Colorado’s coach Gary Smith played not to lose instead of playing to win today, and it came back to bite him. With Omar Cummings, Anthony Wallace and Marvell Wynne on the bench in favor of Macoumba Kandji, Danny Earls and Scott Palguta, the team couldn’t mount anything against DC United.
The carnage started quickly and didn’t let up, with the Rapids keeping no possession for the first 45 minutes of the game and the two defensive backs Palguta and Earls repeatedly and predictably breaking down with no Anthony Wallace, Julien Baudet or Marvell Wynne to clean up their mess, missing outlet passes and playing awful football. Matt Pickens is the only reason this game wasn’t 3-0, making two just improbably spectacular saves before finally ceding a goal to Danny Allsopp.
It wasn’t until the second half where Omar Cummings was subbed in that the Rapids started playing anything resembling possession ball. Unfortunately, Jamie Smith took over the duties of “useless player” and provided some of the worst passes and shots that I’ve ever seen a Rapid perform. Smith was just brutal, killing several attempts at a rally all by himself. Cummings provided the only real clear shot on goal for the Rapids only minutes after being subbed in. Claudio Lopez joined the party as well, but it was far too late at that point. He provided a few nice corner kicks and a couple of his usual clinical passes but the team seemed to have given up around the 75th minute.
The home unbeaten streak ends at 10, and the Rapids playoff chances just took a slight hit. They finish off the season against FC Dallas, LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, two of which are on the road. They'll need to take about two points from those three games if they want their playoff positioning to remain steadfast.