George Brislen-Hall Heads Home

George Brislen-Hall tweeted last night that he was headed home to London today, so we can assume his trial is over.  That leaves us with only draftee Joel Helmick in camp but not signed.  The Rapids site still lists Andres Sarmiento as a guest player, but since he didn't go with the team to Hawaii I'm guessing he's not a real candidate for a roster spot.

March 1st is salary compliance day, so I would expect the Rapids to make a decision between Helmick and Joyce in the next couple of days.

EDIT: Sarmeinto has also left the club, per the Rapids blog.

Here's the updated camp roster.

underline = unsigned trialist

* = Requires or is expected to require an international slot

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata*

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon*
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere*

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Martin Rivero*

Jamie Smith*

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada*

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Colorado Controls Consolation Game With 1-0 Win

Last night the Rapids had an easy game against the Melbourne youth/reserves squad, controlling the game from end-to-end in a 1-0 win.  The starting XI:

Cascio - Amarikwa - Mullan

Larentowicz - Castrillon - Mastroeni

Zapata - Wynne - Moor - Kimura

Ceus

Other than Ceus and Amarikwa I wouldn't be shocked to see that same lineup on opening day in two weeks.  The goal was scored on a 20-yard rocket from rookie Tony Cascio in the first half.  Cascio was the best player in the game, hitting the post and crossbar and putting a good chance just into the side netting.  He could have easily had a hat trick.

The two negatives from this match were Mastroeni leaving the game just before half with a possible slight concussion and Colorado's lack of finishing.  With Pablo's season ending early last year due to a concussion the last thing we want to see is another one.  The Rapids finished 2011 having a hard time finishing and it seemed to continue last night.  We had chance after chance but couldn't put it away.

Its hard to draw many conclusions from a preseason game against a youth squad just 48 hours after the last game.  That said there were a few bright spots.  Kohei Yamada got 15 minutes at the end of the game and stood out with some good ball movement and passing.  Castrillon had a couple of dangerous chances (one called back for an earlier foul on Melbourne instead of playing advantage) and some nice passing.  Of course getting a strong game out of a rookie is always nice as well.

The Rapids return home to Denver tomorrow for the final days of training camp.  The team has to be salary cap compliant by Thursday so we can expect some cuts in the first half of the week.

Colorado Loses To Yokohama

Last night (well technically early this morning) the Rapids lost 2-1 to Yokohama FC of the Japanese 2nd division.  A 10 minute spell in the second half saw Colorado give up two goals and they couldn't climb back out of the hole.  The starting XI for the burgundy boys (seen above):

Cascio - Cummings - Mullan

Larentowicz - Castrillon - Mastroeni

Zapata - Moor - Wynne - Kimura

Pickens

With the exception of the injured Casey I think that's pretty close to our starting XI right now.  Reports from the game is that new signing Luis Zapata was man of the match for the Rapids and they the team generated a number of good chances but couldn't finish.  They finally got a goal from a Zapata corner kick that Moor headed home.  The subs were Amarikwa for Cascio right after the first Yokohama goal in the 57th minute, Thompson for Mullan after the 2nd Yokohama goal in the 64th minute, and Janniere for Mastroeni late.  Thompson got a straight red in the last few minutes for an elbow to the head.  It sounds like it was an ill-advised tough challenge but Thompson wasn't intentionally striking the player.  Right before the end of the game Colorado had a chance to tie it and force it to penalties but Castrillon's close-range header went wide.

Melbourne lost to Busan i'Park 1-0 in penalties after a scoreless game, so Colorado will face Melbourne's youth in the 3rd place game tomorrow.  Game time is 8pm MST and it will be streamed live on ESPN3.com. I expect we'll also see a number of our young players in this game.

Luis Zapata signed by the Rapids

I'm sure we'll see an official announcement tomorrow, but Tim Hinchey just tweeted this:

I would like to welcome Luis Zapata to the Colorado Rapids!

So add one more to the roster!  That puts us at 30 signed players and 6 out of a possible 6 internationals.  Now if any of the other trialists wants a job they'll have to beat out a signed player to do it.

Here's the updated camp roster.

underline = unsigned trialist

* = Requires or is expected to require an international slot

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio
George Breslen-Hall*

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata*

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon*
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere*

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Martin Rivero*

Jamie Smith*

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada*

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Rapids Play Yokohama FC NOT On ESPN

See that ESPN on the Hawaiian Islands Invitational logo?  ESPN is one of the organizing forces behind the tournament and originally announced all 4 games would be on ESPN International and ESPN3.com.  Sometime between then and now though ESPN, who again organized the tournament, decided they were only going to air the 2 games on Saturday and neither of the games today.  No, that doesn't make sense to me either.

So tonight Colorado faces Koz's hometown team, Yokohama FC, and nobody outside of Aloha Stadium in Honolulu can see it.  The game is at 11:30pm Colorado time and I was planning to stay up late to watch it, but I'm not staying up until 1:30am to follow Twitter updates.  I'll catch the result in the morning.  Before our game Melbourne Heart and Busan i'Park face off.  The winners of both games will play int he Championship match on Saturday, preceded by the losers of both games playing in the 3rd placed match.  Those games will be live on ESPN3.com.

Oscar Pareja says he plans to start close to our best XI, barring injuries and such, so it will be interesting to see how our best team does in our new style.

Rapids Beat Hawaii Pacific In Scrimmage

Colorado got its first game time in the islands today as the reserves scrimmaged against Hawaii Pacific and won 2-1.  Here's the starting XI:

Janniere - Akpan - Serna

Nane - Yamada - Emory

Brislen-Hall - Palguta - Ababio - LaBauex

Joyce

3 subs in the game were Helmick at half for Joyce, Armstrong in for Yamada with 15 minutes to play, and Amarikwa in for Brislin-Hall shortly after that right after Akpan scored.  Emory served up a nice ball to Armstrong for the second goal before Hawaii Pacific scored right at the end of the game.

This kind of highlights what I see as the two roster battles in camp right now.  The Rapids currently have 32 players in camp for a roster of 30 and one open international spot.  There are 3 unsigned players, GK Joel Helmick and left backs George Brislen-Hall and Luis Zapata.

I think there are two battles right now, one at goalkeeper and one at left back.  Colorado has 3 signed goalkeepers, Matt Pickens, Steward Ceus, and Ian Joyce.  Based on last season its pretty obvious that Pickens is the #1 and Ceus is the #2.  Joyce made 70K last year to be the 3rd string keeper and I think Helmick, who almost certainly would make the league minimum 34K, is pushing him for that role.  Based on the preseason playing time Helmick and Joyce seem to be the ones in a battle because I don't see the Rapids having 4 keepers on the roster.

That leaves one open spot and once international spot with two international left backs on trial.  With Freeman and Wallace both battling injuries the team does not have a healthy natural left back so they're obviously looking to fill that hole.  Until Brislen-Hall got here last week I thought Zapata was the most likely trialist to be signed but Brislen-Hall got all the playing time today.  We'll have to see who gets time in the tournament at the end of the week.

The silver lining in our injuries is that players who go on IR for a minimum of 6 weeks don't take up a roster spot (but do take up cap room).  Since Wallace and Smith are almost certain to start the year on IR we could theoretically sign Helmick, Brislen-Hall, and Zapata to short contracts to the staff can continue evaluating them into the season.  There's no hurry to make a decision yet.

Hawai'i Here We Come!

The team left for Hawai'i today.  My sister, brother-in-law, and cousins leave for Hawai'i this week (though not for the tournament).  Me?  I'm stuck in cold Denver.  Before they left the team made some cuts from training camp.  Aaron Pitchkolan, Issac Cowles, Sterling Copeland, Jefferson Angulo, Daniel Frias, Alanso Jimenez, and Masaki Hemmi were let go.  Trialists Joel Helmick, Luis Zapata, and George Breslin-Hall, along with Academy player Dillon Serna made the trip to Hawai'i with the team.

Conor Casey, Hunter Freeman, Jamie Smith, and Anthony Wallace remained in Denver to continue their rehabs.  Martin Rivero is expected to join the team in Hawai'i on Tuesday, while Omar Cummings will leave the team on Saturday to join the Jamaican National Team in New Zealand.

Here's the updated camp roster.  One mistake I made last time I posted it is that the Rapids only have 6 international slots, I forgot about the trade we made with Vancouver last month sending one to them.

underline = unsigned trialist

* = Requires or is expected to require an international slot

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio
George Breslen-Hall*

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata*

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon*
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere*

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Martin Rivero*

Jamie Smith*

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada*

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

No Eddie Johnson In Commerce City

Yesterday Montreal used its #1 spot in the allocation order to take Eddie Johnson with the idea of trading him.  Colorado was the expected destination but at the last minute Seattle swooped in, trading Mike Fucito and Lamar Neagle for him.

At that price I'm fine with not getting Eddie Johnson.  This would be the rough equivalent of the Rapids trading Qunicy Amarikwa and Sanna Nyassi for him (if Nyassi hadn't gone to Montreal in the expansion draft).  That price is too high for a guy with as many question marks as Johnson has right now.  not to mention that playing Johnson would force somebody like Mullan or Castrillon off the field or move Pablo to the back line and put Wynne or Moor on the bench.

Also last night Wells Thompson tweeted that some guys that had been training with the team for a while had been cut yesterday.  He also tweeted that it wasn't anyone who was with the team last year.  The timing makes sense as the team probably announced the roster for the Hawaii trip since they leave tomorrow.  Given the clues of being new this year but training with the team for a while its probably some combination of Joel Helmick, Luis Zapata, Issac Cowles, Aaron Pitchkolan, and Jefferson Angulo since all the other trialists just joined the team this week.

Late Night Updates

Two pieces of info that have come up since my post earlier this evening.

• Tim Hinchey responded to a question on Facebook about the details of Rivero's loan to say that its a two year loan with an option to buy.  So my scenario wasn't 100% correct but I wasn't that far off.  Rivero will be owned by the Rapids should he work out.
• Steven Goff reported that Eddie Johnson's contract is for more than 100K with a team held option for 150K in 2013.  At that level I wouldn't want to see the Rapids give up much to move up and get him.

Rivero Finally Signed To A Loan Deal

Well it took a while and I think the deal changed (possibly more than once) but Martin Rivero, a 22 year old Argentine midfielder, has finally been signed by the Rapids.  As usual terms of the deal were not announced but it is a loan, not a signing.  He's expected to travel with the team to Hawai'i on Sunday.

Putting together what's been discovered this week along with some information I got from somebody int he Rapids FO I have some guesses as to what happened and what will happen.  None of this is verified, this is all conjecture by me.  Originally this deal seemed like an out-and-out signing but now its a loan.  Reportedly Rivero had 4 months left on his contract with Rosario Central but he was out of contract because Rosario Central wasn't current on his salary so he was considered to be a free transfer.  Almost all loans into MLS include a option to buy and the coaching staff expects Rivero to be around for multiple seasons.  Earlier this week there was a tweet about Penerol in Uruguay being involved in buying the player and Rosario Central had made good on Rivero's contract.  Also I found out today there was a third party in Uruguay that owned part of Rivero's rights.

(If you're unfamiliar with the procedure of third-party ownership its a process that's common in some areas of the world like South America.  Teams that don't have a lot of funds will find a separate investor to help them buy a player with the understanding that they get an appropriate part of any transfer fee that team gets for that player in the future.  Sometimes these third-party investors aren't quite the silent partner they're intended to be.)

What I think happened is that Rivero decided his team wasn't paying him so he was free to sign with the Rapids and did.  When Rosario Central realized they were going to lose a young player for nothing they quickly paid him and then used their weight and the weight of the third-party owner (which I'm guessing is Penerol in Uruguay) to tell the Rapids Rivero was no longer available.  Colorado had the FIFA regulations on their side but knew that a protracted fight and getting FIFA involved wasn't going to help the team or the player.  So the compromise is that the Rapids will take him "on loan" for the remaining 4 months of his contract and Rosario Central will get some face-saving amount of cash from the loan deal or the option to buy.  Then when his contract expires in May he can sign with the Rapids.  We won't know for sure, if ever, until there's an announcement about the change in his status but this scenario seems to fit all the rumors and such that were floating around this week.

*******************

On a completely unrelated subject, Eddie Johnson was signed by the league today and will go through the allocation process tomorrow.  I was told by somebody int he Front Office that the Rapids, 14th in allocation order, will probably contact Montreal, who's first, about trading for that top spot so they can claim him.  He was supposedly signed for a modest fee with a number of performance clauses and an option for a big raise next season.  We'll have to see what, if anything, the Rapids give up to move up and take him and how much the "modest salary" is but I'm really not liking the idea of Colorado signing Johnson for anything more than 100K and a draft pick.

Here's the updated camp roster.  Today I'm adding an * next to signed players that require one of our 7 international spots or trialists I think would require one.  As you can see we now have 5 international players under contract.

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Alanso 'Popeye' Jimenez*
Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio
George Breslen-Hall*

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata*

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon*
Issac Cowles
Steven Emory
Masaki Hemmi*

Josh Janniere*

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Aaron Pitchkolan
Martin Rivero*
Andres 'Michi' Sarmiento*

Jamie Smith*

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada*

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Jefferson Angulo*

Conor Casey
Sterling Copland

Omar Cummings
Daniel Frias*

Eddie Johnson Not Likely

Essentially at the same time of my last post Steven Goff tweeted that it appears unlikely that the Rapids will be signing Eddie Johnson.  Good.

Rumors And Trialists, Part 2

While there's still no news out of Commerce City, there's a couple of rumors going around Twitter:

• A journalist with unknown accuracy tweeted that he talked to Rosario Central's manager and confirmed that Martin Rivero is being transferred to Penarol in Uruguay.
• Steven Goff, a journalist with a track record of pretty good accuracy, tweeted that he's hearing the Rapids are in talks with former U.S. National Team striker Eddie Johnson.

Both of these tweets are BAD NEWS.  First the Rivero situation.  If its accurate then the Rapids have completely fumbled this signing and have massive egg on their face.  I'll save a full critique until we get official word one way or the other but the silence from the team at this point is doing more harm than good.

On Eddie Johnson run far, far away.  There's nothing but disaster in this idea.  Last summer he agreed to a contract with MLS, supposedly to join the Sounders for $200K a year, only to walk away at the last minute.  Then he signed a contract with Puebla in Mexico in December only to be cut after two weeks for being out of shape and lacking sharpness.  Unless Colorado can get Eddie Johnson to come in on trial like the rest of the trialists or he'll agree to a contract under Cummings $90K there's no way we should sign a guy who's likely to be worse than Caleb Folan.

What actual news we do have out of the Rapids is that there are a ton of trialists cycling in and out of camp.  Added since they returned from California are:

• Midfielder Aaron Pitchkolan (rejoining after missing CA trip)
• Midfielder Issac Cowles  (rejoining after missing CA trip)
• Forward Sterling Copland (played in a few reserve games with the team last year)
• Midfielder Masaki Hemmi (Japanese player currently at School Of Mines, also trained last year)
• Forward Daniel Frias (Indios de Cuidad Juarez - Mexico)
• Goalkeeper Alanso 'Popeye' Jimenez  (Indios de Cuidad Juarez - Mexico)
• Midfielder Andres 'Michi' Sarmiento (Atletico Bucaramanga - Colombia)
• Defender George Breslen-Hall (Arsenal Youth - England)

Also Academy players Dillon Serna and Shane O'Neill along with trialists Luis Zapato and Jefferson Angulo are still working with the team.  Forward trialist Sam Archer has been released.

The updated camp roster:

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Alanso 'Popeye' Jimenez
Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio
George Breslen-Hall

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Issac Cowles
Steven Emory
Masaki Hemmi

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Aaron Pitchkolan
Andres 'Michi' Sarmiento

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Jefferson Angulo

Conor Casey
Sterling Copland

Omar Cummings
Daniel Frias

Trouble Looming For Rivero Signing?

Well the Rapids, via a tweet from Tim Hinchey, essentially confirmed that our new #10 is Martin Rivero.  However there was no official announcement of the signing today.  The Denver Post suggests one reason:

So what’s the delay? Here’s why, maybe:

Rivero remains in a contract dispute with Rosario Central, according to Diario La Capital. In a he-said-they-said scenario, the team at first balked when Rivero asked for a raise. It was standard business until Central’s offseason passed and the preseason started and Rivero still had not reported to camp.

According to the article, the team is now demanding that Rivero report to camp to carry out his contract. It’s possible the Rapids are trying to negotiate a loan and release for him with Central management.

But Rosario3.com reported that Central is trying to block Rivero from leaving. The team, the report says, will make another attempt at convincing Rivero to stay. The team (one of Argentina’s oldest and most succesful) very much has it’s eye on re-joining the Argentine first division with a strong finish in the table this season.

Assuming the Post is essentially correct, W.T.F.  How did the Rapids go through the process of negotiating with the player, signing him, getting him a visa, and setting an announcement of his signing without getting a sign-off from his current team?  If he's still under contract how would that even work?  Either the Post has missed a major part of the story or this is the biggest blunder the Rapids have made in terms of a player signing in years, maybe since Giles Grimandi/Daniel Amokachi blunders.

The more I think about this the more I have to assume there's something missing.  I can't see MLS allowing the Rapids to negotiate with Rivero without being confident that he had no contracted ties to his old team.  This issue also comes on the heels of the Revolution's laon deal with Jose "Pepe" Moreno of Once Caldas in Colombia falling apart after the club decided to keep him despite, reportedly, a signed loan deal with MLS and the Revs.  I'm wondering if the large number of South American signings this offseason has caused some clubs to try to play hardball with the league after MLS thinks the deal is done.

Either way this has been a fumble by the Rapids.  They can still save it by getting the deal done but its a good lesson about not making any definitive plans until all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed.

Announcement Of Signing Delayed, Rumor Is Rivero

The Rapids had scheduled the announcement of their new Argentine #10 today at 3pm, but President Tim Hinchey tweeted this afternoon that the announcement would be delayed until tomorrow due to the fact he had to take an unexpected trip to Dallas.  Meanwhile the Denver Post is reporting that the player is likely Martin Rivero, formally of Rosario Central in the Argentine 2nd division.  Rosario Central seems to be one of those yo-yo teams that will jump up to the top division only to sink back down, then repeat.  They are currently in a promotion spot, along with River Plate, and Rivero is credited with being one of the leaders in getting them to that spot.

Also today the Rapids said that Issac Cowles and Aaron Pitchkolan will re-join training camp while the team is in town this week before they leave for Hawai'i on Sunday.

Weekend Friendlies

Colorado had a full preseason match and two short scrimmages to finish out their California trip before heading home this morning.  Friday night was the full match against San Jose, supposedly streamed online but the Earthquakes tech department failed.  If only the Quakes represented the center of high tech innovation int his country or something...

Anyway, here's the starting XI for the match (* denotes trialist):

Angulo* - Cummings - Mullan

Larentowicz - Castrillon - Mastroeni

Zapata* - Marshall - Wynne - Kimura

Pickens

and here's the lineup that finished the game:

Cascio - Akpan - Amarikwa

Larentowicz - Yamada - Thompson

Zapata* - Palguta - Ababio - Freeman

Ceus

The team lost 2-1, going up early off a Castrillon goal from a Cummings past, his first in a Rapids kit.  SJ leveled before halftime off a corner and they got the winner off a Wondolowski 20 yard shot int he second half.  The other highlight was that our second Japanese player, Kohei Yamada, got his first minutes for the team.

Saturday morning the team played two 35 minute scrimmages against San Jose and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, which gave the players who got little or no minutes the night before a chance to get some work in.  Here are the lineups:

vs. San Jose:

Cascio - Akpan - Amarikwa

Nane - Emory - Thompson

Freeman - Palguta - Ababio - LaBauex

Joyce

vs. Cal Poly:

Cascio - Akpan - Archer*

Nane - Yamada - Emory

Freeman - Palguta - Ababio - LaBauex

Helmick*

(Davy Armstrong came in when Freeman suffered an ankle injury)

The Rapids won both scrimmages 1-0, the first off a 20 yard goal from Cascio, the second from an Akpan PK.

With 28 signed players and a 29th arriving tomorrow form Argentina there's only 1 spot up for grabs.  Smith and/or Wallace could start the season on Ir which would free up two roster spots, or somebody already signed could be cut but for now it appears there are 4 players trying for 1 spot.  Actually its probably 3 for 1 spot and Helmick and Joyce are competing for the 3rd GK position, with Joyce having the advantage of already being signed.  It appears from the rosters in California that Angulo and Zapata have the lead over Archer right now.  It will be interesting to see who makes the Hawai'i trip with the signed players.

One Month To Go!

The Rapids open the regular season 1 month from today against the Crew.  Tonight they'll play San Jose in San Luis Obispo.  The Earthquakes will be streaming the game live on both team's websites.

We also found out today that Colorado will announce the new Argentine midfielder at 3pm on Monday.

Club Legend Leaves Rapids

Earlier today MLSSoccer.com reported that the reason Mac Kandji wasn't in camp right away is that he was looking for a team in Europe.  This afternoon the Rapids announced that Kandji had been traded to Houston for a conditional 3rd round draft pick in 2014.  Probably a fair trade for a guy who's had 0 goals and 3 assists in 16 games.

For those people wondering how a guy with 3 assists and 0 goals in 16 appearances is a club legend, Kandji blew out his ACL setting up the winning goal for our first MLS Cup (aftermath seen above).  Club. Legend.

The updated camp roster:

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Jefferson Angulo

Sam Archer

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Rapids Get First Preseason Win

Colorado faced Chivas USA in a scrimmage at the HDC today.  A late Qunicy Amarikwa goal from a Steven Emory assist gave the burgundy boys a 1-0 win.  Of course its preseason so its meaningless but wins are always better than losses.  The starting XI (trialists makred with a *):

Angulo* - Cummings - Mullan

Larentowicz - Castrillon - Mastroeni

Zapata* - Marshall - Wynne - Kimura

Pickens

After subs the team finished with the the following lineup:

Cascio - Amarikwa - Akpan

Thompson - LaBauex - Emory

Freeman - Palguta - Guido* - Ababio

Joyce

Guido is a local player playing with the team while they're in California.  The starting XI is pretty close to the expected starting lineup.  Angulo is trialing in place of the injured Casey, Moor tweaked a hamstring in the scrimmage on Sunday so Marshall started in his place, and the left back spot seems up for grabs.  Otherwise that's the group I expect to see on March 10th.  Great to see Koz back and playing already!

Some roster notes, Kohei Yamada finally arrived today from Japan after getting his visa paperwork taken care of.

All the MLS Japanese players in one place!

Also Tim Hinchey tweeted that the visa paperwork for the new Argentine #10 has been completed and he's expected to join the team by the time they get to Hawai'i in a couple of weeks.

Fan Initiative Announced Today

Today the Rapids had a fan event on the 16th St. Mall to announce their new initiative and club slogan.  The new slogan is 'One Club' and to celebrate it they announced that anyone who buys season tickets for the 2012 season by March 1st will have their name printed on the authentic home player jerseys in 2013 and 2014 (example above).  To kick it off they had the old giant jersey that appears in the stadium at the event and had fans sign the jersey.  They also gave out some swag like a free t-shirt.  Conor Casey was at the event since his injury prevented him from travelling with the team to California and happily signed autographs on the shirt.  Casey was also interviewed live on 9News to make the announcement.

Essentially this is all a sales gimmick for season tickets, but as gimmicks go its a good one.  Not only does it get people to buy season tickets but it will also get them to buy jerseys in 2013 since their name is on it.  I like the out of the box thinking by the Front Office on this announcement.  The actual event still suffered from typical Rapids execution but at least they're taking steps in the right direction.

First Friendly In The Books

The Rapids played their first friendly of the preseason today against the Ventura County Fusion at Oxnard College in California.  The game was a scoreless draw and with no coverage its hard to draw much of anything from the result, but here are the starting lineups for each half (* denotes trialist):

1st Half:

Cascio - Amarikwa - Akpan

Thompson - Nane - LaBauex

Freeman - Marshall - Palguta - Zapata*

Ceus

2nd Half:

Angulo* - Archer* - Armstrong

Thompson - Nane - Guido*

Huazo* - Marshall - Palguta - Ababio

Joyce

Obviously this was a game for some of the reserves to try to make their mark in competing for a starting spot.   The only one of these players likely to start on March 10th is Hunter Freeman.  I'm not sure who Huazo or Guido are, possibly local trialists.  Jefferson Angulo just joined the team from Colombia.  I'm sure we'll hear more about them soon.  Casey, Smith, and Wallace did not travel with the team, staying here in Denver to continue their rehabs from injury.  Kohei Yamada will finally be able to join the team on Tuesday, arriving from Japan after getting his visa paperwork taken care of.  Issac Cowles and Aaron Pitchkolan were also cut from camp before the team left.


The updated camp roster:

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Jefferson Angulo

Sam Archer

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Macoumba Kandji

Colorado Cuts Ties With Caleb Folan

There's been murmurs all week that Folan was looking for a a new club in Europe.  Today the Rapids made it official, releasing him from his contract.  Anyone who read this blog last year knows I was no fan of Folan, mainly due to the lack of effort he displayed on the field.  This move frees up around 200K of salary cap space, possibly to go after that rumored Argentine midfielder.  With Casey still recovering from injury I'm not sure who's going to start with Cummings up top but we'll see if there's another move coming.

Trialist Draymond Washington was also released.

The updated camp roster:

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Issac Cowles - out injured

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Aaron Pitchkolan

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Sam Archer

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Macoumba Kandji

Rumors And Trialists

Last night the Rapids held a Supporters Forum at Fado's in Lodo.  I was unable to attend, but the big news that came out of the forum was that Colorado is pursuing a young #10-style Argentine midfielder.  No details have been leaked on his name or his background but there may be a new arrival from South America in Commerce City soon.

One arrival from that area is a new Colombian trialist.  Luis Eduardo Zapata is a left back most recently with Wilstermann in Bolivia.  He'll travel with the team when they leave for California on Saturday and participate in the game against San Jose and Chivas. The updated camp roster:

underline = unsigned trialist

Goalkeepers:

Steward Ceus

Joel Helmick (draftee)

Ian Joyce

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Eddie Ababio

Issac Cowles - out injured

Hunter Freeman

Kosuke Kimura

Tyrone Marshall

Drew Moor

Scott Palguta

Anthony Wallace

Draymond Washington
Marvell Wynne
Luis Eduardo Zapata

Midfielders:

Davy Armstrong

Tony Cascio

Jaime Castrillon
Steven Emory

Josh Janniere

Ross LaBauex

Jeff Larentowicz

Pablo Mastroeni

Brian Mullan

Joseph Nane
Aaron Pitchkolan

Jamie Smith

Wells Thompson

Kohei Yamada

Forwards:

Andre Akpan

Quincy Amarikwa

Sam Archer

Conor Casey

Omar Cummings

Caleb Folan

Macoumba Kandji