USOC Qualification Announced

MLS announced the qualification format and hosts for this year's U.S. Open Cup. As in the past 4 years some MLS teams, including the Rapids, will have to qualify for the U.S. OPEN Cup. The top 6 teams in last years standings qualify automatically. Colorado, by virtue of the meltdown to FSL in the last 5 minutes of the final regular season game, finished 7th (but probably got an easier road to their MLS Cup victory).

The Rapids will play Chicago in the second round, after getting a first round bye, then if they win they'll play the winner of San Jose and the winner of the Portland-Chivas first round match-up for a spot in the true U.S. Open Cup.

As int he past 3 years, the hosts for the play-in games were determined by a "coin flip". I put coin flip in quotes because for the 7th and 8th straight time, the Rapids lost the coin flip to host either possible round this year. The odds of losing 8 straight coin flips are 1 in 256, or 0.39%. Only one of the eight coin flips was filmed for public viewing. Not only that, but a majority of the prior coin flip losses occurred when it would be convenient for the Rapids to play on the road since they had a league match in their opposition city scheduled that same week. I was actually hoping that would work in our favor, since Chicago is here in May, but I guess not.

Given what Gary Smith said 2 years ago about "back room deals" in deciding the sites of the game, I don't think anything has changed. Now that we have a MLS Cup though, I don't mind nearly as much. While I still want to win the U.S. Open Cup, at least we have a trophy in our case already.

Folan Signing Imminent?

The BBC is reporting that the transfer of Caleb Folan from Hull City to the Rapids could be completed this weekend. Hull City has agreed to let him go on a free transfer and all that's left is to work out the details of the contract.

At the same time Nick Thomas has reported that the Rapids are working on a new contract with Omar Cummings. That's an indicator that he's likely not leaving this summer unless a big offer comes in.

Combining those two pieces of news i'm guessing Folan is not being offered a DP contract. Casey and Cummings are clearly the starters, and Smith was quoted last week that he doesn't expect to move to a 4-3-3 or to push Cummings back to midfield in order to start all 3 of them. So Folan would be a bench player and you don't sign a bench player to a DP contract.

At best he'll be offered league max of 335K a year, but that's even high for somebody likely to be a bench player. It will be interesting to see what happens.

News and Notes 2/21

The Rapids posted an article by Nick Thomas today that gives some insight into the last few roster spots. Assuming that Emory, Ababio, and Holody accept their contract offers that leaves 4 roster spots. Smith says that 2 of them are senior spots and 1 of them is a developmental spot. The team is still hoping for Folan to fill one of the senior spots, and the second is believed to be for a English defender playing in Greece. That would most likely be Jordan Stewart.

Stewart spent his career in the English Championship, with one season in the EPL with Watford. Stewart is primarily a left-back but can play center back in a pinch. He's currently on loan from Sheffield United to Skoda Xanthi in Greece.

The last developmental spot is being left open to let Josh Janniere, a Canadian from Toronto's academy, compete for it. Janniere is a right winger who has already been in camp with the Rapids and will be returning this week. I'm not sure how this works with the MLS Academy rules, but I'm assuming Toronto has decided he doesn't feature in their plans and/or the Rapids are possibly willing to make him a full player right now and Toronto isn't. Either way, he's being brought into camp this week to try to claim that last developmental spot.

There should be a 4th spot available as that would only be 29 contracted players. I don't know if Smith has something in mind for the 30th spot or if he wants to leave a spot open to start the season.

In unrelated news there's a good interview with Smith in the Arsenal magazine.

Roster Update

The Rapids have given an update on the status of the 8 trialists that traveled with the team to Arizona. First-round draft pick Eddie Ababio, Metro State trialist Steven Emory, and former Rapids player Michael Holody have all been offered contracts. The team has also started negotiations with Irish international Caleb Folan. Andy Lorei, Adrian Leroy, JT Murray, and Logan Emory have completed their trials and left the club.

That gives us 23 rostered players, 3 players with contract offers, and 1 player in contract negotiations. With a roster limit of 30 that gives us room for at least 3 more players. Here's the breakdown right now:

Under Contract:

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane

Sanna Nyassi

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Macoumba Kandji

Offered Contract Or In Negotiations:

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Michael Holody

Midfielders:

Steven Emory

Forwards:

Caleb Folan

Schedule Changes

MLS announced a new deal with FOX Soccer Channel today. The good news is that Colorado will have 7 games on FSC this year, tied with LA for the most in the league. The (possible) bad news is that this has forced MLS to move 3 of the Rapids game dates.

Friday April 8th, Colorado is at Dallas. This game was moved from Saturday April 9th.

Friday July 29th, Colorado is at Philly. This game was moved from Saturday July 30th.

Friday August 5th, Colorado hosts Columbus. This game was moved from Saturday August 6th. THIS IS A HOME GAME CHANGE

The other 4 games on FSC (Portland, Seattle, @Seattle, and @LA) did not require a date change.

Only the Portland home game to start the season is non-exclusive and could be picked up by local TV. The other 6 are exclusive to FSC only.

Arizona Recap

The Rapids have finished their games in Arizona. Over the last 5 days they have faced Kansas City, Columbus, and La, finishing with 2 wins and a draw.

Game 1 - Sporting Kansas City

Starting 11: Pickens, Kimura, Wynne, Moor, Wallace, Nyassi, Larentowicz, Nane, Thompson, Folan, Cummings

29 of the 30 players on the trip played in the 120 minute session, only Mastroeni got the game off. The game ended 0-0.

Game 2 - Columbus Crew

Starting 11: Joyce, Kimura, Marshall, Moor, Wallace, Mullan, Larentowicz, LaBauex, Thompson, Folan, Casey

22 of the 30 players played in the 90 minute session. Mastroeni, Pickens, Ababio, Leroy, Murray, Amstrong, Lorei, and Amarikwa got the day off. The game ended in a 2-0 victory for Colorado. Sanna Nyassi scored un assisted and trialist Steven Emory finished a Cummings cross, both in the second half.

Game 3 - Los Angeles Galaxy

Starting 11: Pickens, Kimura, Wynne, Marshall, Wallace, Mullan, Nane, Thompson, Smith, Cummings, Casey.

22 of the 30 players played in the 90 minute game. Mastroeni, Ceus, Ababio, Murray, Armstrong, Larentowicz, Lorei, and Akpan got the game off. The game ended in a 4-2 victory for the Rapids. Casey scored twice in the first half, once off a through ball from Smith and the second by taking a rebound off the crossbar from a cross by Smith. Donovan would get a PK and Cristman would level the score in a 6 minute period in the second half. Steven Emory sprung Folan for the 3rd goal, and then Emory got his second goal of the preseason to finish the scoring.

I saw one report that Mastroeni was working off an injury and that combined with his age and experience, is probably why he didn't play at all. Most of the trialists got a good deal of playing time, though Murry and Lorei might be concerned about being held out of the last tow games. Obviously Steven Emory took the biggest step forward with 2 goals and an assist, but Folan's goal has to sit well with the coaching staff.

The Rapids will return to Commerce City for a while before taking a West Coast swing for another set of pre-season games before the start of the season.

Roster For Arizona Trip

The Rapids left yesterday for preseason training in my old home of the Phoenix metro area. They released the roster for the trip today which includes all 23 players under contract except for Mac Kandji who's remaining in Denver to continue rehabbing from his ACL injury he suffered forcing the MLS Cup wining goal. Colorado is taking 8 trialists with them to the desert as well.

Eddie Ababio(D) - Our first round draft pick from the 2001 draft

Michael Holody(D) - Played for the Rapids for 2+ years after being drafted in 2008

Andy Lorei(M) - Drafted by the Rapids in 2010 but cut in preseason

Steven Emory(M) - Metro State player found in open tryouts

Logan Emory(D) - Puerto Rico Islanders player found in open tryouts

Adrian LeRoy(D) - Canadian/Jamaican player out of Old Dominion

Caleb Folan(F) - Hull City and Irish international looking for a new team

JT Murray(D) - 2nd round pick by Kansas City in 2011, already cut by them and looking for a new team

So the current roster looks like this:

Under Contract:

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane

Sanna Nyassi

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Macoumba Kandji

Draftees:

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Trialists:

Defenders:

Logan Emory

Michael Holody

Adrian LeRoy

JT Murray

Midfielders:

Steven Emory

Andy Lorei

Forwards:

Caleb Folan

Draftees and trialists Colin Givens, Javed Mohammed, Joevin Jones, and Shahdon Winchester have already been released. No word on what happened to Philip Bannister but presumably he's also been released.

UPDATE: Bannister was mentioned in the preseason notes. Apparently he's still recovering from injury and may join the team later in the season.

Schedule Released!

MLS has finally released the 2011 schedule. Better late than never I guess. The Rapids will play every team in MLS both home and away for a total of 34 games. Here's are some of the highlights:

• Colorado has one 3-game road trip in early May and one 3-game home stand right before the end of the season. The rest of the season there's never more than back-to-back home or road games.
• The Rapids have a favorable schedule to finish on. Trips to Canada bracket that 3-game home stand. That should be a chance to bank some final points for the playoff push.
• We finish the season with our first trip to Vancouver on October 22nd. Our first trip to Portland is June 11th. That will probably be a road trip for me as my Dad's birthday is the next day and my parents live in Portland.
• MLS didn't do the Rocky Mountain Cup any favors. We go to Sandy on Wednesday, April 13th, then we play FSL in our home finale on Friday, October 14th. Two weekday games makes it hard for traveling fans.
• Daniel "real championship" Hernandez and the rest of the Dallas hacks will be in town October 1st.
• Jameson's Night is July 23rd
• Only one Wednesday night home game and two Friday night games. 3 Sunday games including the first ever July 3rd (instead of July 4th) game. The other 11 home games are on Saturday night.
• No day games, which should save us from frying in the sun!

Trialist Update

Some news today out of Rapids camp about a number of trialists. The big news is that Irish striker Caleb Folan will be trialling with the team on the Arizona trip. Folan is currently with Championship side Hull City, but with their current financial difficulties they are looking to off-load salary and would be willing to let Folan out of his contract. Folan has only played twice this season due to injury, after having missed significant time twice in the last 5 years due to torn hamstrings. Obviously the medical staff will have a large say in the decision to sign him or not. Folan has been capped 7 times by the Ireland National Team and if he can return to health is likely to feature in the teams Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Also accompanying the team to Arizona are Trinidadian Joevin Jones, who has been in Colorado since the beginning of camp. The article did not mention his teammate Shahdon Winchester and combined with bringing in a different striker on trial is probably a good indicator that Winchester didn't make the cut. The Rapids have looked to the Caribbean for another trialist though, defender Logan Emory. Emory is originally from Boise, ID and is currently playing for the Puerto Rico Islanders in USSF D-II. Jones and Emory will compete with Anthony Wallace for the left-back spot.

The final trialist joining the team in Arizona will be former Metro State midfielder Steven Emory, who was found during the open tryouts prior to the camp and is not, from anything I can find, related to Logan Emory.

Roster Rules

MLS has a new set of roster rules for this season now that the rosters have expanded to 30 players. Here's a (hopefully) simplified look at the rules and how our current camp roster might fit into them.

Players 1-20 - Senior Roster

The first twenty players on the roster make up the senior roster. Those players are the only ones that count against the $2.675 million salary cap. MLS teams are required to have at least 18 players on their senior roster. Any spots under 18 that aren't filled will still have a minimum salary charged against the team. Spots 19 and 20 are optional. The maximum individual salary for a non-DP player is $335,000.

Likely Rapids Senior Roster Players:

Goalkeepers:

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane

Sanna Nyassi

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Forwards:

Quincy Amarikwa

Conor Casey*

Omar Cummings

Macoumba Kandji

* = Its unclear as to how Casey's salary of $350K would work with the limit of $335K for non-Designated Players. The Rapids may have to use $15K of allocation money to buy his salary down to the $335K level.

Players 21-30 - Development Roster

The final 10 players do not count against the cap. Players 21-24 have a minimum salary of $42K. Players 25-30 have a minimum salary of $32,600. Players making $32,600 must be under 25. All Generation Adidas players (of which the Rapids have none) are Development Roster player. Clubs can sign 2 homegrown players to Generation Adidas contract per year.

Likely Rapids Development Roster Players:

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Joevin Jones

Javed Mohammed

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Steven Emory

Colin Givens

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Phillip Bannister

Shahdon Winchester

As you can see, most of the development roster is made up of the draftees and the trialists. Since the Rapids are only bringing back 23 players form last year I assumed the 20 senior roster players would come from that group. Davy Armstrong, as a homegrown player, is automatically part of the development Roster since his salary doesn't count against the cap. I chose Steward Ceus as one of the 3 returning players to move to the development roster, because he's the third goalkeeper. Akpan was chosen as the 3rd player because it was just announced that he signed a new contract. There's no reason to give a player who got into one game in his rookie year a new contract unless it was to fit into the new development roster rules.

Pre-season Roster

Last year i kept a running track of who was reported as being in camp and their contract status (to the best of our knowledge). This seemed to be well received, so I'm going to do it again this year. Later this week I'll try to break down the current roster under the new roster rules, but for now I'm just going to sort into general categories. At this point I haven't heard that any one's contract was u at the end of last season except Marvell Wynne and Tyrone Marshall (both of whom signed new contracts) so I'm assuming all returning players are under contract.

Under Contract:

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane

Sanna Nyassi

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Macoumba Kandji

Draftees:

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Javed Mohammed

Midfielders:

Colin Givens

Forwards:

Phillip Bannister

Trialists:

Defenders:

Joevin Jones

Midfielders:

Steven Emory

Forwards:

Shahdon Winchester

Jones and Winchester are 19 year olds from Trinidad & Tobago's W Connection. Both have been capped for the T&T full National Team and play regularly for the U-20 side. They will be in camp all preseason. Emory is out of Metro State and was found at thee team open tryouts.