COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – After two years of featuring regularly for the Colorado Rapids, Homegrown defender Shane O’Neill is finding playing time hard to come by in 2015.
Still just 21, O’Neill has had an uneven start to his third full season as a pro, struggling for consistent looks with the Rapids while frequently shuttling back and forth between Colorado and training camps with the US senior and U-23 national teams.
He has just three appearances for the Rapids this year, and seems to be feeling a little bit of the extra pressure that comes with trying to work his way back into the first-team.
He did see the field on Saturday, going the full 90 in Colorado’s 1-1 draw at the LA Galaxy. For the most part, it was a strong performance. But, as it goes with center backs, one little mistake can ruin an otherwise solid effort, and O’Neill was feeling a little bit of a letdown after losing Alan Gordon on the Galaxy’s 75th-minute equalizer.
“You really have to take advantage of your opportunities so obviously it’s a bit of a disappointment to let in that late goal in LA,” O’Neill said following Tuesday’s training session. “A lot of people will say that’s Gordon’s thing, but in the heat of the moment, it’s not an easy thing to defend. I have to be better.”
With the Rapids, those opportunities have been hard to come by this season. O’Neill’s start Saturday was only his second of 2015, and his first since March 21, a difficult thing to deal with for a player who started over 20 games in each of the past two seasons.
“I’m not going to sit here and tell you I like sitting on the sidelines. Obviously I want to play,” O’Neill said of the situation. “It hasn’t been easy. I’ve got to keep fighting and keep pushing. It’s about being consistent at a high level.”
Unlike previous years, Colorado boasts increased competition and depth at center back in 2015, with sizable offseason additions 30-year-old veteran
Bobby Burling
and first-round draft pick
Axel Sjoberg
registering six and five starts, respectively.
“It’s about trying to figure out tactically what makes sense,” Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni said of his choices in central defense. “There’s no real depth chart. Bobby has been playing well. Shane has played well. There are no guarantees this year and everyone has to earn their spot every day.”
Unfortunately for O’Neill, he hasn’t always been around for the Rapids’ day-to-day competition. Along with teammate and fellow 21-year-old Homegrown
Dillon Serna
, O’Neill has faced the challenge of trying to capture the eye of Mastroeni despite having spent significant time away from Colorado while on international duty.
“That’s the challenging thing. You go away and you feel like you played really well but you come back and you have to come back to square one because you weren’t here,” said O’Neill, who missed a chunk of preseason while at the USMNT’s January camp and has attended two U-23 camps during the regular season. “The tough thing is it’s a big year for us with [Olympic qualification for] the U-23s. We’re not guaranteed to make that team. We want to be a part of that group. But I think in the long run if we keep our head down and keep working our day is going to come. We’ve shown that we can play in this league and we can play really well in this league.”
At the club level, Mastroeni remains tasked with trying to maintain a level of familiarity within the group.
“I think it’s been difficult from that perspective for sure,” Mastroeni said. “From the start, we’re trying to be a lot more cohesive. It’s hard when you’re not in preseason. There’s a lot of learning that goes into the preseason. Being away and having to play a different style, it’s hard to get that consistency, that rhythm, that understanding of what we’re trying to achieve.”
However, as a former USMNT regular himself, the Rapids’ head coach is openly supportive of his players’ international aspirations.
“The big plan is to make sure he gets to the Olympics and make sure he represents his country,” “Mastroeni said. “It’s not just isolated games or isolated events. Everyone has a tangible role, whether you’re on the field or not.”
Likewise, while O’Neill would certainly welcome more playing time, he’s been approaching his current situation with a healthy dose of maturity.
“From [Mastroeni’s] perspective, he’s seeing the guys every day so you can’t go after the coach,” O’Neill said. I’ve gotten three games over the past couple of months with the U-23s and a couple games with the Rapids so it’s not like I haven’t played a game. I still feel like I’m pretty sharp and hopefully more opportunities will come.”
