Been looking at some recent Colorado games and—how do I do a spoiler tag?—they're just not a very good team. Their 3-5-2 has no idea what to do with possession, to the point that Sporting KC's off ball approach the first time they played was to hang around in a low block and send Khiry up to hassle the three center backs by himself. But Opara and Besler were too far back and left some pockets of space on the flanks that game, so when they met again in Kansas City, Sporting pushed up to a medium block to put just enough pressure on Castillo and Colvey to keep the wingbacks facing the wrong way. The Rapids created absolutely nothing from open play and finished with 0.53 xG.
I'm not sure NYCFC has that kind of defensive patience. Choosing not to press is pretty foreign to us (although that didn't stop RBNY from holding back and inviting Colorado into their half, kind of an unnecessary tactic against a defense that's sloppy whether or not you catch it in transition). Making our fullbacks and center backs move up and down as a line, dropping our wingers into midfield defensive duties, and generally trusting in the numerical advantage that Colorado's three-man back line gives us aren't really what we're about, but SKC showed that they're effective against this team.
I don't know, I'm not sweating it. Maybe we'll line up in our own goofy 3-4-3 or whatever we're calling that thing and throw roundhouses like that wild second half against LAFC. In the end tactics shouldn't matter that much, right? It's the Rapids.
