As Sporting Kansas City returns home to Sporting Park to take on Western Conference side Colorado on Saturday, I caught up with Rapids' broadcaster and former USMNT veteran Marcelo Balboa to preview the match. Live pregame coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. CT and is available on KMCI (38 The Spot), SKCTV, Sports Radio 810 WHB, and La Grande 1340 AM.
Jonathon Feyerherm: What's been the reason for Colorado's struggles this year?
Marcelo Balboa: I think if you watch a lot of the games it’s one of those things where they’ve come so close. They have a chance to go ahead and they don’t capitalize on those situations, and that is one thing that costs you. Colorado does a nice job on the road, they do a nice job defensively and that’s what has been able to get the results. They’re organized on the road and they have been able to get results a majority of the time and it’s never easy to get results on the road.
JF: What are your thoughts on Sporting KC?
MB: I look at it as a good job by Peter Vermes. Like every team, they’re building slowly and getting stronger as the midpoint of the season comes. They got unlucky the other night against Real Salt Lake with that deflection giving them the loss. I think you look at that as bad luck. This is a team that has a lot of quality players like Graham Zusi, and Roger Espinoza. You go back to Matt Besler and you’ve also got really strong players like like Benny Feilhaber and Dom Dwyer. It’s a strong team, and it’s a team that is gonna contend for MLS Cup at the end of the year. Again it’s Peter Vermes being very organized and creative and they are very hard working on both ends of the ball.
JF: What were the expectations for Colorado heading into this season?
MB: I think the expectations were like everybody else’s. Make the playoffs, fight for a championship and to hold up the trophy at the end of the year. I think that is everybody’s expectation, and to possibly hold up two including the U.S. Open Cup. We’re definitely behind what we wanted to be, but we still have half the season left. If we can beat someone from the bottom and go on a four or five game winning streak we’re right back in the playoff race. The important thing is to make the playoffs. It’s important for Colorado to take care of their home field and then pick off some on the road
JF: What about the midfield battle for Saturday's match?
MB: Colorado has been going back and forth while they’ve been moving some bodies around. They’ve been playing a 4-2-3-1 and we know Sporting plays a 4-3-3 so it will be interesting to see how the midfield battle is won. Colorado needs to get some bodies forward and they’ve got to take some chances. One thing when you look at Colorado is they need to get a few more numbers in the attack and have some bodies around the 18. I think it’ll be interesting, especially with Roger and Benny Feilhaber in the midfield around probably Sam Cronin and Marcelo Sarvas so I expect a good midfield battle.
JF: What are you looking forward to seeing from Saturday's match?
MB: It’s gonna be interesting to see how Colorado marks up against Dom Dwyer. One of my favorite players is Graham Zusi because of his creativity. He brings different aspects to the game. Also to see how the backline starts. Possibly a Solignac or Badji, a quick fast defender. So there are quite a few matchups I’m looking forward to.
JF: How are you expecting Colorado to approach the match?
MB: I think when you’re out to get a result you’ve got to take chances, especially on the road. You also have to stay organized because when Kansas City does attack they throw a lot of guys in the attack. The three forwards there and then you throw in guys like Roger Espinoza and Benny Feilhaber, that’s five guys in the attack. It’s important for Colorado to stay organized and I think that when Kansas City send numbers up you can quickly hit them on the counter attack
JF: As we are nearing the halfway point of the season, what are your thoughts on the Western Conference
MB: I think when they threw Kansas City and Houston back into the Western Conference people knew how much stronger it was going to get. You’ve got two former defending MLS Cup champions, Open Cup champions, so it’s gonna be tougher. So to make it through you’re going to have to be in top form the whole year. The west is in one of those years where you can make the playoffs with low forties in points. You’re gonna have to have upper forties to make it. It is what it is. Now the second part of the season is going to be interesting to see how many teams make a move and how many teams are going to trade players. I think they are going to be a lot of trades coming up soon because teams have to strengthen themselves for the playoffs. It will be interesting in these next months to see what happens especially with Gold Cup players being gone.
JF: How have Colorado's new signings (Kevin Doyle, Luis Solignanc) adjusted to their team and MLS)?
MB: Like anything else it takes a bit of time to get your feet wet. Now Kevin Doyle is finally settling in which is nice to see. It’s the same with Solignac in terms of getting in and settling in. It’s tough when you have a family and you have to find a place to live, it just takes time. I think people have seen the quality that Doyle has when he played in Europe and now it’s just a matter of him just finding himself here in the U.S. and settling down. You know how it is, when you have a happy life at home it shows that on the field. So it think it is mostly a matter of settling into Colorado.
