COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Gary Smith kept his Rapids players behind closed doors for longer than usual Saturday after a disappointing 1-1 draw against Kansas City. Some things needed to be said in the heat of the moment, the Rapids’ head coach said.
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“Nothing that wasn’t constructive,” Smith said after the game to the media. “At this stage of the season, I don’t honestly think it’s about winding the players up.
“There’s no doubt about it – Kansas [City] were better than us for a good period of the game and, on another day, could have been out of sight. There were some things to talk about, some disappointments and, moving forward, how do we correct them?”
Those issues included a real lack of energy in the first 45 minutes, when Colorado could have been down at least 2-0 instead of just falling behind as they did to Davy Arnaud’s goal in the 20th minute. Smith also pointed to an inability to break down a well-drilled Wizards group and the fact of falling behind.
Going behind at home in an important game was never part of the game plan, and Colorado had to play catch-up for most of the game as a result. In the end, the Rapids could have snatched the win with Conor Casey missing a golden opportunity right at the death with an open net in front of him.
Casey, who scored the equalizer in the 74th minute with a well-taken goal, picked up a beautiful through ball from substitute Claudio Lopez, rounded KC ‘keeper Jimmy Nielsen perfectly but then clipped the ball with his left foot against the intersection of the post and bar.
Such things can happen. The real problem was the inability of the Rapids to raise their game in the opening 45 minutes.
“We looked like the away team,” Smith said of the first half. “Possession was intercepted in the middle third of the field too often. They were by far the better team in the first half.”
Smith made the changes, bringing on Danny Earls to replace Scott Palguta at the end of the first half and swapping Mehdi Ballouchy for Jamie Smith at the start of the second half.
Palguta had endured a difficult night against an impressive Kei Kamara, Smith said, and the formation needed to change to the 4-4-2 used in the second 45 to give Omar Cummings and Casey opportunities through the middle.
The Rapids had their best period of the game in the final 20 minutes as Lopez and Jamie Smith worked well together to create chances including the one that led to Casey’s goal.
“We finished on a high note, we looked more purposeful,” Smith said. “Unfortunately, it was for too short a period in the game. We are very fortunate in the end to get a point from the game, and I haven’t said that for a while.”
Lopez, whom Smith picked out as one of the few bright spots of tonight along with Jamie Smith, said he was happy to be getting more game time. His 30 minutes tonight followed on from 15 minutes or so against Toronto last week.
“But I would feel more happy if we win,” Lopez told MLSsoccer.com. “With the tie, we are a little disappointed. We continue to work, there is no other way.”
It’s back to the drawing board for Smith and his team this week as they prepare for an always difficult trip to Seattle next week. Saturday’s performance against a better Kansas City team will take a while to put behind them.
“We weren’t at the sort of standard we have set,” Smith said. “Too many people performed below par. They’ve had a good week now, Kansas [City]. It’s not very nice for me to be saying that.”
