The Big Picture
The Colorado Rapids’ campaign in the inaugural edition of Leagues Cup came to an end on Monday night with a 4-1 loss to Liga MX side Deportivo Toluca FC in a match that was delayed by over two hours due to inclement weather. Colorado will resume MLS play on Aug. 20 on the road against LAFC.
Notable:
- F Diego Rubio made his first appearance since May 6, 2022, scoring the Rapids’ lone goal of the night via a stoppage time penalty kick to make the score 2-1.
COLORADO RAPIDS HEAD COACH ROBIN FRASER
On the match:
“I thought we started off quite positively. We were able to put them under some pressure, probably didn't do as well with some of our early possessions as we needed to. But it was more or less an even first half it felt like and to give up the goal just before halftime was obviously a bitter pill to swallow because it made the mountain even higher. I thought when we went to the 4-3-3, we were able to get some pretty good pressure on them, and for a spell there, it looked like we were going to get ourselves back into the game. We get the goal, two to one, I know it's still a huge mountain, but at the end of the day, we obviously want to win the game, and then to concede the goals late. We're pushing forward. Still don't think we handled the transition as well as we needed to, and credit to them, they have some very good players. So, in the end, it's certainly disappointing to lose the way we did, and like most games, we have moments in the game where it was really positive. But again, those moments need to be longer.”
On what the team needs to do with the three weeks before the next game to finish the season strong:
Well, we need to continue to work. We need to continue to work. We need to continue to be better and better with the ball, making sure that we don't turn the ball over to lead to transitions. Obviously, that's part of the game, but you want to minimize that. And then the other part of it is to win games throughout the rest of the year, we have to be—we have to compete and we have to be combative, and I think that between those things, this willingness to compete day-in, day-out, that's a big part of it. And as I said, some of the things with the ball, to make sure that we don't expose ourselves. I feel like we've given up quite a few goals in transition this year, and out of set defending, we've been pretty efficient, but we have to get better in dealing with transition. Not all, but most of the harrowing moments we've had certainly here in the last month or so seem to all be off transition, so we have to continue to get better at that.”
