [Saturday] that was not the case until he came in. He did a couple good things. That's the reason we have him. Hopefully we can see him more."
McManus is still catching up on his conditioning, but he should see increased time against the Fire.
Goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul couldn't counter claims that the Rapids had nothing to be proud about coming out of their loss to San Jose, but he was hopeful that the loss could serve as a wake-up call, re-igniting the team as it takes on the Fire.
"Losing early kind of makes us get ourselves back together, just like we did with Kansas City," Coundoul said, noting that after losing to the Wizards, the Rapids were able to defeat New England on the road. "We came back and we focused in that game a lot tougher than what we got today. We were able to come with the result. This one is gone, hopefully we can use it and go to Chicago and get a result there."
Colorado could take a page from the Quakes' playbook as they look for a way to neutralize Chicago's potent offense. In shutting down the Rapids, San Jose made Colorado's offensive catalyst Christian Gomez a non-factor. Clavijo recognizes that limiting Fire midfielder Cuauhtemoc Blanco's role in the attack will be a key to success Saturday.
Blanco leads the Fire in shots and shots on goal, and shares the lead in goals and assists. Even as the Fire was blanked by the Wizards over the weekend, Blanco remained a force, getting four shots on goal to maintain the pressure.
"Chicago's a good team," Clavijo said. "They have one player that everything surrounds. Their whole play is [built around] Blanco, like we are with Christian. [Saturday] was very clear. They took Christian out of the game, and our attack was not there. Hopefully, we can do the same thing with Blanco. Blanco's the one who makes that engine run. We have to make sure that we don't allow him to play."
A key for the Rapids in Chicago and as the season progresses will be developing a more balanced attack that can pick up the slack when Gomez is targeted by opposing defenses. Gomez entered Saturday's game leading the club in both shots and shots on goal, but was unable to get off a single shot on goal against the Quakes.
The Rapids did not have a solution Saturday, but developing effective alternatives when they can't go to Gomez will be a top priority if the Rapids want to stay competitive.
"Definitely we have to find out," Clavijo said of the need to succeed when Gomez is thwarted. "We have a long season."
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
