CONVERSATION WITH DREW MOOR
Drew Moor joined the Colorado Rapids towards the end of last season. He spent four and a half seasons with FC Dallas holding down their backline. It was a tough move for the Dallas native but he’s warming up to Denver.
“Denver is a great place to be, it was a tough transition to have to leave home, … I ‘m really close to my family back home, but having been here and living here for a little bit and being involved with the team I can’t think of a better place to be. As far as the city and the people, it’s been a great place.”
Drew left Dallas at a time when FC Dallas was a long-shot to make the playoffs. Although the move came as a surprise, he was happy to join a club that had a realistic chance of making the post season. Unfortunately, the season didn’t turn out as expected.
“I didn’t come till the end of last season, unfortunately, when I did get here we won the first game, which was nice, and we didn’t win again for the rest of the season. We had some draws in there. We always had the opportunity to make the playoffs and we just missed it.”
Drew acknowledges the injury situation but doesn’t use it as an excuse. For Drew it’s very simple, “bottom line we didn’t get the job done.”
Everyone associated with club was disappointed with the way things ended last season. Things got a little heated between the coaching staff and some of the players, but Drew believes that is just a testimony to their passion.
“I think everybody was disappointed with the way we finished the season and that’s normal. If you have a coach that isn’t disappointed missing the playoffs, maybe you’re in the wrong spot. Coach, he’s a passionate guy, he wants the best for these players, just as much as we want the best for ourselves and this team. Maybe some things were said but it’s all from the passion on the inside of these players. We want to do well, we want to succeed.”
Missing the playoffs was tough but that’s the past. The memory of missing the playoffs has done nothing but make the team hungrier and, so far, the preseason has been very intense.
“It’s tough how we ended last year, missing the playoffs like we did, we were all disappointed but I think it’s put a little bit of hunger in us, and motivation to come out and get off to a good start. Preseason has gone really well. We’ve been pretty much living at this stadium. We’ve been going at it since day one; two a days, scrimmages, and inter-squad scrimmages. It’s been very focused and very intense, which is a good sign I think.”
This season presents all new challenges for Drew. The first, is figuring out his role on the team.
“It’s tough to tell right now, I think my versatility has been an advantage in the past, I’ve played under some coaches that have played me at different positions and I’ve played all four spots in the back. I’ve even played a little bit of defensive midfield.” In the end it’s probably going to come down to a few factors, “it depends on injuries and where other guys might be playing.”
But Drew isn’t too concerned about his position as long as he’s on the field, “honestly, I’ve told coach put me wherever, I’m not going to be picky where I want to play or feel more natural. I’ve played probably, in my five season, the exact same amount of time outside back as inside back.”
The backline is starting to come together and Drew feels lucky to be playing with such talented players. The trick to good defending is communication and, according to Drew, the Rapids have one of the best communicators in the league.
“It starts with Julien Baudet and his communication, he keeps everybody on the same page, and you know he talks for 90 minutes, I almost get sick of his voice, which is a good thing. It filters through the rest of the team.”
This preseason the coaches have really focused on the defensive side of the ball. They want to make sure everyone is on the same page and getting themselves into the right spots defensively. For Drew, defending is simple. It’s all about stopping your man and keeping the clean sheet.
“I’ve been a defender since I was 16 or 17 years old. I take a lot of pride in keeping clean sheets and keeping goal scorers from scoring goals. At the end of the day, it’s a unit of eleven working defensively; it doesn’t just start with the back. It starts with the two forwards.”
Speaking of the two forwards, Drew has the opportunity to play with two of the best in Omar Cummings and Conor Casey.
As a defender, “they cause you headaches. They are two different players but they feed off each other so well, their differences are an advantage. Conor is big, strong and I don’t think he gets credit for how good his feet are or how good he is with the ball. He’s deceptively quick, he’s just a handful. With Omar and his speed and skill, he gets himself into dangerous spots, he runs off of Conor well.” Drew admits that having them as teammates is more fun than playing against them, “I actually love playing defense for this team. When I have the ball, I look up and have one of those two to choose from to pass to. It’s definitely an advantage.”
The season is just around the corner (hopefully) and the Rapids are making their final adjustments to start the season off right. Drew Moor and the rest of the Rapids will host the Seattle Sounders in a preseason Charity match tomorrow (Friday, March 19) at 7pm. It’s the last tune up game before the season kicks off on March 26, when the Rapids travel to Los Angeles to face Chivas USA.