Rapids Class VI

CVI Questions with Coach Clavijo: Night of Frustration

In a game that the Rapids deserved a point on the road, Coach Clavijo has taken time to answer some questions about a very frustrating night for the team.

I. Coach Gary Smith got sent off. Can you tell us a little about the Rapids new assistant coach and what happened to get him removed from the field?

Gary didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, but the fourth official mention on the report that Gary Smith was abuse in language to the head referee Tim Weyland.

I didn’t hear anything from Gary to support that statement.

II. Why did referee Tim Weyland give Tom McManus a red card while he was on the bench?

If you watch the game from the beginning you will see that Weyland was very aggressive to Thomas McManus, and after a bad call was issue against us, he jumped and directed some comments to the referee, you have to remember how close is the bench to the lines and to the field, it is a very unfair situation for players in the bench.

III. A classic game of two halves. The first half the team progressively lost control to Houston, ultimately conceding the lead. Then the team came out and their performance improved tremendously as the second half progressed, leading to Cummings tying the game. There were no substitutions and no obvious shift in the team's shape. What did you say in the locker room to get the team on the right track?

There were a couple of players that were not playing to their potential; we were waiting for Houston to play instead of our team playing.

In the second half we put the ball in the ground and played like we are capable of playing.

IV. All season long, we've seen wing play be a very important tactic employed by the team. This game however, Jacob Peterson and Nick LaBrocca seemed near invisible. Was this a shift in tactics?

There was not a change in tactics, but you also have to remember that there is another team and another player competing with you.

Second half was much better second half for Peterson, but he is still learning to play that position.

V. Omar Cummings had some terrific moments in the game. He also had moments where he seemed to try to do too much alone, including one moment where it was obvious he should have dished off to McManus. Can you give us an assessment of Omar's overall game at this point in his young career?

Omar is a great project, because of his luck of experience he is going to make some questionable decisions during the game, we understand that and we encourage him to keep trying. He needs to play with the rest of the group more and he is doing that little by little.

VI. Christopher Sullivan of Fox Soccer Channel, said on the air that the confidence you had instilled in the players was a double edged sword. That it has become a case of the patients running the asylum, referring to the red cards and the hand ball penalty kick. Do you agree with Sullivan's assertion?

I am trying to understand what he tried to say here, and it is confusing.

Ugo is a player that was out for almost 5 months and last game was his 2nd full 90 minutes in a long time.

He understood he made a mistake and that is all. We all do mistakes………. What we do next is what counts.

I disagree with Christopher comments in a big way.

Editor's Note: As do I coach!

Thanks Coach and let's get three points toward getting the Rocky Mountain Cup back in Colorado where it rightfully belongs!

Posted by mark at May 12, 2008 08:00 PM