May 20, 2008
CVI Questions with Coach Clavijo: On top of the West!
Coach Clavijo has answered a few questions about the victory that kept us in first place in the Western Conference.
I. You came out with a 3-5-2 which surprised everyone in the stands. What was your reasoning for changing the shape of the team?
Many teams show up in Colorado and are only playing with one forward, I felt that RSL was going to do the same and I decided to go with three players in the back, this change in system is much better to implement when Ugo is healthy.
II. Your first substitution didn't come until the 84th minute. In the past, you've often changed tired legs or replaced a player sometime near the 60th minute, but this time, to great success, you sat tight until we were up two goals. Why not use Cooke, Gomes, or Burciaga?
The biggest issue with this game, was that we had the ball much more in the second half, and we started to look more dangerous and alive than the first half, after Omar Cummings scored the first goal, they replaced Cutler, he was the player marking Christian Gomez man to man, that sub give Christian the freedom he didn’t have for the first 60 minutes, I knew that he was going to connect (Christian) for one goal after that. At the end, the substitution of Harvey was to play 4 in the back and last sub for Mehdi to get in the game.
III. Bouna Coundoul is leaving to play for Senegal soon. Justin Hughes has been injured, and this last game Mike Graczyk was backup to Bouna instead of Chris Sharpe. Can you give us an idea of how long till Hughes is ready to play again and which keepers are showing well enough to step in once Bouna is in Africa?
I don’t believe we can replace Bouna, which is a fact……. We are looking for option on regards to replacements.
This is not an easy issue but one we need to address very soon.
Justin is out at least until the middle of June, the other two goalkeepers are League goalkeepers and we are going to evaluate them in the next couple of days.
We know Chris Sharpe because he already played some reserve games for us, but next coming friendly and reserve games will be to evaluate Mike Graczyck.
IV. You often hear about what it's like for teammates to play against a former teammate, or a player's feelings when playing against the coach that traded him. What is it like for you to face off against Kyle Beckerman and Chris Wingert as their former coach?
I will always wish any player that I traded the best; those players were trade for different circumstances;
Some of the trades are easy to justify and other are not, but you always need to do the best for your team.
Of course you know that those players are going to be motivated to play against you, to show you that you made a mistake.
Always happen and it is normal.
V. You've got the team alone in first in the West coach, well done. The team has achieved this surprisingly with a 4-4 record. If I'm correct, all but three field players have seen the field (removing ineligible injured players). Can you discuss how you think playing so many players will shape the team long term and how playing so many young players has had an affect on your efforts to get consistent results?
This change in lineup was not by design, we all knew of the injuries we carry from the 2007 season, but we felt comfortable with the group we had all along, my only concern was not having someone upfront, proven goal scorer.
Those issues so far are under control because many different players are stepping up and Omar Cummings seems to be the one making the most of the opportunities.
The energy from the young players has brought a more intense training session every week and that is something good for everyone.
Still it is a long season and we need all the players in top condition.
VI. The rivalry with Real Salt Lake and the Rocky Mountain Cup competition has provided some wonderful games and has been fully embraced by fans on both sides of the Rockies. You were quoted after the game as saying "Salt Lake puts a lot more emphasis on the rivalry than we do", saying your goal is MLS Cup not the Rocky Mountain Cup.
As a coach you needed to diffuse some things that are happening as you see them coming.
Real Salt Lake was very aggressive “talking” about the Cup and else.
My emphasis was in getting the 3 points when we play at home, and playing a good soccer those goals will also bring us the Rocky Mountain cup.
Anyone who knows me will tell you, that I played every game to win and don’t know any other way.
Every Rapids fan would rather have the team hoist the MLS Cup, but do you not think that rivalries in MLS between teams and fans is an important part in the growth of the game and something that the team should place importance on for the sake of the Rapids fans?
Rivalries in the MLS are great, but I don’t like to extra motivate teams when they come to Colorado.
For the growth of the game I agreed with you, but do you think that the fans in Toronto needed to be motivated to support they team?
Thank you coach and keep up the tremendous work. The season is feeling very excited, and we're looking forward to another victory over Chivas USA next on Sunday!
Posted by mark at May 20, 2008 09:15 AM