The Colorado Rapids haven’t exactly had a hot start to their season. Six matches into the year, the Rapids haven’t found a win since their home opener against the New England Revolution. Goalkeeper Tim Howard is serving a three game suspension and Defender Axel Sjoberg will miss a significant amount of time after suffering a hamstring injury earlier in the season, leaving their stellar defense vulnerable to attack.
But Orlando Head Coach Jason Kreis and Striker Cyle Larin said that Colorado isn’t a bad team-- they’ve merely been unlucky.
“Colorado is a very good team,” Larin said. “I just think they’re getting unlucky and I think we can’t take that game for granted. We have to keep working hard and keep going out there and keep pressing teams, keep attacking them, and play well defensively.”
“I think it’s actually a very interesting team because if you look at the record of Colorado, it’s not very impressive. But if you look at the play, it’s a dangerous team,” Kreis said. “They’re creating a lot of goalscoring chances, a lot of really, really clear goalscoring chances that they just haven’t taken. Look at the results of the last three games and look at the chances they created and you say ‘They could have won those games, rather than lost them.’ So, I just think they’re going through a difficult stretch right now, an unlucky stretch. Been there many times before, and I know that it’s dangerous because they can breakout at any given moment.”
Orlando City remains undefeated at home and they will look to maintain that streak this weekend. They will need to take advantage of a vulnerable Colorado defense and also defend against an offense hungry for points.
Kreis and his team know what needs to be done. And they won’t be resting on their laurels.
Orlando City hosts the Colorado Rapids this Saturday, April 29th. Kickoff is at Orlando City Stadium at 4:00pm.
