The Big Picture
The Colorado Rapids (3-12-10, 19 pts) were unable to bounce back from three first-half goals as they fell 3-0 to Minnesota United FC (9-8-8, 35 pts) on the road on Wednesday night. New signings Rafael Navarro and Sidnei Tavares saw their second consecutive starts with the Rapids since joining the club during the Secondary Transfer Window. Colorado will next travel to Real Salt Lake for the second of three Rocky Mountain Cup clashes this year on Saturday, Sept. 2.
Notable:
- M Cole Bassett made his first appearance since July 31 after returning from injury.
- D Steven Beitashour recorded his 10th appearance of the season, his 287th in the regular season (40th in the regular season as a member of the Rapids).
- GK Marko Ilić made his 5th regular season start as a member of the Rapids.
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER
On the match:
“Another disappointed feeling coming out of this game, mostly because in the first half, we actually had some good moments, but our mistakes really buried us early. And to come out in the second half, we, again, showed quite a bit of resolve. We saw some really good work up front that was able to create some turnovers, which led to opportunities for us. And probably the biggest message to the team is the mentality, again, in second half as I said last week against LAFC. It needs to be there from the beginning. And in a season that's gone the way this one has gone, we certainly look at bright spots as potential for the next game. Certainly what we saw tonight, the work out of [Rapids midfielder] Sidnei [Tavares], the work out of [Rapids forward] Rafa [Navarro]. Good to get [Rapids midfielder] Cole [Bassett] back, and because of the work of some of those guys, the front guys, really, it just became more predictable for us in the second half. So, as disappointing as it is, we feel like there are positives that we can take from it.”
On the mentality in the locker room after the loss tonight:
“I am concerned because no matter how many times you can pick out positives and highlight certain things, at the end of the day, we all know that this is a results-oriented business. And to lose again and lose by multiple goals, it's disheartening. And it's hard when a team is in this position, and we just need something positive to hold on to and to grab on to, and unfortunately, we made a few mistakes and put ourselves in a bit of a hole early. So, it's a valid question. How do we keep the mentality going again? We have to highlight the positives, and for me, the positives in the second half were the amount of work. [Rapids forward] Rafa [Navarro] did a great job of holding the ball up, which allowed us to get into some attacks, and the mentality, again, as you mentioned about LAFC. In the second half, we saw more, and we saw more than we did in the first half. And so for us, it's to put that mentality with going back to trying to get the confidence in playing the way that we play, meaning the way that we've played for years. We played with a certain identity, and I think given the situation, the season right now, I don't see the same identity, and it's a mixture of desperation, being despondent. There's a lot of different emotions going on when you go through a year like this, but when we see positives, we want to grab them. And certainly the work tonight was a positive, and we need to continue to work to get back to playing with the identity that we've had for a couple of years now.”
COLORADO RAPIDS DEFENDER ANDREW GUTMAN
On the match:
“Yeah, it was another tough loss. You know, I think it's details in our game that when you're at this level, you kind of have to just be sure of and the small details we messed up on, and they were able to transition and score some goals on us. Again, I think they didn't outplay us. I think we outplayed ourselves and we paid the price again tonight.”
On the reaction to going down early in recent games:
“Yeah, I think the reaction has been good when we go down, it's just, we almost put ourselves too deep into a hole to climb out of before we get a reaction, before we start playing better. You look at last week against LAFC, the second half, we were the better team, but we were down 3-0 again. Same thing here. We were down 3-0 before we kind of woke up and started playing. So, the reaction has always been good. It's more so starting on the front foot, being in the initiative, and, you know, pressing from the beginning and playing as a team. We have to do that before we put ourselves in a hole. And I think if we do that, we'll be in a lot better place.”
On the mindset of the team after a bad loss:
“Yeah, I mean, until the season's done, you have to give everything you can to this game. Whether the results go your way or not, you're always playing for something. You're playing for a spot on the team for next year, so the mindset has to be that you have to go into every single game as a top professional. You have to give it your all, and if you don't, you're going to get exposed in this league, and you're going to be out of a job. So personally, when I came in, I don't see anyone giving up. I think everyone's still fighting. Everyone is still trying. I've had the unfortunate time of being in Cincinnati when that wasn't the best, and it's the same thing. Guys are still wanting to play. They're still trying to give it their all. It's just sometimes the results don't go your way, but, you know, this is where your true colors come out. This is where people see if you're professional or not. And so far, I've seen nothing but good professionals in the locker room.”
