COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- Despite their defensive strength this season, the Colorado Rapids are still struggling to find a consistent replacement for Jordan Harvey at left back.
Harvey, one of the most reliable players for the Rapids last season, moved on to the expansion Philadelphia Union for 2010. Colorado head coach Gary Smith brought in Danny Earls and the young Irishman has performed generally well, but the club brought in FC Dallas defender Anthony Wallace to add to the club’s depth down the stretch.
Wallace has yet to get on the field for his new club, but he’s clear of what Smith and his staff expect.
“[Smith] has made it clear he wants me to play a pretty important role in the team,” Wallace told MLSsoccer.com. “He wants me to be in and around always. Whenever he calls on me, basically, that will be my opportunity.”
Smith said that opportunity may come during the final stretch of home games, where the coach sees the chance for less experienced players like Wallace and Earls to enjoy marauding up and down the flank against less consistent opposition than the likes of Columbus, whom the Rapids face at Crew Stadium on Saturday.
“There’s no doubt that here at home, five of six games are against teams I would think that are very, very winnable,” Smith said. “Those games might lend themselves more to a natural left back who can give us some width and more attacking play.”
Wallace knows it will be tough not only to take Earls’ place but to dislodge any of the current back four who have trotted out for the past few games: Julien Baudet and Marvell Wynne at center back and Kosuke Kimura and Drew Moor on the sides.
But the US U-20 international will give it his best shot.
“They don’t give much up,” Wallace said of the Rapids’ defense. “As a coaching staff, you don’t want to break those things up by bringing in someone new. But on their part, they think I can help.”
For now, it’s working hard in training and traveling with the team to get the bond growing between himself and his new teammates. And he’s biding his time until he is called upon.
“It’s been good,” Wallace said of the experience. “You have got to get used to playing with guys, their tendencies, what are their strengths and their weaknesses, developing relationships. I think it’s coming on pretty well.”
