MLS Cup Playoffs, 2011: Replacing Conor Casey No Easy Task - Burgundy Wave

There's simply no getting around the fact that Conor Casey was a huge part of why the Colorado Rapids won the MLS Cup last year. He was clearly the Rapids' best player for much of the playoffs and won the Man of the Match in the finals. The Rapids have also undeniably struggled without their talisman. Rapids blog Burgundy Wave goes through some of the struggles of the Rapids' other forwards:

Consider the form of the other strikers on the team. Omar Cummings has turned into a shell of his former self, going for more cheeky plays than easy goals. Caleb Folan continues to just barely miss every opportunity to finally break through and score the goals he was supposed to when he was signed. Sanna Nyassi has shown plenty of promise but has scored his goals in bunches and none of those bunches were recent. Macoumba Kandji has shown promise but similar to last year hasn't managed to turn that promise into actual goals. Andre Akpan and Quincy Amarikwa can't yet be counted on with their inexperience and both have been out of practice against top teams getting their minutes against Metapan and Real Espana.