Gibbs Grateful, Cooke On The Move?

There was a rumor in SI a few days ago about interest in Terry Cooke back in England. The basis of the rumor? David Moyes said some good things about him. Classic English rumor; that is, little if anything behind it but they'll still print it. I love have Terry at the Rapids. But it would seem odd that PNE, Derby and Cardiff were all interested in him because Moyes said something nice. Especially for a player who had a lot of playing time in England in Div 3 (League One).

Greg Seltzer over at Soccer 365 had an interview with new Rapid Corey Gibbs.

"The feeling was overbearing," Gibbs told Soccer365. "I really didn't get so overjoyed because I am a very neutral person, but I did thank God for all he did for me."

Gibbs has looked good in Colorado's backline in his first two games. Now if Smith can straighten out the rest of the team and get them playing better, Colorado has a chance.

Getting the team sorted out can't come too soon. The Rapids travel to Salt Lake City for a game Friday night (tomorrow). Why Friday night? Who knows. With the way the 3 Rocky Mountain Cups games were scheduled this year, you have to wonder if the league is trying to kill that rivalry. It's hard enough traveling 600 miles let alone for a Thursday, Friday or Sunday game.

Speaking of the game, as you can see below the Rapids have a lot of knocks going into the match. Could we see Smith go with a 3-5-2? Or will he stick with the 4-5-1 and slide Erpen over to left back with Kimura on the right? And what is with the Salt Lake fans? Have things really been so bleak there over the years that a 3 point difference in the standings is enough to make them think they're talking smack? Anyone predicting for Cleatus to get a RC in the 70th to help CO hold on to a 1-0 win?

Real Salt Lake - Colorado Rapids Injury Report :
REAL SALT LAKE - OUT: MF Nathan Sturgis (L hamstring strain); DOUBTFUL: MF Dema Kovalenko (L calf strain); QUESTIONABLE: DF Tony Beltran (L adductor tightness), DF Ian Joy (R adductor strain) ...

COLORADO RAPIDS - OUT: MF Mehdi Ballouchy (concussion); MF Terry Cooke (L hamstring); MF Greg Dalby (R ankle); GK Justin Hughes (L groin); DF Ugo Ihemelu (concussion); MF Pablo Mastroeni (R hamstring); PROBABLE: DF Jordan Harvey (R knee); DF Jose Burciaga Jr. (R hip); MF Jacob Peterson (L hip)

Rapids - Real Salt Lake

Looks like it'll be a chilly spring evening with a chance for some rain for tomorrow night's game. Real Salt Lake is traveling to The Dick (Dicks Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colorado). RSL has yet to win on the road in 2008. In fact, they've only won 6 times away from Rice-Eccles in their history. Will the Rapids make sure that Kreis' team racks up yet another road loss?

Kyle at The Offside's look at the upcoming match
View From The Couch on it (Failure is not an option!)

Crappy Day For A Game

I'm in Salt Lake City for the Real Salt Lake - Colorado Rapids game in just a few hours. It's raining out with a 50% chance of rain throughout the rest of the evening. It's in the mid 60s so not too bad but not too great. Going into this game with the Rapids injuries I had a feeling they'd play it safe and try to grind out a draw. Wait, let me phrase that more optimistically, I had a feeling going into this game the Rapids would approach the game cautiously, make sure their opponents didn't score and choose when to go forward wisely....

....ya, that just doesn't work. I thought Clavijo's approach in this game would be to not risk a loss. And with this rain on the turf I suspect it's going to be all the more likely that this is going to be a long boring match with a moment or three when tempers boil over a bit. So it goes.