Wednesday, May 14, 2008

And That Says Everything About What's Wrong with the Rapids

The Rapids have scored a boatload of goals, but only one of their players has scored more than one. As a result, you can't really say that the Rapids have a go-to guy.

Jeff Carlisle quoted Colorado Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo on this problem: "We haven't had that one player who is stepping up and being that Juan Pablo Angel. That's a luxury we don't have, and because of that, we have to do a lot more work as a group."

Does Clavijo and Rapids owner Kroenke really think a player from the Rapids reserve or bench is going to "step up" and be JPA? That's like expecting a bench player for the worst team in a Division Three basketball program to become Lebron James just by shooting a few extra free throws after practice.

The truth is, the Rapids haven't had a go-to guy since 2005 with Jeff Cunningham and his 12 goals. The last two seasons, the leading scorer on the Rapids has had 6 and 7 goals respectively (Kirovski last year, Hernandez and Beckerman the year before). I think you really have to go back to John Spencer to really find a true go-to guy, though. Relying on Jovan Kirovski to suddenly realize his potential at 32 isn't going to cut it.

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