Sounders Face Test on the Road Against Colorado

The Sounders face the Rapids tonight on the road. What will Colorado coach Pablo Mastroeni have waiting for them?

The Colorado Rapids went winless over their final 14 MLS matches last season and had several player signings fall through for them during the offseason. Most Sounders fans probably had this match circled as a way to earn three points on the road over a weak opponent, especially after the sluggish 0-3 start to the season for Seattle.

However, Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni is never one to roll over. His under-the-radar signing of Albanian forward Shkëlzen Gashi was hailed as one of the most underrated moves in the league. Then the Rapids announced they were adding the greatest goalkeeper in American soccer history during the summer transfer window.

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But Tim Howard’s addition won’t help the Rapids tonight against the Sounders. Instead, Colorado will rely on another new addition to the squad, Jermaine Jones, to attack the stingy Sounders defense. Due to injuries to forward Kevin Doyle and midfielder Dillon Powers, Jones cracked the starting XI for the Rapids in their latest victory over the New York Red Bulls at home in the snow.* Jones was unpredictable, completing only 65 percent of his passes playing out of position as the attacking midfielder in Mastroeni’s complex 4-2-3-1. But the passes he did complete led to five shots on goal. Jones even put one in the net himself.

While it’s never a good idea to predict what Mastroeni will pull out of his magic hat before a match, it’s likely safe to speculate that Jones will be back in the attacking third against the Sounders. With midfielder and former Sounder Marco Pappa also injured for the surprising 4-2-1 Rapids, stopping Jones will be all the more important.

The Sounders have their own injury issues. After finally finding an offensive alignment that produces–by sending forward Clint Dempsey inside and midfielder Andreas Ivanschitz outside–Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said yesterday that both Dempsey and fellow forward Nelson Valdez are questionable for tonight’s match. Dempsey is dealing with groin soreness and Valdez is rehabbing a muscle injury. We could see forward Oalex Anderson and/or midfielder Aaron Kovar take the pitch in Commerce City (which reminds me a little of White Center) tonight.

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No one knows what to expect out of the resurgent Rapids tonight as the Sounders try to keep their winning ways up on the road. A fun match.

*A blizzard dumped about a foot of snow on the Denver area last weekend, causing the scheduled 4/20 rally (the organizers couldn’t get permits for a festival actually on April 20th) to be cancelled. I and thousands of my peers here in Denver who were excited for a free Lil’ Wayne and Wiz Khalifa concert at the festival, were extremely disappointed.