Photo credit: Colorado Rapids
Coach Matt Wells OK with physicality, aggression which led to game nearly being abandoned
Matt Wells had two mentality-based items near the top of the action list for the two-month World Cup break from MLS play. One of them was addressed in Thursday’s club friendly against Liga MX’s FC Juárez at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, but probably not the one he had hoped.
He told reporters on Tuesday that he wanted his Colorado Rapids to concede first, citing their history having to battle from behind. It isn’t good — when conceding first, the Rapids have yet to earn a point this season, let alone a comeback win. The reason for that is evident: hanging heads and obvious dips in confidence and belief after giving up the opening goal.
“I think we’ve seen too often this season performances where we concede first, the spirit drops a little bit and then we get more and more frustrated, more and more emotional,” Wells said on Tuesday in the pre-match availability. “We lose the sort of clarity we have when we’re in front. When we’re in front in games, I genuinely believe we’re a match for anyone.
“What we need to do is find the capacity to when San Diego scores in the first minute here, we’re annoyed and frustrated by that, but then very quickly, … behaving in the same way when we’re in front, we behave in the identical way when we’re behind. When we do that, we’ll be able to come back in games and accumulate more points.”
A reset was needed, and the World Cup break was a good opportunity for it, but Wells called his team back to action as soon as he was allowed. In a crowded schedule, the team couldn’t allocate ample time to working on Wells’s advanced tactical model ahead of the recovery for the next game.
It’s impossible to recreate the exact feeling that comes when conceding first in a game, so Wells joked about the benefits of doing so against Juárez. Rapids 2 center back Vincent Rinaldi mucked that plan in the 25th minute with a headed goal at the back post off of a corner from Paxten Aaronson. In his first unofficial minutes with the first team, Rinaldi found a tough angle to drive the ball into the ground to make it hard on the Juárez keeper.
“That’s the first time I’ve scored in, I want to say, two years. … It’s good to get on the scoreboard again and that was a great feeling,” Rinaldi said. “… It was in a good spot and I saw a good angle, so I just tried to snap it down and hope something good happens.”
The other problem the Rapids have faced, particularly closer to the break, was from a physicality and intensity standpoint. What started as a fun quirk for a team that in the past had been too passive, Colorado’s discipline fell from a cliff, and sometimes emotions boiled to the point where it had been the focus instead of trying to win games.
And against a fiery Mexican team which lost a Leagues Cup knockout game at DSGP just two years ago, the friendly turned on its head in the 30-minute extra period which followed the regular 90 minutes.
Los Bravos had equalized by then thanks to a wonder strike by Madson at the end of the initial 90, which somehow found the top right corner from the Brazilian’s left foot on the left outside edge of the box. Then around 10 minutes into the extra 30, Kosi Thompson fouled a Juárez player on a counterattack, and tensions ran rampant.
For a few minutes prior, Wells was ripping into anyone who would listen, including the fourth official, Juárez’s coach and even a Juárez player. Presumably, he was upset about some of the tackles Juárez players were putting into his team at the time, though he wouldn’t elaborate after the match. Thompson’s foul prompted a scuffle in the Rapids’ defensive half that would end up including all 22 players on the field.
Before the ensuing free kick, Rapids forward Rafael Navarro was shown a red card, and the referee even signaled to abandon the game. Cooler heads prevailed after both teams came together to talk it out on the sideline before a much calmer remaining 20 minutes was played out.
“It was a heated game I think from the start. Certainly once we change teams and the second team comes in (after a 10-man substitution in the 60th minute), there were a lot of feisty challenges, a lot of aggression out there on the pitch, which I personally love,” Wells said. “We need to be exposed to that. I still think it’s an area of our game where we can be stronger and we can be more aggressive.”
Wells added Navarro was adamant that a Juárez player was grabbing him by the neck. The retaliatory shove is what earned Navarro the red.
The Brazilian won’t miss any time with suspension, but the Rapids will play another friendly at Minnesota United next week behind closed doors. Colorado returns to regular-season play on July 22 for a home match against San Diego FC.
