COMMERCE CITY — When the Rapids and Revolution line up Saturday, it might feel a little bit like deja vu. The teams are just two weeks removed from facing each other in Arizona in a preseason game in which the Rapids won 3-1.
“The good and bad of preseason is that you get to see each other, but you also maybe get a false sense of each other as well,” New England coach Jay Heaps said.
Both teams played slightly different lineups in that exhibition match than what is expected Saturday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.
The Rapids, who had the stingiest defense in MLS last year, allowing only 32 goals, will face a tough test trying to stop a dangerous Revolution attack that features Kei Kamara, Lee Nguyen, Juan Agudelo, Kelyn Rowe and Diego Fagundez up front.
“We have to make sure we limit their time and space and get a lot of numbers around their guys in attacking areas,” Rapids captain said. “Because if you give them time and space they have a whole host of players who can hurt you.”
Heaps said he wants his attackers to have fluid movement against the Rapids, allowing them to interchange positions and then make smart in-game decisions on whether to play balls in behind the back four or find space underneath, between the Rapids’ back line and midfield.
“It’s a lot of what we work on every week and then seeing what Colorado gives us,” Heaps said. “They don’t give away a lot. So you’re going to have to find the moments and find the space that’s open.”
A key matchup will be the 6-foot-3 Kamara against the Rapids’ 6-7 center back Axel Sjöberg. The last time the two faced each other in 2015, Sjöberg was sent off after picking up a pair of yellow cards for fouls on Kamara, then of SC.
The Revolution allowed 54 goals last season, more than any team in the Western Conference, and narrowly missed the playoffs in the East. In the off-season, they brought in two new center backs, Benjamin Angoua and Antonio Delamea, to shore up their back line.
The that they have been working on this preseason.
“As always at home, the goal will be to get the crowd involved early on,” Cronin said. “Get them excited and just use the altitude to our advantage, kind of wear them down over 90 minutes.”
The Rapids were unbeaten at home in the regular season last year. Heaps said the Revs have factored the altitude into their game plan.
“You have to adapt and I think we understand playing at altitude, it’s never easy,” Heaps said.
