Enemy Scouting Report - Colorado Rapids
(image via Colorado Rapids)
The Houston Dynamo earned an important win against a red-hot Portland Timbers last weekend. It was a much-needed result for the club after bowing out of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Now, Houston will be on the road for the first time in the regular season against a new and improved Colorado Rapids.
Road matches have historically been tough for the Houston Dynamo. Last season, the Dynamo played 17 away days. The team drew 5 of them, won 2 games, and lost the remainder of matches played on the road. The club did, however, get an important point in Colorado right before the season took a break due to the Leagues Cup competition. Colorado Rapids ended up dead last in the Western Conference in 2023 and were only above Toronto FC in the overall table standings.
Today, the Rapids have a new man in charge. Chris Armas was named the head coach of Colorado at the end of such a disappointing year. Armas spent time recently in the English Premier League as an assistant coach at Manchester United and Leeds United. The Rapids ownership group, who have been criticized a lot for the lack of spending on improvements in the roster, changed that in the offseason. Colorado repatriated American goalkeeper Zack Steffen from Manchester City and Djordje Mihailovic from AZ Alkmaar. Both players are quite talented and have spent time with the USMNT over the years. However, neither of them was called up to the 2024 CONCACAF Nations Leagues Finals, making them available for tomorrow’s match against Houston. Another recently acquired player of note for the Rapids is Omir Fernandez. The midfielder spent his entire career with the New York Red Bulls before becoming a free agent. Omir had a fantastic 2023, where he scored a total of 8 goals with 4 assists in 38 games throughout all competitions.
Colorado Rapids Record: 1W-2D-1L
Results in the last 30 days:
February 24 - Portland 4-1 Colorado
March 2 – Colorado 1-1 Nashville
March 9 - Real Salt Lake 1-2 Colorado
March 16 - Seattle 1-1 Colorado
Past Match Staring XI (from fotmob.com)
There will likely be some variation but look to see many of the players in the graphic starting.
2024 Active Roster
Goalkeepers: Adam Beaudry, Zack Steffen
Defenders: Keegan Rosenberry, Sam Vines, Andreas Maxso, Lalas Abubakar, Jasper Loffelsend, Sebastian Anderson, Michael Edwards, Nate Jones, Moise Bombito, Jackson Travis
Midfielders: Lamine Diack, Djordje Mihailovic, Omir Fernandez, Oliver Larraz, Connor Ronan, Cole Bassett, Wayne Frederick, Daniel Chacon
Forwards: Jonathan Lewis, Rafael Navarro, Calvin Harris, Kimani Stewart-Baynes, Darren Yapi, Kevin Cabral
Can the Houston Dynamo get some road points against the Colorado Rapids?
