Time to check in with our experts on our forwards. The long delay in posts is due to me having the chills and 103 temperature - it felt as though I may never post again!!
First, we'll start off with Nick Thomas
So, to the forwards. This is where my enthusiasm and anticipation for the upcoming season begins to wane somewhat. Strong defense, potentially exciting midfield -- but can someone tell me who is the player to notch 15 goals this season?
Christian Gomez may be playing a practical forward role, but he is still a midfielder. He will create chances but he should not be expected to score like a striker. People discuss the welcome return to fitness of Herculez Gomez, but to me? I have never really seen him as an out-and-out forward.
He is a brilliantly offensive winger (maybe he could persuade Terry Cooke to be a little more attacking) and his pacy runs frighten defenses everywhere. But he is not a striker in the true sense of the word. Not a target man.
We all know the problems we had scoring last year (Kirovski top scoring with six goals, four of them penalties) and we haven’t found a suitable scorer in the off-season. Maybe Hernandez will step up to the plate? He is still there so maybe he is back in favor because I honestly thought he would be sold (Editor's note - Nick shows off his knowledge! Niko has been traded off to the Crew for Tim Ward after he sent this report in!).
Conor Casey is a player with tremendous heart but he is not going to score a 10-gallon hat full of goals. Omar Cummings had the best strike rate given minutes played and is a good player who consistently performs well when he gets the chance but it is hard to see him scoring many. Maybe it will be one of the Brazilian players rumored to be signing?
Right now, that looks the most likely chance of scoring goals this season. We have some good forwards (Casey, Cummings, Jacob Peterson) but none of these guys are Taylor Twellman. I wouldn’t be turning in my sleep if I was a defender visiting DSG Park this season. May everyone prove me wrong.
Now the editor will chime in with his opinion - maybe there's a wee bit of news in the post too?
Goal scoring. With the exception of the Spencer years with a sprinkle of Bravo here and there, it's always been the elusive part of soccer for us Colorado fans. As it stands now, it's still an unfortunate aspect for us fans.
Heading into the new season, we're pretty much sitting where we were last season, which as every Rapids fan painfully knows, isn't a good thing. There are a couple differences. First and foremost, the addition of Christian Gomez brings in a player that can actually create chances for our forwards. That's the obvious. The not so obvious is the emergence of Colin Clark on the left which will hopefully keep our gaffer from putting forwards in the midfield again. Both these factors mean a return to the front line of Herculez Gomez and Kirovski, where both belong.
But our personnel remain the same with the exception of Niko. I think this is a make or break season for Peterson since he's probably forth choice for Coach Clavijo and needs to capitalize on injury opportunities. Kirovski is moving to a role that he's much more suited for.
Herculez remains my hope to be the break out goal scorer with my belief that Cummings could certainly increase his value with the team this season. Casey provides a valuable holding target, but I don't see him putting ten or more in the net.
So while I think we're deep with capable players, I've yet to see the player that puts this team into contention with a dangerous scoring ability that puts other teams on their heels.
With the signing of unknown quality Brazilian Reinaldo mired in difficulties beyond the fault of the Rapids, who is going to provide for us? This team needs another John Spencer. Hopefully one of our boys will step up and show us what we've been starving for.
Let's see what Deron White has to say...
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 Kirovski can stop pacing himself, toughen up, and discover a blood and guts side to his game. We don't need his name 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 as 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 does 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 game 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 prove 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 even poorer 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.
Maybe Daniel Clark is a little more optimistic?
The Rapids were abysmal on offense last year. They scored a whopping 29 goals in 30 games. They recorded 9 scoreless games and averaged less than ONE goal per outing. It didn’t even matter whether the Rapids were at home in their new stadium or away, scoring 16 at home and 13 away is not going to get the job done.
While Clavijo was busy trying to figure out who was the best front line, the Rapids never gelled. He put too many different line ups in that never worked out. Trying to find a bright spot amongst the offense is hard.
The forwards as a whole had less than 60 SOG. Between the 6 forwards used in 2007, they recorded only 18 goals, hardly enough to win any hardware. Two of those 6 forwards have been traded, another 2 were injured, and that leaves youngster Cummings and veteran Kirovski to carry the load this season.
Although Hercules and Casey are expected to return, their injuries may hamper their product on the field this upcoming season. The Rapids will look to Omar Cummings, who scored twice in 2007 in only 182 minutes of play. If he can continue that streak of almost 1 goal per game, he would give the Rapids their desperately needed scoring threat.
With acquisitions this off-season, expect a rejuvenated Rapids offense. Christian Gomez will bring that much needed light amidst the darkness that is the Rapids offense. If he can match last year's performance of 10 goals and 10 assists, this team would be one of the best.
Ben Woolf, bring us some sunshine on this situation!
On the surface it doesn't seem like there is much to talk about with the Rapids forwards corps. In 2007 they were terrible. The Rapids scored 29 goals in 30 games. Only expansion club Toronto FC was worse with 25 goals.
Team leading scorer, Jovan Kirovski, scored 6 goals, of which 4 were penalties. Roberto Brown was a much heralded off-season signing up top, scored 3 goals, and then got dropped from the team. Conor Casey came to the club injured, finally found some playing time and scored 2, the same total scored for the Rapids by other teams' misfortunate own goals.
The problem in 2007 was that the Rapids were one dimensional and wracked with injuries. Herculez Gomez would look good for a few weeks, creating chances, making strong runs, and then he'd be on the bench for weeks. His season was ended early with surgery. Conor Casey looked strong after an extended period getting accustomed to the team, and then got injured.
Then there was Nicolas Hernandez. A bright spot for the Rapids in 2006, he scored 1 goal in over 1,400 minutes of 2007 playing time. In many games it was like he wasn't even on the field...but he was. There were extended periods of time where he played out of position, but still....
Here we are in 2008 and little has changed amongst the forwards group. The Rapids finished the 2007 season with Jovan Kirovski, Herculez Gomez, Conor Casey, Omar Cummings, Nicolas Hernandez, Daniel Osorno and Jacob Peterson on the books.
So what has changed in 2008? Osorno "retired." Yes, that is it. Otherwise the forwards are unchanged. Editor Note: Niko was traded since this was written. The Rapids did draft Kevin Forrest out of Washington, however he has injured himself in pre-season and is no longer with the team.
As discussed in the midfield section, the addition of Christian Gomez should help the forwards with better service and added creativity. Furthermore, opposing defenses won't be able to focus on one aspect to defend, the Rapids now have more threats. But, is that enough? It seems like the Rapids are still putting too many eggs in one basket. I hope it works out, but what if it doesn't?
On the bright side, Jacob Peterson and Omar Cummings are another year older and more experienced. With better midfield play, their speed and ability to get into space should pay off. I know coach Murphy is excited to see what this pair can do in '08. Again, I hope these two youngsters up their production in 2008, but what if they don't?
For me, the but, but, buts are too many when it comes to the offensive end. While I am very excited about the addition of Christian Gomez, I wish the Rapids had made an additional move to further fortify the offense against injury. If the forwards go through more pain in 2008, there will be problems.
The Rapids history of thriftiness explains why Gomez was the only big signing of the off-season. Us fans can't expect them to act like DC United or anything. However, I would have liked to see some kind of improvement to the front line. Right now there is too much hanging on "what if" scenarios to be overly optimistic about the Rapids' ability to score goals in 2008.
Ouch... okay, I think we have our verdict: The Great, The Hopeful, and The Ugly appears to be the pre-season promise for our Rapids in 2008. Let's see if they can prove our predictions wrong and end up Good, Better, and Best!
Posted by mark at March 1, 2008 09:29 AM