For a new posting feature that I hope to make a regular occurrance here at The Daily Wiz, I went outside the Wizards fan community for some insight on Saturday’s opponent, the Colorado Rapids. Sure, it’s not exactly a revolutionary idea in the blogosphere, but the different perspective will tell you more about the Rapids than I ever could.
Many thanks to Craig de Aragon for being the test run guinea pig for this weekly installment. Craig is a Rapids supporter from Denver that I met through the powers of Twitter. (Follow him @GCSBlog) You can also find his blog work at a couple of different places: No Fan Alone: Colorado Rapids Supporters and God, Country, Soccer.
1. Since these teams’ week 3 meeting that Kansas City won 1-0, they’ve certainly gone in far different directions. The Wizards have picked up as many points through their last 12 games as they did in their first 2, while Colorado currently sits in a four-way tie with FC Dallas, San Jose and Toronto FC for the eighth and final playoff spot. How did things go so right for Colorado, and who are some players that are responsible for their current league position?
The Rapids success this season can be attributed two main reasons: one, some of the pre-season acquisitions have really jelled with this club, and two, the defense has been very stingy.
The trades that brought in both Marvell Wynne and Jeff Larentowitz were immense. Both those players have hit the ground running, filling wholes that a lot of fans, including myself, didn’t know this team had. Marvell Wynne began the season at center back, something he had never done, and filled in quite admirably. Once Julien Baudet was healthy, Wynne moved to his normal right back spot and has been closing down gaps and controlling that right side all season.
Meanwhile, Larentowitz is a skillfull destroyer – a “Ginger Ninja,” as he is called. Larentowitz playing along side Pablo Mastreoni as the two holding mids has created a barrier in the midfield that opposing offenses have to plan for and get through in order to even get to the back four. Suffice to say that the opposition knows it’s going to have a tough day when they play the Burgundy and Blue. I would also be remised if I didn’t mention Drew Moor as one of those players that is responsible for the club’s success. His steady play at center back has been a calming influence and would get my vote for team MVP at this point in the season.
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