COMMERCE CITY — There is a little of Snidely Whiplash in Alan Gordon, a burly striker who concedes quite happily that he enjoys getting under the skin of opponents. For 13 seasons he did it to the Rapids, leaving bumps, bruises and exasperation in his wake. Now he will do it for them.
Gordon signed with the Rapids as a free agent in January, and as always he intends to play the provocateur.
“Absolutely, itap all part of it,” Gordon said. “I’m looking forward to doing a little more of that. I’m ready to mix it up. Thatap what I do.”
When he does, it hurts because he’s 6-foot-3, 190 pounds. Playing for Los Angeles, Chivas USA, Toronto and San Jose he has been used as a target forward who is tough in the air and can play well with his back to the goal. Ask Rapids coach Pablo Mastroeni what it was like to play against the rugged instigator and he just might wince.
“You came out of every game sore in places you didn’t know existed,” Mastroeni said. “You could never take your eye off him — some great movement inside the (penalty) area, his link-up play has always been very good, causing a lot of grief for us defensive midfielders. He steps on the field and you’re thinking, ‘Argh, here we go again,’ you’re in for a lot. He’s a guy you always want on your team and not a guy you want to play against.”
Gordon, 35, was with the Galaxy from 2004-09 and 2014-16, playing on MLS Cup winners in 2005 and 2014. Over the years he developed a knack for scoring crucial late goals and is especially valuable as a target on corner kicks. Mastroeni has options of playing him with striker Kevin Doyle or bringing him off the bench to spell Doyle when the Rapids need a late goal.
“The thing you can usually control is your effort,” said Gordon, who grew up in California and Arizona. “Getting into a wrestling match with a center back, I’m trying to cause problems, shake up the defense, take them off their game. A lot of the time I’m doing it for other players so things can open up for them.”
Former Rapids striker this offseason, also was a rugged forward.
“He’s a top-class guy, a lot of experience, played in a lot of big games, championships,” Casey said. “He brings the natural awareness of a No. 9. In terms of me coaching, there’s not so much I have to do with him because he understands the position very, very well. Really itap getting balls to him that we’re working on. We want to have balls in the box, on his head, on his feet, on Doyle’s feet. Thatap our goal right now, creating more chances with numbers in the box.”
Gordon did not appear in a preseason game for Colorado. The Rapids said he had offseason shoulder surgery and although he’s training fully, they took a cautious approach with him.
Gordon, meanwhile, has been impressed by Mastroeni’s cerebral approach.
“A lot of times, you make it to the pro ranks as a young player and they just let you go, there’s no teaching or learning, you’re just kind of thrown in the deep end,” Gordon said. “Pablo, every single morning he’s getting out and making sure that we know how to play offensively and how we’re going to score goals. We’ve been given the outline of it and it will be our turn to execute, but there will be no excuses. We know what to do. Thatap a real positive thing as a player. You’re not going, ‘What are we doing?’ We know what we’re going to do and you can see, as the weeks go by, it is a progression.
“Itap not going to happen overnight, but if we continue to stay consistent throughout the course of the season, at some point itap really going to click and we’re going to be dangerous.”
