When the Colorado Rapids take to the pitch Sunday evening in the final home match of the regular season, they’ll do so with a spot in the playoffs on their minds. After MLS announced switching from total points to points per game for playoff seeding, the Rapids currently occupy the eighth and final seed. Securing three points in the final home game of the season could potentially cement their position and return to the MLS Cup Playoffs.
In their final home match of the year and with a coveted playoff spot on the line, the defending MLS Cup champions, Seattle Sounders FC, come to town. It is perhaps the toughest possible matchup, but you wouldn’t want it any other way.
Seattle will arrive at DICK’s Sporting Goods Park at the top of the Western Conference. They’ve had the year most people expected them to have. Jordan Morris has continued to be a standout, Raúl Ruidíaz has been worth every penny paid for him, and Nicolás Lodeiro is maybe the most important player to his particular team.
Perhaps what’s more impressive, however, isn’t how their proven attacking players have played, but how they’ve sorted out any question marks they might have had defensively. Sounders FC have conceded the fewest goals in the Western Conference with 18 and have the best goal differential at +20. Part of their defensive success can be attributed to the emergence of the center back Yeimar. The 28-year-old Colombian has brought a calming presence to the back line and made the team more ruthless in attack by giving everybody confidence that the back line is covered.
So, with the playoffs within snatching distance and the defending champs in town, here’s how the Burgundy Boys can get all three points.
1. Locate Lodeiro.
As mentioned above, Nico Lodeiro is the most important player on one of the most talented teams in MLS. According to fbref.com, Lodeiro leads the league in Goal-Creating Actions with 17. He’s also averaging five Shot-Creating Actions per match. Sure, he has prolific attackers in front of him, but he still has to do the legwork to set them up and give them the best chance for success. Captain and midfielder Jack Price can save the back line and goalkeeper William Yarbrough a lot of trouble by cutting off Lodeiro’s access to his attackers.
2. Control the counter.
It’s difficult to quantify how good a team is at counterattacking soccer, especially when it isn’t their preferred style of play and more of a party trick they keep handy. Atlanta United won the 2018 MLS Cup by absorbing pressure and then running freely when they got the ball back. It was their DNA. It’s not the main way Seattle Sounders FC score goals but you might not know it when you see them effortlessly transition. Morris is one of the faster wingers in MLS and forward Ruidíaz is merciless when in front of goal. If the Rapids lose possession in Seattle’s half, they have to be diligent about getting back and cutting off counters before they materialize.
3. Possession.
Seattle and Colorado are fifth and seventh, respectively, in possession in MLS. Seattle have the ball 54.0% of the time, and Colorado 52.8% of the time. The easiest way to stifle Seattle’s attack is to not let them touch the ball or dictate the flow of the match. Whichever side is controlling possession will be putting the other on their back foot and out of their comfort zone. If the Rapids are sharp and the passes are crisp, they can take advantage of a Seattle side that is bottom half in the league in tackles and pressures. Seattle want the ball, but they aren’t aggressive about getting it back when they’ve lost it. Use this to make them chase the game, and wear them down at elevation.
