COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – One win in nine games since the World Cup break: It’s a frustrating record for the Colorado Rapids, who have, nevertheless, enjoyed periods in all those games where they have dominated possession and been in control.
Last weekend’s 3-1 defeat in Columbus, the team’s heaviest in MLS league play this season, is a case in point. Head coach Gary Smith was keen Tuesday morning to point out some of the statistics.
“We controlled 56 percent of the game away from home, we had 40 penalty box entries to their 14 and we had 17 shots to their eight,” Smith said. “There are so many good things going on.”
The trouble is, as Smith pointed out, only one statistic matters, and that was the score line. A combination of defensive mistakes and a lack of finishing condemned the Rapids to another frustrating defeat.
Of those nine games since the World Cup break, three have been defeats with five draws and the sole win against San Jose at home on Aug. 7. The frustration at not being able to convert possession and control into wins is nagging at the team, Smith admitted.
“We are not as clinical as we should be,” he said. “That is putting added stress on our confidence levels.”
Striker Omar Cummings insists his confidence levels remain high. Cummings is the second-highest scorer for the Rapids in 2010 with five goals but he has yet to record any assists. Last season, the Jamaican international was near the top of the league charts with 12 assists.
“We may be off form right now,” Cummings said. “We have been making chances but we are having difficulty scoring goals. Especially when you go down on the road, that gives extra pressure to get goals.”
Cummings will be eager to make amends this weekend and help get the team back to winning ways against a faltering Houston side. Saturday’s game is the first of two straight home games with Chivas USA visiting on Sept. 4.
Smith has targeted those two games as winnable, and adds that all six remaining home games – barring maybe Real Salt Lake on Oct. 23 – are there for the taking.
“This weekend and the following weekend will be very important games to get back on the winning road,” Smith said. “What everybody will realize is that Houston is still a very difficult team. The results they have had and their form suggests the game is winnable.”
Smith and his team know that two consecutive wins at home will be a great kick-start to the club’s playoff aspirations. A couple more wins after that, he said, mixed in with the occasional draw, would be enough to get into the postseason.
“What you need effectively are four wins,” he said. “Six games are at home. I’d have bitten someone’s arm off at the elbow to be in that position.”
