COMMERCE CITY, Colo. ā They might be down a goal and lacking the services of team captain Sam Cronin, due to a yellow card suspension. But the Colorado Rapids still arenāt short on confidence as the Western Conference Championship turns to the second leg this Sun., Nov. 27 (4 pm ET, ESPN in US, TSN in Canada).
āOther than belief in the self and belief in a group of guys, there was no reason to believe weād be in this situation,ā Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni told reporters via conference call on Wednesday. āIt starts with hope and belief and bringing a bunch of guys together. No one looks at us like weāre going to be world-beaters, but as long as we believe in ourselves collectively and what we can achieve as a group, then we can achieve great things.ā
No doubt, the team collectively expressed concerns following Coloradoās 2-1 loss to Seattle at CenturyLink Field on Tuesday. But with the series headed back to Colorado, the focus shifted to which players will step up in Croninās absence.
Mastroeni pointed to former Sounder Micheal Azira as an important midfielder in the absence of Cronin, whoās featured in all but one Rapids games this season.
āObviously Sam has been a stalwart for us in the middle of the group all year. Heās played pretty much every game minus one,ā said Mastroeni. āUnfortunately, thereās nothing we can do about the situation and now itās about the next man up. I think Azira did a good job [at Seattle] of getting on the ball and on top of the game a little bit. He will be a natural replacement for Sam.ā
Colorado will still have additional decisions to make in the midfield, however, including whether or not Dillon Powers or Jermaine Jones slot in next to Azira in the Rapidsā base 4-2-3-1 formation. The Rapids have shown a variety of looks throughout the course of the season, but Mastroeni wouldnāt reveal which of them he might utilize come game time.
āWeāre looking at a couple of different options and obviously we donāt want to show our hand too early and give up the tactical applications weāre trying to employ,ā he said. āBut we definitely have some options in there. Weāve played with a different look in those three central positions all year.
āWeāre obviously going to have to make one change and how we make that decision will be decided over the next couple of days.ā
What Mastroeni would reveal, however, is that altitude will once again be a key element in Coloradoās game plan, pointing to their last playoff match against the LA Galaxy as precedent.
āWhen you look at the overtime period, you saw the LA group getting massages, laying down, catching their breath and trying to wriggle out their legs with signs of fatigue. Our group was standing; no one took a seat,ā he said. āThereās definitely a physical impact, but it only become validated when the psychology is there, by imposing yourself on your opponents for long periods of time and bringing that into play. Weāre looking to replicate that at the weekend.ā
Colorado only needs to replicate another 1-0 result to advance on Sunday, something the team accomplished a league-leading eight times during the regular season. Also pointing an undefeated home record in 2016, Mastroeniās group retained a sense of composure in preparation this week.
āOur goal going into [the first leg] was to make sure we made the second leg relevant, and I think that away goal definitely did that,ā Mastroeni said. āSo now, itās business as usual coming back home and doing what weāve done all year, which is finding a way keep teams off the score sheet and secure that goal weāre looking for at home.ā