Bleacher Report - Articles by Deron White

The Rapids Honest Player: Omar Cummings

Deron White — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 06:00:18 -0400

".....went down like he was shot. His face contorted with pain as he grabbed at his shins. Never mind, that he was hit in the head."

You could fill in any name you wish to begin the above mock quote. For critics who want to shame the game of soccer you can always count on them to bring up the image of a player going down with little contact; writhing on the ground in mock pain.

For fans of the game it is one of the most shameful experiences. We have no defense. It is a tragedy in the sport that this behavior exists and continues. It is embarrassing.

MLS has a good share of these players. Carlos Ruiz usually comes up as example number one. Young Ciaran O'Brien's tackle on him in the Rapid's opening game looked bad, but it actually surprised many people when it turned out Ruiz was not faking the injury. "The fish that howled wolf" seems like an apt title for the story of his career. Carlos is not the only offender, but the totality of his gamesmanship puts him on another level than most.

This is why the play of Omar Cummings has been so refreshing to watch. Omar plays an honest game.

On opening day, Omar was brought down in the box by Abel Xavier. He immediately jumped up and took possession of the ball looking to pass to a teammate. Abel was called for a penalty kick and Christian Gomez knocked it in for the Rapids second goal.

L.A. felt robbed by the referee. A few commentators even pointed to mentioned Omar's continued play as an indication that even he did not think it was a penalty. The expectation being that a fouled forward would do his best death roll after going down. That's just not how Omar plays.

Against Kansas City, Omar was again brought down as part of a pile up in the box. He once again jumped up and regained possession. There was no foul called on this play. Instead DiRaimondo came crashing through, took the ball off of Omar's foot, and punched it home. Had Omar stopped playing the play would have ended.

In last weeks win at New England Omar collected the ball near the left corner flag. Once again he was fouled. Once again he jumped up and had possession. This time the referee called the foul. Jose Burciaga then took the free kick a few yards from the end line. His swerving ball found the head of Nick LaBrocca, who put it in the back of the net.

In each instance the knee-jerk reaction of many MLS forwards in each of these situations would have been to lie on the ground. Maybe the forward would glower at the ref, and get up slowly as the play moved on. Each time Omar kept the ball alive, not putting the game in the hands of the referee.

I applaud Omar's honest play in these situations. MLS and the world game of soccer needs more of his kind. Sometimes a player is rewarded for the play acting, but more often they are not. So far Omar's shown us that just keeping the ball alive will get results. Let the ref make the calls, and the players play the game.

Looking ahead to San Jose the Rapids are starting to feel confident. They beat a good New England team in a game where they relied on a single goal followed by forty minutes of clock kill. It was ugly, but effective. They now face a weak team that they should beat.

I have advocated for the maintaining the same lineup for the first three games. I continue to think this is Clavijo's best bet for Saturday when the Earthquakes come to town.

The play in midfield has been too good, too well coordinated for the team to give up on DiRaimondo and LaBrocca. The defense has shown once again that it is solid, and that only Jimmy Conrad really knows how to beat it. The veterans will get their chance after these three games the veterans will have to earn their spots back.

After praising Omar I regret that the forward situation has me a little concerned. Christian Gomez appears to miss having Jaime Moreno as a second player maker. Omar has shown that his game is about speed, and he has done a credible job holding the ball as multiple defenders cover him. Too often he has been alone in front of the goal.

The solution to this may be for Gomez to play a little higher. Or, Omar needs to discover a quicker more accurate shot within himself. The Rapids will soon begin to see a carousel of forwards until one of them starts scoring. The solid defenses of Kansas City and New England made it tough. A home game against San Jose should be the opportunity for one of the forwards to step out from the pack.

Who will the forward be? I am pulling for Omar.

Photo of Omar Cummings courtesy of Mark Bodmer.

In Cod We Trust: How Far Have We Come?

Deron White — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:32:39 -0400

I had a basket of Cod and chips for lunch, yesterday, at GB's Fish & Chips. That is unremarkable.

What is remarkable is that GB's is a soccer place. As evidenced by the team jerseys pinned to the walls and ceiling. As well as the three screens that all had soccer on. We had our choice between the Eredivisie and the Bundesliga.

Ten years ago, Rapids' fans were lucky to get a corner television in a sports bar to turn the game on, with the sound off

Ten years on we have multiple locations to see a game. Two locations, GB's and the British Bulldog, are dedicated to the sport. Both publish a list of up-coming games for fans to plan ahead.

I am just happy that we still have a team in Colorado to support. I am tickled that I have a choice of cozy joints that have embraced the team, and provide good atmosphere for away games.

The Cod was quite good as well.

Our Rapids are headed to New England tomorrow and will face the New England Revolution. The Revs have put in three wildly differing performances. Beating the MLS champion Houston Dynamo in the opener, stinking up Chicago for their encore, and then just Wednesday night thumping Kansas City.

Fans may want to read too much into the Rapids loss to Kansas City followed by the Revs win. Kansas City has started the season very strong. The Rapids gave them a battle though, claiming the majority of chances, and fighting back from going down 2-0.

The errors that lead to the loss are easily correctable. Stephen Keel in particular will have learned not to let his man go on set pieces. He will also seldom be matched against a player as good as Jimmy Conrad was on that night.

Fernando Clavijo must like his chances against the Revolution. Teams, like the Revs, that have played a game on Wednesday followed by one on Saturday have struggled from the congestion. The Revs appear to have adjusted to life without Ralston or Twellman, but the loss of those players will leave a few holes. It is up to Clavijo's boys to find them.

One player that should find the holes is Christian Gomez. Christian did not have a great game in Kansas City. The size of the field, and the congestion it caused left little room for his magic touch. He should not have the same issue in New England. With DiRaimondo and LaBrocca occupying the Revs midfield Gomez will have plenty of opportunities to slice apart the New England three man back line.

Will Clavijo continue to play DiRaimondo and LaBrocca? It is anyone's guess. Both did quite well against Kansas City. The final goal of the game left me with questions about Mastroeni's fitness as he seemed to give up on the play that lead to the goal.

Depth may be a good problem to have, but it does produce unfortunate results. This week it was not a good problem for Dan Gargan. Dan became the victim of the Rapids desire to sign Tam McManus. No one can argue that the Rapids are not deep on the back line, nor that they do not need a goal scorer.

Rapids fans will wish Dan well as he gave his all for the team. I expect we will see him turn up again at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, but next time as an opponent.

Rapids fans will hope that Tam can justify the waiving of Dan. Back in the days of the corner television without sound, the signing of any player with foreign league experience was cause for irrational exuberance. These days Tam will have earn his cheers. He will have to fight for time in the lineup against solid players who have only the Rapids as a line on their resume. That is, as it should be. The game has come a long ways.

Enjoy it. And, try the fish and chips, they're good.

Colorado Rapids: Is Fernando Clavijo's Dilemma a Good Problem to Have?

Deron White — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 06:23:47 -0400

Okay, put yourself in Fernando Clavijo's shoes.

Your team opened the season with a four-goal shut out. Many observers have noted how bad the opposition was, but the Colorado Rapids have seen bad before and struggled to win by one goal.

In that first game Clavijo had to play four players, maybe six, that no one would have predicted to be starters. All the young players did their part and played well.

One week later, Clavijo now have at your disposal the at least two of the guys who were to be starters. Do you sit the fill-ins?

This is what people call depth, and you read the trite phrase, "It's a good problem to have."

No. It's a good problem to have when your back ups prove they can fill in.

It's a good problem to have when they perform well enough, but not so well that the starters are clearly better.

It's a good problem to have for a successful team. It's a problem coaches really do not want to have when they have not been successful.

Clavijo has not been successful, and that is the problem. Are the starters clearly better? There is no winning legacy that suggests that this is an easy question.

On a one-to-one basis, the starters are clearly better than the subs. Pablo Mastroeni is a much better player than either DiRaimondo or La Brocca. Gomes has foot skills that neither of the two young ones can match.

But, and this has to eat at a coach, the combination of the two kids was very effective.

And, that leads to the question. Is the individuality of the starters going to help the team more than the combination of DiRaimondo and La Brocca?

I have been a long time critic of Pablo Mastroeni the Rapids player. As a national team player, I think he has been great. Particularly under Bruce Arena who liked to have an attack dog in his midfield. Pablo suited the role perfectly. The Pablo the Rapids have had has been less spectacular.

With the Rapids Mastroeni has displayed the kind of interactive relationship with a midfield partner that Di Raimondo and La Brocca displayed last Saturday. In tournament play with the national team it is less of an issue. With the Rapids, in league play, it is a glaring flaw.

What does Clavijo do? Is it better to go with the talent that looks great on paper? Or, do you stick with what worked?

Those are the questions that would keep me up all night if I were Clavijo.

Rapids-Galaxy: Colorado Capitalizes in Front of a Full House

Deron White — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 04:59:37 -0400

Long time Rapids fans can all recall the big crowds for the Fourth of July games at Invesco and last year at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Each year the Rapids have sold out these games. Each year casual fans have made the decision to make their annual trip to watch an MLS game, because of the firework the ticket included. It has been an annual embarrassment that the Rapids have managed to fail in front of a large audience. Giving them nothing to come back for.

For once the Rapids capitalized in front of a sell out crowd.

Many MLS fans get irritated when the LA Galaxy visit their town, and they suddenly have a full stadium as a result of David Beckham's presence. Becks has been great for MLS. I welcome all the people who show up to watch him in the hopes that a few will come back to support the home side. Even if they do not come back the money in the coffers only helps the league, and ultimately my team.

I should be just as forgiving of the media, but I honestly detest the main stream media. Sitting in the front row of the north stands put be directly behind a row of cameras that will not be there until next time David shows up. On the news the broadcasts sports reporters all mentioned David Beckham, but that did not translate that to any news on the Rapids. Furthermore, a few saw fit to take the opportunity to make snarky comments about a game that more people like than they care to admit. The cost to the psyche is too much to bear.

The fans who came out were treated to a good game of soccer. Everybody has their spin on the game. The Galaxy are a pub team seems to be a favorite. The Rapids only look good because of the quality of the Galaxy, is another. Travel time and altitude really damaged the play of Landon Donovan and David Beckham, is a third.

For me I saw several things that were missing since 2005, which was the last year I had hope for the team to build a quality side.

First and foremost is movement. from the top to the back Saturday's game featured players who are not in the habit of standing in one spot and calling for the ball. Omar Cummings ran the whole time he was in the game. His runs and cuts provided Cooke with three identical passes that Cooke appears to be getting all the credit for. The first resulted in a penalty kick. The second resulted was thwarted as Omar pulled out the ball back rather than shoot. The third resulted in Omar's goal. All three came with Omar running diagonally and cutting inside for an easy pass from Cooke. How different would those plays have looked with a big target forward drifting inside for a header?

Christian Gomez, provided the team with a lot of possession, also has the nice habit of moving to support the play. For the last two years we have been treated to players who want the ball sent to them rather than moving to where they can best receive it. Gomez brings a lot of class to his dribbling, vision, and shooting. He also supports his team mates.

That brings me to another aspect of this game. We started to young guys in the center of the park. John DiRaimondo and Nick La Brocca. Both players ran tirelessly. Both players moved to support each other. Both fought for the ball. Neither was strictly an a-mid, neither was strictly a d-mid, both were simply central midfielders. The closest the Rapids have seen to that was in 2005 when Beckerman and Nkong ran the center of midfield. The two players made themselves greater than the sum of their skills.

This is the area of biggest concern to me. Pablo does not work well in this arrangement. He may be the best d-mid in the US, but he is not the best center mid. What he lacks is what prevents the kind of interaction that two lesser known players showed on Saturday. Pablo likes to make his tackle, make his pass, and then hang back. No more movement, no support, and that puts more pressure on who ever he plays with. How will Gomes and Pablo pair up? It remains to be seen if Pablo and Gomes can make themselves even equal to the sum of their skills.

The reserve team matters. Bouna, Keel, Kimura, DiRaimondo, Clark, La Brocca, and Cummings all came through the Rapids reserves. Many people have claimed the reserve championships are owed to the performance of Mathis, Thorton, and Cancela. After Saturday it is clear that the these guys had something to do with the two championships. Two of my players to watch, Keel and Clark, made an impact on the game.

L.A. may just be that bad, but the Rapids did their part. A 4 goal shut-out has not been something the Rapids could claim against the worst teams they have faced. And, LA is not the worst team the Rapids have faced. A season of performances like this one may even get the fans to come out even without Becks. I am less optimistic about the cameramen returning.

Colorado Rapids: Preseason Doldrums

Deron White — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:36:43 -0400

It is spring here in Colorado. With spring we start to have our wacky weather. We have snow followed by 60 & 70 degree days, followed by snow. The clocks have been adjusted forward and I have endured the misery of adjusting my sleep schedule. The youth team I coach has started practice, and the fields were open for once. I even went out and kicked the ball myself.

As I sit here nursing my sore back and creaky knees it occurs to me that with everything else I should be knee deep in Rapids news and excitement. A real writer would have notes to look back on. I just have dim feelings. It seems to me that this is an annual experience. There is an anti-climatic point between the waiver draft and the start of the season. We are in that zone right now.

The Rapids have had their big signing in Christian Gomez. They have made a few smart moves as well: acquiring Burciaga and the money wise transfer of Nicholas Hernandez. All that is left is the rumor of the acquisition of Scottish striker Tam McManus.

Tam McManus has all the hallmarks of being the Rapids annual signing of a foreign player that leaves fans wondering, "What did they see in him?" To give some perspective on this think of Roberto Brown, Osorno, Diego Serna, Zizi Roberts, Darryl Powell, etc. I hope Tam works out, if only because his name sounds great for chants.... "Tam, Tam, the hitman,..." But, can a player who appears to be a journeyman that has bounced around the SPL's forgotten teams make a splash in MLS? We will have to wait and see.

Tam has one thing going for him, he is tall, and thus fits the perennial Rapids need to find a target forward. Some people operate under the belief that a team must, should but must, have a target forward. I think this is a delusion that is generated from reading Soccer for Dummies. Great targets are hard to find. Mediocre ones seldom produce what the attributes, on paper, suggest they should. Personally, I would prefer two solid players no matter what their stature.

The only really interesting thing left to find out about Tam is, who will get cut to make room for him on the roster.

Much of that is beside the point, though I hope it illustrates it a little. There just is not much going on in Rapid land at the moment. The one thing that has any buzz potential is this signing, and it is pretty thin on buzz. There's been nothing official about Tam from the Rapids. Which, makes me wonder, why does the Rapids public relations staff let this happen each year. I understand the media black out between the Cup and the first camp. Right now should be the time to make some noise. Anything will due.

Why not talk about the trialists? I'm not saying hype these guys. There is nothing wrong with talking about them in fair but constructively critical terms. There certainly is not any reason to talk about them simply as trialing. That seems to be the genius of the Sueno MLS trials with Chivas.

Maybe I am being too impatient. The Burgundy & Blue inter-squad scrimmage is next week and Rapid fans will be able to see what is in store for the season. Right now Rapids fans will just have to be patient, until we float past these doldrums.

Colorado Rapids Season Preview: The Forwards

Deron White — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 09:27:18 -0500

What can you say about the Rapids forwards?

Everything I can think of begins with two words, "I hope..."

I hope Herculez Gomez recovers from knee surgery and really delivers on the potential he has given MLS fans glimpses of over his career. It is no longer good enough for Herc to be streaky. He needs to be consistent.

I hope the Rapids have a plan for the cap space they alleviated by trading Nicholas Hernandez. Nico proved that hard work is not always enough. You have to finish what you start, and Nico's finishing just wasn't very good. Even the odd goal that went in had the mark of someone who doesn't quite have it. Too often the ball was blasted at the net when a cooler finisher would pass it safely into the net. Headers were high rather than aimed at the goal line. I believe the Rapids made the right choice with this trade for Ward. But I hope the next move produces a scorer.

I hope Kirovski can stop pacing himself, toughen up, and discover a blood and guts side to his game. We don't need him on the field we need him to leave his sweat, blood, and lungs on the field. If he gives us that and comes off after 20 minutes, it will be the best 20 minutes he ever gave this team. This is probably his last year of being a player, he has nothing to lose and should play like it.

I hope Casey can recover from injury and can be more than just a big target. Goals matter more than size.

I hope Omar gets more minutes and ends up forcing his way into the starting line up.

I hope that Peterson can as well.

I hope the Rapids can choose the guys who score over some misguided adherence to tactical rules that say you have to have a big man/small man tandem. The game isn't played on paper or on a video screen.

I hope we can add speed to the attack, just because it's fun for the fans.

I hope we can acquire a striker that brings pace, skill, creativity, and a pure will-to-score to the offense. With the exception of pace, we really haven't had that player since Spenny.

I hope our forwards proves my assessment of the group wrong. The outcome of the season, whether we make the playoffs or miss it, is up to these guys. The defense looks likely to hold up their end of the bargain. The Rapids have acquired the creativity in midfield that has been a poor excuse for the poor production.

It is up to the forwards to put their shots on goal (Please! At very least.), and make the most of every little opportunity they get. Turn my hopes into beliefs.

Colorado Rapids 2008 Season Preview: The Midfield

Deron White — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 05:24:28 -0500

As excited as most Rapids fans are, and should be, about Christian Gomez, I remain very excited about Colin Clark.

Clark's pace and tenacity made things happen for the Rapids last season. More "cultured" fans will criticize Colin for over running the play, going to ground too easily, and missing some shots.

For my money, he was often the only player with the pace to chase down the ball—and as a result found himself with few options as the team really lacked pace elsewhere in the attack. Hopefully, this year he can continue to start, grow in confidence, and improve. With luck Gomez won't be trailing the play, and we will have some forwards that can keep up as well.

Overall, there is a lot to be excited about; an accomplished d-mid, an accomplished a-mid, a classic winger, and a pacey prospect. It will certainly be more entertaining than last year.

I have three concerns with the midfield for this season:

First, any injuries to Pablo or Gomez will set the team back, we just don't have another solid d-mid or attacking player to fill the holes.

Second, I don't generally like the a-mid/d-mid setup that I've been praising here. I think it works great in tournaments. Over a season the team will need Pablo to competently support the attack otherwise Christian will get marked, kicked, shouldered, elbowed, and beaten out of games.

Finally, the midfield will create chances, but someone has to finish them—however, that's an issue for the next installment.

Colorado Rapids 2008 Season Outlook: Defensive Strengths

Deron White — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 10:04:04 -0500

Boring, negative, cynical...

These are a few of the adjectives that have come to be associated with the Colorado Rapids.

Are they fair? Mostly they are just sour grapes on the parts of other teams. Teams earn these descriptions either by being the biggest thugs in the league or the best defenders.

Colorado has been a bit of both at various times.

The Rapids have always had good keepers—Marcus Hahnemann, Adin Brown, Joe Cannon, and currently making a bid for his place among the greats is Bouna Coundoul. Coundoul's raw athleticism hides a lot of his mistakes, but it also makes for easy, often unfair criticism by folks who look at Victoria's Secret models and complain about a freckle here or a beauty spot there.

His job is to keep the ball out of the net, by hook or by crook, and he did a very good job of that last year. We shall be looking for improvement this year, but not a great deal. My fear is that Bouna will not be with the Rapids too long. He is too young, too athletic, and has too much upside for foreign money not to lure him away from Colorado.

Add to our history of good keeping a history of very strong center backs—Steve Trittschuh, Marcelo Balboa, Peter Vermes, Robin Fraser, Nat Borchers, and Aitor Karanka. This year's team will continue the trend with Mike Petke organizing the back line, alongside Fecundo Erpen who provides man marking, speed, foot skills, and a few red cards.

The outside backs have always been the question marks on the Rapids back line. Part of that has been an adherence to a formulaic approach that says the outside back must be able to attack without leaving a gaping hole for the opponent to drive through. The other part of it is a tradition of taking college kids who historically played midfield and moving them to the backline.

This year the Rapids have their ideal left back in Jose Burciaga, a player who can join the attack and get back to defend. He was also out of favor in Kansas City for forgetting to close the barn door while attacking.

The right side is less settled than the left. The Rapids have a platoon of speedy young guys to throw out there: Ugo Ihemule, Dan Gargan, and Kosuke Kimura. All are fast enough to miss a tackle recover and miss another before finally getting scored on.

Gargan is probably the most rounded of the three, but he is coming back from injury. Kimura has good attacking ability, but he is pretty easy to knock off the ball. Ugo is the strongest defender, but the least safe making a forward pass.

Too many people call themselves sports fans without understanding one of the fundamentals of all sports: defense. Rapids fans need to get behind and celebrate their defenders. We have a great history of strong defenses and this year may be the strongest over all.

It's not their fault that we have less to celebrate on the offensive side of the ball.