Coping with an avalanche of injuries has been Coach Myernick’s biggest challenge

The vast number of new faces on the Rapids’ preseason roster suggested that adjusting to personnel turnover would be Colorado’s greatest challenge for the 2000 season.

Instead, an onslaught of injuries – plus absences due to national team duty – presented Coach Glenn Myernick an even greater test.

“We’re going into our 15th game of the season,” Myernick said before a 1-0 win over Los Angeles, “and we have yet to have 16 of our own players available for selection in any one of our games.

“If every time a player misses a game, because he’s with the national team or he’s injured, we have missed 86 games this year.”

So Myernick faces a daunting puzzle before every game, piecing together lineups with the few fit players he can find.

“I just wish we could see light at the end of the tunnel,” he says. “For instance, [Ross] Paule and [Anders] Limpar come back, and Matt Okoh breaks his toe the other day in San Jose. Jason Bent has missed three games in a row with the Canadian national team.

“Jorge Dely Valdes comes back from the Panamanian national team with something wrong with his lower back. He’s about to miss his third game in a row. It just continues to escalate for us.”

TRAINER WORKS OVERTIME. While the spate of casualties has Myernick frustrated, trainer Jay Melette has been working overtime tending to the myriad injuries.

“There is no underlying correlation if you look at all the injuries,” Melette says. “They all have different mechanisms of injuries, different causes to their occurring.”

Since no extra medical staff has been hired, Milette has coped by “putting in more hours.” He has his theories about why the injuries keep coming.

“What happened was, we started the season behind the eight ball,” he says. “We got slammed with a lot of injuries early. What happens is, when you have a 20-man roster, and you lose a lot at one time, you have the rest of the team picking up the slack.

“The guys who are carrying the work load make themselves susceptible to injuries.”

Myernick has had to change the way he chooses lineups and how he runs practice.

“You want to pick the best team based on quality, based on form, and the confidence players have,” he says. “We’ve simply been picking our team based on availability.”

The Rapids have explored all avenues.

“We’ve had to start call-ups [from the A-League],” Myernick says. “It’s been that way since preseason, and it’s very, very frustrating. There is no rhyme or reason behind the injuries. They’re all a variety of different things. Add the national team call-ups and it’s been very frustrating.”

The injuries have certainly contributed to Colorado’s inconsistent performances, but Myernick insists his team is persevering.

“We don’t look at it as an excuse,” he says, “we look at it as something we have to deal with.”

HOPE IN THE HOMESTAND. Considering the injuries and a schedule that has taken them on the road for nine of their 15 games on the road, the Rapids are faring quite well. They remain in striking distance of second place Los Angeles in the Western Division.

And heading toward the All-Star break, the Rapids will play six out of eight games at home. Positive results could see the Rapids in a favorable position heading into the second half of the season.

Moreover, Milette feels that relief may be in sight.

“We’ve increased the quantities of treatments,” Milette says. “We are looking at preventing injuries. I think that’s how you dig yourself out of the hole. We’re just now starting to get ourselves out of the hole. When we do, we’re going to be a good side.”

Meanwhile, Myernick dreams of the day he can start his 11 favorites.

“We like to think that when, and if, we get any, or all, of our first 11 on the field, we’re going to be quite a good team,” he says.

by Soccer America assistant editor Bryan Alvarez