Colorado Rapids Vs. Columbus Crew, MLS Cup Playoffs 2011: Rapids Through With 1-0 Win

The Crew have done so little that Matt Pickens is just watching their shots. They’re playing with three supposedly creative and technically sound advanced midfield players. Aside: The Crew are not having a good game.

For more on the two teams playing in tonight’s Wild Card match, check out Colorado Rapids blog Burgundy Wave and Columbus Crew blog Massive Report. For more on the rest of the MLS Cup Playoffs and the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.

But yeah, nice finish by Omar.

For more on the two teams playing in tonight’s Wild Card match, check out Colorado Rapids blog Burgundy Wave and Columbus Crew blog Massive Report. For more on the rest of the MLS Cup Playoffs and the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.

But, if you are that guy who Aaron was talking about and you managed to stumble upon this post: I am so sorry. If I knew you, I could have saved you. I could have let you know that this was exactly the wrong match to watch if you were willing to give Major League Soccer a chance. i know this sucks, but it was supposed to suck. Really, there are better games than this. All the time.

It’s 0-0 in the 40th minute and neither team has a clear-cut scoring chance.

On both ends of the pitch, there are HUGE gaps between each team’s defense and midfield, then midfield and strikers. There are huge clusters of players on the edge of each penalty area and around the half-way line when the ball is changing hands. Supposedly Dilly Duka is playing as a No. 10 and should bridge the gap, but he’s basically a striker right now. He’s not dropping deep at all. You could draw a circle with a 15-yard radius on each end of the pitch. I bet Tony Pulis is DVRing this to watch later when he’s aaaaaaaaaaaaaall aloooooooooooone.

For more on the two teams playing in tonight’s Wild Card match, check out Colorado Rapids blog Burgundy Wave and Columbus Crew blog Massive Report. For more on the rest of the MLS Cup Playoffs and the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.

That’s not to say Rich Balchan is a bad player, he’s actually pretty effective for a rookie and should go on to have an effective MLS career. It’s just that Warzycha’s nuts if he made a last minute switch based on anything other than an injury. We’re forced to assume he’s picked up a knock.

For more on the two teams playing in tonight’s Wild Card match, check out Colorado Rapids blog Burgundy Wave and Columbus Crew blog Massive Report. For more on the rest of the MLS Cup Playoffs and the entire world of soccer, check out SB Nation Soccer.

It’s currently 30 degrees in the Denver area, which is kind of cold. I say this as a 22 year resident of the Upper Midwest and someone who has been to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in January on a dozen occasions. Sitting outside for two hours when it is that cold sucks.

The Rapids deserve a lot of the jokes thrown their way, but let’s save them tonight.

This season they face many of the season obstacles as a year ago. They are a wild card team that still don’t have much pedigree. They don’t have any big names and while they have home field advantage on Thursday night, it is in the newly added wild card round. They won’t have it again if they advance further. They also have one more thing going against them too. They are the defending champions and be it pressure, a curse or just bad luck, defending champions have not fared well of late. In fact, none of the last three defending champions have made it out of the first round.

Of course, when the Red Bulls knocked out the Dynamo, it ruined Houston’s chance at a three-peat so there is precedent for defending champions succeeding and repeating, but the last three years say no. Not only do they say no, which would be a blow to the Rapids, but they say that the team who knocks out the defending champions will make it all the way to the final. So not only are the last three years a bad omen for the Rapids, but they also say to book the Crew’s spot in this year’s MLS Cup final at the Home Depot Center. Go on, Columbus.

Even with Conor Casey injured, the Rapids have generally tried to play the same way as they do with him in the lineup. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Inevitably, Gary Smith will avoid playing Cummings and Nyassi together, sit back, and hoof long balls to the head of whoever plays up top. At home. When Columbus’s best central defender is very large and very slow. Gary Smith, ladies and gentlemen.

The MLS Cup Playoffs are often derided as being a bit of a crapshoot. Heck, I’ve made that accusation myself at various times. But, believe it or not, most of the time a relatively worthy champion is crowned.

No, it’s not always the best team. (In fact, the MLS Cup has been won just five times by the team with the best regular-season record and only one of those times has come since the league scrapped the best-of-three format it used pre-2003.) But the champion is rarely a legitimately bad team, assuming we can all agree that a negative goal-difference equates to a “legitimately bad team.”