Keys against San Jose: Go Long and Slow Down Ebobisse

September 14, 2022 – Major League Soccer (MLS) – Colorado Rapids News Release

The Colorado Rapids entered their Saturday evening match against the Vancouver Whitecaps with 15 points still available in the 2022 regular season. We may be at a point where the club needs all 15 to qualify for the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs. Sitting above them in ninth in the West is Seattle Sounders FC; they have 39 points through 30 games. In eighth, the LA Galaxy have 40 points through 29 games. And currently occupying the final playoff spot is Real Salt Lake with 43 points through 30 games.

The best news is the Rapids won their game Saturday night against the Vancouver Whitecaps. If they win out, they’ll have 48 points. In 2021, RSL made the playoffs in seventh place with 48 points, edging out the Galaxy who also had 48 but one fewer win. In 2019, FC Dallas snagged seventh with – yep, you guessed it – 48 points.

The Rapids remaining schedule is Wednesday night against San Jose, Saturday in Los Angeles against the Galaxy, October first in the home finale against FC Dallas and Decision Day on the road in Texas against Austin FC. Four more games, 12 more points.

Up first, the San Jose Earthquakes, who find themselves in an unusual position. They fired manager Matias Almeyda back in the spring and have hired his replacement, former FC Dallas manager Luchi Gonzalez. But Gonzalez isn’t coaching the team right now. He’s still an assistant on Gregg Berhalter’s US Men’s National Team coaching staff. After the World Cup this fall in Qatar, Gonzalez will then take over as manager of the Quakes.

The Bay Area side sit at the bottom of the Western Conference in what’s become a lost season for team development. They have only seven wins, the fewest in the West and tied for the fewest in MLS, and have conceded the most goals in the league with 61 balls finding the back of their net. That’s an average of 2.1 goals conceded every 90 minutes. That’s a lot. But they do have individual players who aren’t as bad as their record might indicate. Striker Jeremy Ebobisse has scored 15 goals in what has become a breakout year for the young American.

So here’s what the Rapids need to do to get all three points and chase the playoff line:

Go Long

Per mlssoccer.com’s stats page, the Rapids lead the league in accurate long balls in 2022. They have hit 981. Seattle is in second with 955. Given the fact the Rapids are not a team that dominates possession the way NYCFC or Atlanta might, the number is even more…