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MONDAY MLS BREAKDOWN: Ambitious Travels
Colorado isn't known for its willingness to go on the road in search of three points. Kyle McCarthy explains why a coaching change and a mentality shift could soon change that perception in the Monday MLS Breakdown.
May 18, 2009 3:14:32 AM
By Kyle
McCarthy
Aggressive isn't a word many used to describe how the Colorado Rapids attacked away matches in the past.
Negative would have aptly described the away approach under former coach Fernando Clavijo. Stifling and dogged applied, too. But never aggressive. Aggressiveness would require a commitment to attack, a willingness to take the chance to dictate the pace of games at the expense of opening up the proceedings just a tiny little bit.
No longer. These Rapids aren't content to settle for a point, even when it comes after a 1-1 draw on a wet, dour night in New England.
“Everybody feels a little deflated that we didn't get all three points,” Colorado head coach Gary Smith said.
Smith's words are a sign of raised expectations in suburban Denver. Enjoying the better of the chances and limiting the Revolution to two shots on goal – one in the aftermath of long throw, the other from a penalty kick – wasn't enough without the three points.
“That's our mentality with the new coaches,” midfielder Colin Clark said. “Three points is there for the taking every week, no matter whether it's on the road or at home.”
In order to start making headway on the road, the Rapids had to extricate themselves from that tortoise-like shell away from altitude. No more playing like they were afraid to lose. No more resting on the back foot without first trying to assert itself on the front foot.
Shifting the approach has brought some road success in 2009. With the draw in New England, Colorado improved to 1-2-2 on the road on the season. Performances have run the gamut from a win in Los Angeles to a stolen point in Columbus to losses at Houston and Chivas USA. The cumulative results aren't markedly different than the 4-9-2 (2008) and 3-9-3 (2007) marks posted over the past two years, but the willingness to go in search of those points has differed considerably.
“To be more aggressive at times helps,” forward Omar Cummings said. “To want to impose yourself on the other team and on other players, it's always good. You have to be aggressive and want to beat them in your individual battle.”
That mentality shift, Smith believes, reflects the players at his disposal. In Conor Casey, Terry Cooke, Cummings and Clark, the Rapids field four attack-first players home and away. Given the choice to replace the absent Cooke on Saturday night with a more defensive player, Smith opted for creative playmaker Mehdi Ballouchy in the center of the park and shifted Nick LaBrocca out to the right side of midfield.
“We've got a group of players that wants to be aggressive and take the play to other teams,” Smith explained.
No player displayed that aggressiveness more than Casey on Saturday night. With five goals – three of which came in a 3-2 win at Los Angeles on April 5 – on the season, Casey has given the Rapids a reliable option up top. He scored the opener from a Jordan Harvey cross after three minutes – but for a good save from Brad Knighton, Ballouchy would have tallied moments earlier – and hurtled himself about for the entire night much to the consternation of the Revolution defense.
Casey's competitiveness reached the point of no return during the second half, as he walked the fine line between a player already cautioned and a player soon to be sent off for earning a second yellow card as he collected his sixth foul. Smith withdrew him – “I thought that would swing things in their favor if we suddenly lost him,” he explained – and Casey stormed off to the bench to wallow in his frustration.
Frustration with being taken off. Frustration with drawing fouls and committing them in search of goals instead of simply attempting to frustrate the other team. Perhaps even frustration with one point on the road instead of three. All of those frustrations indicate that it's not business as usual in Colorado.
“We have come a long way with the group, the team, the way we're playing, the conduct of the group, the style of play,” Smith said. “The players have taken a hell of a lot on board. But we have standards. I feel like we deserved more than we got.”
The goals were trademark Wolff. On the first goal, Wolff beat a poorly constructed offside trap by Jamison Olave and tucked home a Jack Jewsbury ball over the top. Wolff later slid in to direct a Michael Harrington diagonal ball past the onrushing Chris Seitz to seal all three points.
“Being a forward, it's streaky, so you savor it when you are on a good run. But we know it can go the other way,” Wolff told the Salt Lake Tribune after the game. “I just keep trying to do my job and helping this team get points, get wins, whatever it takes. We try to make that commitment and we brought it pretty good tonight. Six goals is good for the group and not just me, but good for the team.”
“I think if Tony has an IQ of over 40, he understands the mistake he made,” Arena said. “He thanked the team at the end for bailing him out.”
Fortunately for Sanneh, Eddie Lewis fired home a one-time strike from 25 yards as the match wound to a close to salvage a point.
“I made a mistake, but luckily for us Eddie had a nice shot to get the point back,” Sanneh said. “I apologized to the team for putting in us that position.”
2. New England has been out-shot 90 to 24 in its last five games.
3. A good night in New England for Mehdi Ballouchy. The Colorado midfielder can sometimes slip out of games despite his considerable skill on the ball, but he provided an active, direct and dangerous outlet for the Rapids on Saturday night.
4. “My role on this team, whether it's coming off the bench or starting every once in a while, I'm just going to do the best I can in the time I get and make the coach's decision as hard as possible,” New York striker John Wolyniec said after his well-taken 88th minute turn and finish grabbed the ten-man Red Bulls a point at home to Houston.
5. “I'm looking at myself right now,” RSL coach Jason Kreis said after his side lost 2-0 at home to Kansas City. “I'm looking at myself to figure out what happened in the week -- what's happened in the couple of weeks since we played what was the best game in Rio Tinto Stadium till tonight, for what has been for me the worst game I've ever seen in this stadium by the home team.”
6. Three players – Seattle's Zach Scott and FC Dallas' Jeff Cunningham and George John – left the field injured at Pizza Hut Park within the first 30 minutes of Saturday night's 1-1 draw. Quite a peculiar sight to see that many players withdrawn so early in a contest.
7. Also somewhat peculiar to see Seattle emerge from the first half with only one goal after carving apart the makeshift FCD defense time and again without adding to Jhon Kennedy Hurtado's opener. Then again, FCD substitute Brek Shea should have added to Andre Rocha's first-half injury time strike in the second half, but he could only direct his header from Dave van den Bergh's tantalizing cross straight at Kasey Keller. Perhaps all square was the intended result, all things considered.
8. D.C. United has scored seven of its 17 goals after the 75th minute after bagging two late goals to earn a 2-2 draw at Chivas USA.
9. The Goats may not like the result, but they should be encouraged by the performances of their attacking players. The often-frustrating Eduardo Lillingston had a goal and an assist, Maykel Galindo tallied (an offside) goal in his first start in a year and Justin Braun looked active when interchanging from his wide midfield role.
10. What happens to Columbus when they enter the locker room? The Crew maintained a nice tempo and looked dangerous in the first half in the first half of Sunday's 1-1 draw with Los Angeles, but couldn't hit those same heights in the second half.
11. As for Los Angeles, I thought they only really opened up twice during the game: a brief spell at the start of the second half and the last ten minutes or so after Danny O'Rourke picked up a pair of yellow cards. Not the expected deportment from a home side, but the Galaxy weren't going to win a wide-open match with Columbus either.
Aggressive isn't a word many used to describe how the Colorado Rapids attacked away matches in the past.
Negative would have aptly described the away approach under former coach Fernando Clavijo. Stifling and dogged applied, too. But never aggressive. Aggressiveness would require a commitment to attack, a willingness to take the chance to dictate the pace of games at the expense of opening up the proceedings just a tiny little bit.
No longer. These Rapids aren't content to settle for a point, even when it comes after a 1-1 draw on a wet, dour night in New England.
“Everybody feels a little deflated that we didn't get all three points,” Colorado head coach Gary Smith said.
Smith's words are a sign of raised expectations in suburban Denver. Enjoying the better of the chances and limiting the Revolution to two shots on goal – one in the aftermath of long throw, the other from a penalty kick – wasn't enough without the three points.
“That's our mentality with the new coaches,” midfielder Colin Clark said. “Three points is there for the taking every week, no matter whether it's on the road or at home.”
In order to start making headway on the road, the Rapids had to extricate themselves from that tortoise-like shell away from altitude. No more playing like they were afraid to lose. No more resting on the back foot without first trying to assert itself on the front foot.
Shifting the approach has brought some road success in 2009. With the draw in New England, Colorado improved to 1-2-2 on the road on the season. Performances have run the gamut from a win in Los Angeles to a stolen point in Columbus to losses at Houston and Chivas USA. The cumulative results aren't markedly different than the 4-9-2 (2008) and 3-9-3 (2007) marks posted over the past two years, but the willingness to go in search of those points has differed considerably.
“To be more aggressive at times helps,” forward Omar Cummings said. “To want to impose yourself on the other team and on other players, it's always good. You have to be aggressive and want to beat them in your individual battle.”
That mentality shift, Smith believes, reflects the players at his disposal. In Conor Casey, Terry Cooke, Cummings and Clark, the Rapids field four attack-first players home and away. Given the choice to replace the absent Cooke on Saturday night with a more defensive player, Smith opted for creative playmaker Mehdi Ballouchy in the center of the park and shifted Nick LaBrocca out to the right side of midfield.
“We've got a group of players that wants to be aggressive and take the play to other teams,” Smith explained.
No player displayed that aggressiveness more than Casey on Saturday night. With five goals – three of which came in a 3-2 win at Los Angeles on April 5 – on the season, Casey has given the Rapids a reliable option up top. He scored the opener from a Jordan Harvey cross after three minutes – but for a good save from Brad Knighton, Ballouchy would have tallied moments earlier – and hurtled himself about for the entire night much to the consternation of the Revolution defense.
Casey's competitiveness reached the point of no return during the second half, as he walked the fine line between a player already cautioned and a player soon to be sent off for earning a second yellow card as he collected his sixth foul. Smith withdrew him – “I thought that would swing things in their favor if we suddenly lost him,” he explained – and Casey stormed off to the bench to wallow in his frustration.
Frustration with being taken off. Frustration with drawing fouls and committing them in search of goals instead of simply attempting to frustrate the other team. Perhaps even frustration with one point on the road instead of three. All of those frustrations indicate that it's not business as usual in Colorado.
“We have come a long way with the group, the team, the way we're playing, the conduct of the group, the style of play,” Smith said. “The players have taken a hell of a lot on board. But we have standards. I feel like we deserved more than we got.”
Week Nine – Questions, Thoughts, and Answers
Monday MLS Breakdown Player of the Week – Josh Wolff, FW, Kansas City
Beware when Wolff gets on a goalscoring streak. The former U.S. national team player has always scored in bunches and he has certainly embarked on one of those profitable runs of form in recent weeks. Wolff made it six goals in six games after nabbing a brace in Kansas City's 2-0 win at Real Salt Lake.The goals were trademark Wolff. On the first goal, Wolff beat a poorly constructed offside trap by Jamison Olave and tucked home a Jack Jewsbury ball over the top. Wolff later slid in to direct a Michael Harrington diagonal ball past the onrushing Chris Seitz to seal all three points.
“Being a forward, it's streaky, so you savor it when you are on a good run. But we know it can go the other way,” Wolff told the Salt Lake Tribune after the game. “I just keep trying to do my job and helping this team get points, get wins, whatever it takes. We try to make that commitment and we brought it pretty good tonight. Six goals is good for the group and not just me, but good for the team.”
What was he thinking? Tony Sanneh, DF, Los Angeles
When Galaxy coach Bruce Arena sent Sanneh on at halftime, he probably didn't think Sanneh would present Columbus with the opener. Sanneh accepted a goal kick from Donovan Ricketts, opened up his body for all the world to see and directed a pass towards the center of the field. Guillermo Barros Schelotto nicked in, collected the freebie and slotted past Ricketts.“I think if Tony has an IQ of over 40, he understands the mistake he made,” Arena said. “He thanked the team at the end for bailing him out.”
Fortunately for Sanneh, Eddie Lewis fired home a one-time strike from 25 yards as the match wound to a close to salvage a point.
“I made a mistake, but luckily for us Eddie had a nice shot to get the point back,” Sanneh said. “I apologized to the team for putting in us that position.”
Eleven observations to start the week
1. “What do we do? Get rid of him?” That was Toronto FC interim head coach Chris Cummins' sarcastic response to a question about Chad Barrett (two goals in 10 games) after the much-maligned striker scuffed a couple of good chances in TFC's 2-0 home loss to Chicago.2. New England has been out-shot 90 to 24 in its last five games.
3. A good night in New England for Mehdi Ballouchy. The Colorado midfielder can sometimes slip out of games despite his considerable skill on the ball, but he provided an active, direct and dangerous outlet for the Rapids on Saturday night.
4. “My role on this team, whether it's coming off the bench or starting every once in a while, I'm just going to do the best I can in the time I get and make the coach's decision as hard as possible,” New York striker John Wolyniec said after his well-taken 88th minute turn and finish grabbed the ten-man Red Bulls a point at home to Houston.
5. “I'm looking at myself right now,” RSL coach Jason Kreis said after his side lost 2-0 at home to Kansas City. “I'm looking at myself to figure out what happened in the week -- what's happened in the couple of weeks since we played what was the best game in Rio Tinto Stadium till tonight, for what has been for me the worst game I've ever seen in this stadium by the home team.”
6. Three players – Seattle's Zach Scott and FC Dallas' Jeff Cunningham and George John – left the field injured at Pizza Hut Park within the first 30 minutes of Saturday night's 1-1 draw. Quite a peculiar sight to see that many players withdrawn so early in a contest.
7. Also somewhat peculiar to see Seattle emerge from the first half with only one goal after carving apart the makeshift FCD defense time and again without adding to Jhon Kennedy Hurtado's opener. Then again, FCD substitute Brek Shea should have added to Andre Rocha's first-half injury time strike in the second half, but he could only direct his header from Dave van den Bergh's tantalizing cross straight at Kasey Keller. Perhaps all square was the intended result, all things considered.
8. D.C. United has scored seven of its 17 goals after the 75th minute after bagging two late goals to earn a 2-2 draw at Chivas USA.
9. The Goats may not like the result, but they should be encouraged by the performances of their attacking players. The often-frustrating Eduardo Lillingston had a goal and an assist, Maykel Galindo tallied (an offside) goal in his first start in a year and Justin Braun looked active when interchanging from his wide midfield role.
10. What happens to Columbus when they enter the locker room? The Crew maintained a nice tempo and looked dangerous in the first half in the first half of Sunday's 1-1 draw with Los Angeles, but couldn't hit those same heights in the second half.
11. As for Los Angeles, I thought they only really opened up twice during the game: a brief spell at the start of the second half and the last ten minutes or so after Danny O'Rourke picked up a pair of yellow cards. Not the expected deportment from a home side, but the Galaxy weren't going to win a wide-open match with Columbus either.
Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and frequently writes opinion pieces during the week for Goal.com. He also covers the New England Revolution for the Boston Herald and MLSnet.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kyle.mccarthy@goal.com and follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
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