Diack’s debut underscores team’s options in the defensive midfield

With five minutes left in a game the Colorado Rapids trailed 2-1 last week at Inter Miami, the decision to sub out forward Rafael Navarro for defensive midfielder Lamine Diack raised a few eyebrows, to say the least.

Three minutes later, it looked like a stroke of genius from Chris Armas.

Colorado needed some sort of defensive presence to break Miami’s run of play, and the Rapids head coach called on his Senegalese six to deliver it in Diack’s debut with the Burgundy Boys.

“Watching the game, we didn’t have a great grasp of it. … We’re pushing the game, we’re trying to get a goal,” Armas said. “We love being in control, but in that moment, we had to embrace if it got a little out of control. … I thought, if we could have the defensive structure in the middle, Lamine would be that guy.”

That’s exactly what Diack turned out to be.

The 23-year-old midfielder made the key interception to jumpstart a counterattack that tied the game at two, completely changing the game with one play. Not long after, the Rapids escaped with a draw and much-needed point on the road.

The Rapids made a number of big additions adding the likes of Djordje Mihailovic, Zack Steffen and Sam Vines to the roster. The last remaining piece was a strong addition at defensive midfielder to pair with Connor Ronan in the team’s 4-2-3-1 lineup.

With Ronan coming off of a team MVP season, Colorado signed three candidates: 2023 MLS NEXT Pro MVP finalist Oliver Larraz from Rapids 2, Jasper Löffelsend from Real Salt Lake and Diack on loan from French side FC Nantes.

Now, the race for the role is getting interesting.

Diack is the most pure defensive mid of the bunch. The other three are better attacking players.

Löffelsend, a bit more skilled than Diack, packs a strong defensive punch in his 5-foot-8 frame, but Diack is 36 pounds heavier, five inches taller and noticeably stronger.

The problem for Armas, at least for the first portion of the season, has been the health. The only one of those four defensive midfielders to have played every game has been Larraz, who has turned heads in his first handful of games under his first-team contract.

Because of that, Cole Bassett has been plugged into that defensive mid role alongside Larraz. He’s done well, but he’ll be the first to tell you he’d rather play higher up the pitch.

Ronan and Löffelsend both picked up injuries more than a month ago in the Rapids’ comeback win against Real Salt Lake. Löffelsend should be back as a sub this coming weekend or next, but Ronan still has a ways to go.

Diack, who arrived in Colorado after preseason training started, was somewhat of a project to get match fit. That said, he provided a winning play when the Rapids needed it in the dying moments of a big match. It’s a small sample size to evaluate, but something to keep an eye on in matches to come.

Ronan will be a shooin for one of the defensive midfield roles upon his return. But now that Armas’ other options are healthy, he’ll need to find ways to get them meaningful minutes to evaluate. Specifically Diack, whose loan is up in July.

For now, Armas is making his thoughts and strategy clear once all four are healthy and ready to contribute.

“If we have four options to choose from, that means you can start games one way and you can finish the game a certain way and you can think about a different system. But our principles don’t change,” Armas said. “You know, you can play two strikers, play a diamond, get more central midfielders in — we’ve thought about it and we’ve trained it a bit.

“You want to be in a position where you can make those decisions because the internal competitions get stronger and we all get better.”