There have been a few notable Rapids collapses under Chris Armas, but perhaps none worse than what was endured at Sporting Kansas City Saturday night given the circumstances.
Up 2-1 with 15 minutes to go, Colorado gave up three goals in a six-minute span as SKC won 4-2 and completed its season sweep of the Rapids. In seven days, the Rapids have been outscored 7-2 by the 13th- and 15th-place teams in the Western Conference, all while jostling for position in the bottom third of the playoff picture.
“It’s lots of little things that we can be better at, whether it’s set pieces defensively, too many cheap giveaways that lead to transition moments … these things cost you games,” Armas said. “It’s in the bucket of controllables for us. We’re still a team that can beat anybody. … But regardless, we have to defend better and do lots of things better if we expect to make the playoffs and win, which is our expectation.”
Colorado featured a 5-3-2 for the first time in the Armas era with a host of new faces around the pitch. The back five was the most unfamiliar, consisting of a debutant, a first Rapids start, a 20-year-old a month into his Colorado tenure and Keegan Rosenberry, who hasn’t started an MLS match since the club last played SKC on July 4. Andreas Maxsø was the only regular.
The Rapids conceded in the fourth minute, and all that inexperience — at least in playing with each other — was painfully evident. A corner kick delivery sailed to the opposite side of the field to Khiry Shelton, who had time to cross to Dejan Joveljić, who tucked a header to the lower near post. Colorado, which set up seven players in a straight line across the six-yard box, failed to mark either of them.
There were other, less costly, miscommunications and errors by the defense throughout the first half. But it all fell apart late in the game on a counterattack, a corner and a spectacular solo dribble and finish for SKC’s three late goals.
“(Integrating new faces) is something we try to take in stride. We’re also not as familiar with the back five or even the back three in this formation,” Rosenberry said. “That’s not an excuse. … (We need to learn) each other’s tendencies, when to step, when to shift, how we shift and how guys like to move. The timing is wrong by a split second and we’re not ready (to defend attacks).”
Offensively, the wingbacks — Rosenberry and Rafael Santos in his first Rapids start — contributed greatly. Rosenberry — almost accidentally on an odd bounce — gave Colorado the 2-1 lead in the 31st minute with his chest on a Santos cross that narrowly missed the feet of Rafael Navarro.
Santos played spark plug on a pair of other instances: a booming shot off the crossbar from distance, then later a low, driven cross which would have been a surefire Cole Bassett goal if not for a nifty clearance.
Navarro equalized in the 22nd minute with a chip shot after Bassett provided an inch-perfect pass to send the Brazilian alone on goal. The Rapids’ leading scorer increased the margin of that lead, scoring his 12th MLS goal this season. That makes 10 in his last 13 games in all competitions.
Minutes earlier, though, Navarro was denied from the penalty spot by SKC goalkeeper John Pulskamp. He’s just 2-for-4 on the season, and the Rapids are seventh-worst in the league as a team at a 64% conversion rate despite drawing an MLS-leading 11 penalties (seven converted).
After conceding early, the first half was riddled with chances and near misses. Along with the penalty and Santos’s close efforts, new record arrival Paxten Aaronson could have had his first goal with the club if it weren’t for a block on a point-blank shot. In total, the Rapids produced 2.98 expected goals on seven shots on goal and six big chances, numbers unseen from Colorado in long stretches this year.
Those numbers hardly went up in the second half, particularly as SKC ramped up its attack and shifted Colorado’s focus to defending.
“The things we did well tonight weren’t lucky, and the things we can do better are fixable, and that’s the main thing,” Armas said. “We do feel good about our ability to create chances on the night.”
With five games to go in the regular season, Armas’s contract has not yet been renewed and ends after this year. Rapids president Pádraig Smith has said multiple times that an extension is in the works, but the fact it has not come is telling, particularly after two horrible losses against lesser opposition.
The Rapids dropped to eighth place in the Western Conference and sit a point above San Jose and its high-caliber offense. As it stands, those two teams would play in a play-in for the right to a series against the No. 1 seed, whoever that turns out to be. The two teams ahead of the Rapids, Austin and Portland, both have games in hand.
Along with a playoff spot, Armas may be coaching for his job right now.
“There have been some discussions. It’s not moving as fast as I’d like, to be honest, but I’m hopeful,” Armas said. “This is where I want to be. I love the team, I love the fans. With five games to go, I would have liked to know where my future is, but the good thing is that it’s come up and we’ll see. Hopefully I can be here for years to come.”
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