COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Fighting for a position in the MLS Cup Playoffs is not something Jamie Smith is used to. But the Colorado Rapids midfielder has been in plenty of situations with the intensity that such a crucial time of the MLS season can bring.
The Scottish native has played for the likes of Scottish Premier League sides Celtic and Aberdeen, Dutch Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag, as well as the Scottish national team. Smith hopes that varied professional experience will serve him well as the Rapids enter Saturday night’s match against the LA Galaxy needing a point to clinch a playoff berth.
But the 29-year-old believes the professional way in which Colorado have approached every challenge this season gives all the players a belief that they can win through what will be a tough game, irrespective of the result between Kansas City and New England earlier in the day.
[inline_node:302668]That game will be over before the Rapids kick off at the Home Depot Center, and anything less than a Wizards win will ensure the Rapids are already in the playoffs before they take the field.
“It shouldn’t detract from what we plan on doing,” Smith told MLSsoccer.com. “As long as we are focused on our job. We know that it’s in our hands and we need to get one point from two games.”
If the Rapids do clinch the postseason Saturday night, they will still have the small matter of a Rocky Mountain Cup match the following weekend against rivals Real Salt Lake in their final regular-season game. That makes every game from here on in is a big one.
But one game at a time for now. And nothing is bigger in the players’ minds than the trip to the HDC in Carson, Calif., on Saturday night.
Smith said some of the recent games he has played in for the Rapids will also help deal with the intensity of facing the Galaxy. A hard-fought 1-1 tie in Salt Lake and a 2-2 draw last weekend in Dallas were both challenges in different ways. Real Salt Lake were difficult because of the hostility, FCD simply because of the form they have been showing and their attacking style of play.
“It’s what I am used to playing in back home,” Smith said of the RSL game on Sept. 25. “We even took a couple hundred fans which, back home, is normal. Walking off that field with that late goal after 90 minutes, it felt like we had lost the game.”
Dallas was quieter in terms of the crowd hostility. The challenges there came from nullifying the attacking approach from the likes of David Ferreira. Rapids head coach Gary Smith played three strikers and moved Jamie Smith to the center of midfield to try and deal with that. The Scot, who played more centrally for Aberdeen, said he really enjoyed that experience.
Whether he will line up there tomorrow or in a more usual wide position remains to be seen. Wherever he ends up playing, Smith is relishing the challenge of the game against LA.
