COMMERCE CITY — Center back Marvell Wynne still hasn’t forgiven himself for a dip in form last weekend against the San Jose Earthquakes, even though it was his first game back from injury.
“I did not,” he said. “I realized my play wasn’t very creative; it was just kind of possessive and kind of slow. My play was slow all around, but that’s to be expected whenever you come back.”
He’s looking for better results after a 10-day break from MLS competition ends Saturday with a match against the Portland Timbers. And with ample time off between games, he’ll be close to 100 percent for that contest coming off of a hamstring strain that cost him a month of playing time.
But right now he said he’s “85-90 (percent). Still not really confident opening up completely just because coming back from injury you don’t want to redo it. But I’ve recovered from the game so I’m just glad to get my fitness back up right now.”
The Rapids need a fully fit Wynne as they continue to work through issues in the back. Defensive breakdowns have resulted in late goals that have cost the Rapids a chance at points in each of their past two matches.
“As a defender that’s all we talked about — how they kept getting behind us and how their long balls kept hurting us and how we didn’t cover,” Wynne said. “So, from a defensive standpoint we just need to cover the long balls, get up for headers and challenge.” Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
