Rapids Finish Preseason With 3-0 Win

Colorado had a relatively easy final game against AZ United last night.  Here's the starting XI:

K.Doyle

Gashi - Powers - Badji

Watts - Azira

Williams - Sjoberg - Burling - Miler

MacMath

Still no St. Ledger or Pappa.  Their injuries must be worse than reported.  Also no Cronin but given his suspension next week its not surprising.

A Powers cross forced an own goal from AZ United for the first Rapids goal.  That was followed up with the first appearance of Gashi on a scoresheet with him setting up Kevin Doyle to double the lead.  While MacMath had to make a couple of big saves the Rapids had the better of the play.

the second half would be more of the same and only two changes were made.  Hairston came in for Watts before Gashi scored his first goal as a Rapids player.  Azira got the assist.  The final sup was draftee Emmanual Appiah for Burling.

The Rapids finish the preseason 4-1-2.  All 4 wins were over USL opposition and the draw was to Houston.  The two losses were to the Sporting KC organization, both their USL and MLS team.

Now its on to the regular season.  Colorado's in San Jose next Sunday at 1pm for the kickoff.

Draftees:
Castillo: 270
Froschauer: 199
Appiah: 147
Kamdem: 90
Torre: 45

Trialists:
Keel: 270
Cochran: 170
Ekra: 103
Spencer: 90
Keith: 45

Rapids Roster Strategy

Hat tip to Jonathan Boraz for helping me to hash this out this morning. I think we've figured out what the Rapids are doing.  A bit complex so stay with me.

Doyle is signed through 2017 with an option for 2018 at just under $1.2M a year with no transfer fee.
Teams get $800K in TAM in 2016 and again in 2017.

 If a team uses TAM to buy down a DP they are then required to sign another DP of higher value.

So I think the Rapids are using TAM to buy Doyle down to the ~$400K max salary level so he's no longer a DP. Then they sign Howard as the replacement DP.

That leaves the Rapids with 2/3 DPs (Howard, Gashi, and Ramirez if he returns) and a bunch of GAM to use. If Ramirez doesn't return we can still sign a DP and regardless we can sign an above-salary player (or two) and use the GAM to buy them down to max salary levels.

Of course this makes it really hard to sign many other players in the $200K-$400K range due to the salary cap. We'll have 3-5 max salary players and a bunch of sub-$200K players.

The one twist in this is that we've been acquiring TAM when we would theoretically have enough to buy Doyle down without needing anymore.  so that could mean we plan to sign somebody with the additional TAM or we want to buy down Gashi or Ramirez (if he returns) instead of Doyle.  I think the general idea is right though.  One of Doyle or Gashi (or possibly Ramirez) is being bought down with TAM with Howard as his replacement.

New Jersey, New Keeper?

Two interesting but unconfirmed pieces of news in the last 12 hours.  First the Rapids apparently (I didn't see it) tweeted out the following promo last night and then deleted it:

That appears to be the new home/primary jersey.  Here's a close up.

Pretty similar to our current jersey.  The stripes have moved from the shoulders to the sides, as seems to be the new Adidas standard template.  Also blue and burgundy trim has been added to the end of the sleeves.  Otherwise no big change, which is to be expected.  If I felt like I needed a new jersey this year I'd have no objections to buying this one, but I'll probably pass due to not really needing a new burgundy, I've got 4!  Besides, I need a new Tenerife jersey and I might add an Ireland Euro 2016 jersey to my collection if Doyle makes the roster.

This morning ESPN FC is reporting that the Tim Howard deal is all but done.  Sounds like they just need to cross the t's and dot the i's.  It would be about $2 million a season with a $600K-$750K transfer fee to join after the EPL season (which means when the secondary transfer window opens in July).

We've seen the pros and cons of this move so I won't go over them right now.  I'm still in the camp of this being an unnecessary move that could tie up resources better used elsewhere.  Apparently the original plan was Everton was going to let Howard go on a fee and their demand for a transfer is what's delayed the negotiations.  If that's the case then I would like to see the Rapids push to get him now.  If we're going to pay a fee lets make it one that helps us this whole season, not in July when there's a good chance we could be out of the running.  Howard has already been demoted from the #1 spot so they should be more willing to negotiate.  Everton knows that this allocation spot is burning a hole in our pockets though.  They have the stronger position in this negotiation, especially since this seems to be our backup plan after Bedoya fell though.

Sporting KC Does One Better Than Their Reserves

Last Wednesday Sporting KC's new reserve side, the Swope Park Rangers, beat the Rapids in Tucson 3-1.  Last night the first team showed why they have that title by one-upping their reserve team in a 4-1 victory over the Rapids.  Our starting XI:

K. Doyle

Gashi - Powers - Badji

Watts - Azira

Williams - Sjoberg - Burling - Miller

MacMath

Great to see Gashi get his first minutes in a Rapids uniform.  I'm concerned that despite reports that his training we haven't seen Pappa.  I'm starting to wonder if the Rapids know (or are at least expecting) that a suspension ic coming from the league over his altercation with the former Miss Washington and they're trying to figure out the lineup they're going to use on Opening Day without him.  That would also explain Cronin's absence as he's suspended for the first game due to yellow card accumulation and a red card at the end of last season.  The other missing player is St. Ledger, not sure what's going on there.

The early and late part of the first half actually had some good play from the Rapids and some dangerous chances.  Gashi obviously wants the ball and will float all over the field to get it.  The middle of the half was bad though, with the Rapids conceding 2 PKs in 2 minutes.  To add insult to injury this was largely KC's backups with most of their starters not entering the game until the 60th minute.

After halftime we saw the reserves and trialists for the Rapids.

(d) - Draftee
(t) - Trialist

C.Doyle

Pfeffer - Solignac - Serna

Cronin - Spencer(t)

Burch - Cochran(t) - Keel(t) - Castillo(d)

Froschauer(d)

This group didn't fare much better, giving up a 3rd (3!) PK and a soft goal before Pfeffer got the Rapids on the board of an assist from Castillo.

With this result the Rapids will play AZ United of the USL at 6:30pm on Saturday.  Colorado will also scrimmage the Crew at 10:30 that morning though there will be no streaming coverage of that game.

Playing time for unsigned players so far this preseason.  Richmond reported Ownby left the Rapids camp and returned to the Kickers earlier this week.

Draftees:
Castillo: 270
Froschauer: 199
Appiah: 135
Kamdem: 90
Torre: 45

Trialists:
Keel: 270
Cochran: 170
Ekra: 103
Spencer: 90
Keith: 45

Rapids Trade Money for Money and International Slot

Colorado just announced that they've traded general allocation money to San Jose for an international spot and targeted allocation money.

Interesting move.  TAM can be used to sign a player making between the salary max and $1 million or to buy a DP down below the DP limit.  Tim Howard wouldn't qualify for either one and I don't think we'd could buy down Gashi or Doyle that much.  Also Howard wouldn't require an international slot (obviously).  So this would appear to be a move for a new signing of some sort.

Right now the Rapids have 7 signed international players.  Badji, Doyle, Gashi, St. Ledger, Sjoberg, Solignac, and Williams.  Ramirez will also need an international slot if/when he returns from his loan mid-season.

Teams start with 8 international slots.  The Rapids have received 2-3 in trade and given 2 in trade.  We have a permanent one from FSL and the one we acquired today from SJ.  We also got one in the trade for Sarvas from LA but I don't know how long we got it for so it may have reverted back.  We sent one to Vancouver that we get back at the end of this year when we traded for Atiba Harris.  We also sent one to Vancouver for Sanna Nyassi that we get back at the end of 2031 (no, that's not a typo).

So we have 1, maybe 2 open international slots with the knowledge that we may need to deal with Ramirez midseason.  So this trade allows us to sign an international player and bring in a sub-$1 million player.  It seems to point to another significant signing.  The only twist is that draftee Dennis Castillo would also need an international slot, though we could send him to Charlotte on a year-long loan and he wouldn't count against the total.

12 Days To Go, 6 Spots To Fill

Two weeks ago I reviewed the roster after the trade for Conor Doyle.  At that point we had just under 4 weeks until the opener and 7 spots to fill, one of which I assumed would be filled by Howard.  Since then we've traded for Eric Miller.  That means with less than two weeks to go we still have 6 spots to fill.  I also laid out a list of what I thought we needed.  To review:

MLS quality super sub/spot starter at striker - Still need this, though there's some thought that they're hoping Conor Doyle will fill this need.  I don't see it.
Starting right mid or a commitment to Serna - Still need this, though based on play in Tucson they may be thinking Badgi/Solignac here
Outside back that can play either side - This would be Miller, well done
Center back depth signing - Heard a rumor we have a target in mind for this but I expect Keel will also be signed
Draftee - Looks like this will be Castillo

So if we figure that Howard, Castillo, and Keel will fill 3 of the spots that leaves 3 spots left with no obvious signings on the horizon.  I REALLY hope the plan isn't to either start the season with anything less than one open roster spot (two if Howard is coming later) or to fill the spots with other trialists and draftees.  As you can see from the list above we need more quality than that.

I'm actually starting to like the look of our starting XI.  Right wing play is a little iffy and I'm not sold on our center backs but other than that its solid enough to compete for a playoff spot.  We have no quality depth though and that, along with Pablo's coaching, will likely be our downfall if we don't do something soon.

Rapids Play Scoreless Draw With Dynamo

You could be forgiven if you thought you were watching a replay of last year's team while viewing last night's preseason match.  A dull 0-0 draw with very little offensively shown by the Rapids.  When the best chance either team has to score is a PK skied over the bar you know its one of those games.  Colorado started with a pretty strong XI:

(d)- draftee
(t) -trialist

K.Doyle

Badji - Powers - Serna

Watts - Azira

Castillo(d) - Burling - Sjoberg - Miller

MacMath

In the 71st minute Pablo subbed in 9 players with this resulting lineup:

C.Doyle

Pfeffer - Calvert - Solignac

Spencer(t) - Keith*

Castillo(d) - Keel(t) - Cochran(t) - Burch

MacMath

* Sean Keith is a FC Tucson player that played in something like 3 different DDC games yesterday as a fill-in sub for a couple of teams.  It can't be a good sign for guys like Ekra, Ownby, and Appiah that a random local player is getting time ahead of them.

Its still preseason so no need to panic yet but we need to get Pappa and Gashi integrated ASAP and start seeing some offensive spark.  Otherwise this is looking a lot like last season.  Looking at playing time so far I think Castillo and Keel are good bets to make the roster as defensive depth.  Froschauer's chances are completely dependent on if and when Howard joins the team.  The rest seem to be long shots right now with Appiah being the most likely IMO.

Playing time for unsigned players so far this preseason:

Draftees:
Castillo: 225
Froschauer: 154
Appiah: 135
Kamdem: 90
Torre: 45

Trialists:
Keel: 225
Ownby: 135
Cochran: 125
Ekra: 103
Spencer: 45
Keith: 45

Rapids Lose To Swope Park Rangers

Colorado started the Desert Diamond Cup with a 3-1 loss to the USL Swope Park Rangers.  I planned to watch the game last night to do a real game recap but the stream sucked.  Delayed 5 minutes, constantly buffering, and poor camera work.  So I gave up pretty quickly.

The starting XI:

K.Doyle

Badji - Powers - Solignac

Azira - Watts

Williams - Sjoberg - Burling - Hairston

MacMath

That group gave up a goal in the first minute.  Like I said poor camera work but the ball came down our right side and then Burling got worked.  No actual good look at the ball crossing the line so I don't know how MacMath handled it.  The Rapids would level the score from a Badji header:



A full team substitution at half for the Rapids and 9 of the 11 Swope Park players:

(t) - trialists
(d) - draftee

Calvert

Pfeffer - C. Doyle - Serna

Cronin - Appiah(d)

Burch - Cochran(t) - Keel(t) - Castillo(d)

Froschauer(d)

This group gave up 2 goals.

Its preseason so results don't matter.  That said I'd be lying if I said this result wasn't concerning.  This was a USL team playing its first ever game after the players just met each other two weeks ago.  It took them less than 60 seconds to score the first goal in their history against a MLS side with a combination A/B defense on the field.  This is not exactly confidence-inspiring.

The next game will be against Houston at 7pm on Saturday.  Hopefully the stream and the play will be better.  Though there's a good chance I'll be multi-tasking while watching the Scotties Tournament of Hearts (I'm not kidding) so at least one of the sporting events should be entertaining.

Streaming Info For Desert Diamond Cup Matches

The Rapids have announced that the Desert Diamond Cup match streams will be available on their website and YouTube channel.  The competition starts tonight at 5:30, here's the full Rapids schedule:

Wed. 2/17 - Swope Park Rangers - 5:30pm
Sat. 2/20 - Houston Dynamo - 7pm
Wed. 2/24 - Sporting KC - 8pm
Sat. 2/27 - TBD - 4:30pm, 6:30pm, or 7pm (Final day schedule determined by standings)

New England, Columbus, FSL, and AZ United are also competiting.

Rapids Defeat Republic

Last night Colorado took on the USL Sacramento Republic out in California.  The starting XI:

(t) - trialist
(d) - draftee

K.Doyle

Pfeffer - Ownby(t) - Solignac

Watts - Powers

Williams - Sjoberg - Keel(t) - Castillo(d)

MacMath

After a scoreless half the Rapids did almost a full lineup change for the 2nd half:

Calvert

Serna - Azira - Badji

Cronin - Appiah(d)

Burch - Cochran(t) - Burling - Hairston

MacMath

Then at the 71st minute Froschauer(d) came on for MacMath and in the 77th Ekra(t) came on for Serna.  Finally right at the end of the game Cochran hit a diving header for the winner.

The Rapids next action will be in the Desert Diamond Cup at 5:30 MT on Wednesday.  All DDC games are streamed online.  Their opponent Wednesday evening will be the Swope Park Rangers, Sporting KC's new USL team.

Playing time for unsigned players so far this preseason:

Draftees:
Castillo: 135
Froschauer: 109
Appiah: 90
Kamdem: 90
Torre: 45

Trialists:
Keel: 135
Ownby: 135
Ekra: 103
Cochran: 45
Spencer: 0

Rapids Acquire Eric Miller From Montreal

Colorado just announced that they've traded their natural first-round 2018 Superdraft pick and general allocation money to Toronto for defender Eric Miller.

Miller is a 23 year old outside back, mainly right back.  He made 18 starts and 21 appearances as a rookie for Montreal in 2014 and 6 and 9 last year.  He also has played for the U.S. U-20 and U-23 teams and was called in to the just completed U-23/Full National Team camp this month.

I like this move.  It fills one of our areas of need (outside back) at a low cost and with a young player that we can build around.  That puts us at 21 signed players for this season.

In unrelated news Daniel Boniface had an update on draftees and trialists in camp.  Draftee John Manga has been released while former Dynamo player AJ Cochran and Dynamo youth player Brian Spencer are on trial.  Cochran is a central defender that had 19 starts and 26 appearances for the Dynamo the last two years.  Brian Spencer is the son of assistant coach and Rapids legend John Spencer.

Current roster:

GK John Berner
GK Zac MacMath
D March Burch
D Bobby Burling
D Marlon Hairston
D Eric Miller
D Axel Sjoberg
D Sean St. Ledger
D Mekeil Williams
M Michael Azira
M Sam Cronin
M Marco Pappa
M Zach Pfeffer
M Dillon Powers
M Dillon Serna
M Jared Watts
F Dominque Badji
F Caleb Calvert
F Conor Doyle
F Kevin Doyle
F Shkëlzen Gashi
F Luis Solignac

Unsigned draftees:

GK Chris Froschauer
D Dennis Castillo
D Bradley Kamdem
D Javan Torre
M Emmanuel Appiah

Trialists:

D AJ Cochran
D Stephen Keel
M Yann Ekra - Charlotte
M Brian Ownby - Richmond
Brian Spencer

Rapids Trade For Doyle, Need More

Today the Rapids traded their 3rd round pick next year to DC for Conor Doyle.  Those who have been reading for a while remember that Conor Doyle was training with the Rapids in 2013 only for MLS's roster rules (and their screw-up with Eloundou) to send him to DC without the Rapids gatting a shot at him.

This is a solid move with good upside and little downside.  A 3rd round pick next year is nothing and if Doyle can develop into something we'll have some good depth.

The problem is its not enough.  We are 26 days out from the season opener in San Jose and we have 21 of 28 roster slots filled.  Looking at a probable starting XI this season based on our roster:

Doyle

Gashi - Pappa - Serna(?)

Cronin - Powers

Williams(?) - St. Ledger - Burling - Hairston

MacMath/Howard

Bench: Berner/MacMath - Sjoberg - Burch - Watts - Azira - Badji - Solignac

That's a decent but not great starting XI and a very thin bench.  I'm assuming at this point Howard will be a done deal so we have 6 roster spots left to fill.  What we need, in my opinion:

MLS quality super sub/spot starter at striker - Something like a Kelyn Rowe in NE or Urutti in Dallas last year.  We can be pretty sure that at least one and probably both of Kevin Doyle and Gashi will miss time this summer with the Euros and looking at some combination of Conor Doyle,  Badji, Calvert, and Solignac up top does not fill me with confidence.

Starting right mid or a commitment to Serna - I think Serna can do the job but Pablo will have to commit to letting a young player own the spot and not yank him back and forth from the bench.  If he can't do that then we need to sign somebody who can fill that spot.

Outside back that can play either side - Williams and Hairston seem to be the starting outside backs but I don't know if either one can hold their own in MLS.  Burch is the only real backup, with Serna able to drop back if necessary.  This is one of the toughest roles to fill in MLS (which is why passing on Brandon Vincent in the draft was such a risk) but we really need a quality signing in this area.

Center back depth signing - Right now our only backup at center back is Sjoberg.  The less said about Watts playing back there again this season the better.  We need more cover back there.

Draftee - One of these guys better be worth something, as we kept trading down on the assumption there was still some quality.

That leaves one spot open, which ideally would go for another "starter on every MLS team" level signing but my bet will be used on a draftee or trialist.

Six sigings, 26 days.  Unless its a draftee or other such depth signing we really need to have the other four signed before the Desert Diamond Cup next Wednesday.  So that's four signings in a week.  Tick tock.

Current roster:

GK John Berner
GK Zac MacMath
D March Burch
D Bobby Burling
D Marlon Hairston
D Axel Sjoberg
D Sean St. Ledger
D Mekeil Williams
M Michael Azira
M Sam Cronin
M Marco Pappa
M Zach Pfeffer
M Dillon Powers
M Dillon Serna
M Jared Watts
F Dominque Badji
F Caleb Calvert
F Conor Doyle
F Kevin Doyle
F Shkëlzen Gashi
F Luis Solignac

Unsigned draftees:

GK Chris Froschauer
D Dennis Castillo
D Bradley Kamdem
D Javan Torre
M Emmanuel Appiah
F John Manga

Trialists:

D Stephen Keel
M Yann Ekra - Charlotte
M Brian Ownby - Richmond

Last Game In San Diego

In their last action before leaving San Diego the Rapids placed the USL Orange County Blues in a preseason scrimmage.

Starting XI:

(t) - Trialist
(d) - Draftee

Calvert

Solignac - Powers - Ekra(t)

Azira - Kamdem(d)

Williams - Sjoberg - Burling - Castillo(d)

MacMath

The game was played as 3 30 minute periods.  Calvert scored shortly into the second period to make it 1-0.  Midway through the second period the Rapids did a complete lineup substitution.

Doyle

Pfeffer - Ownby(t) - Badji

Cronin - Watts

Burch - Greenspan - Keel(t) - Hairston

Froschaeur(d)

Doyle scored near the end to make the final score 2-0.

Greenspan is with the team in San Diego.  His ship is based out of the base there so I assume he's on shore leave or other temporary duty from the Navy to train with the team this last week or so.  He is not expected to be with the team during the season.

Starting a tally of minutes played this preseason by draftees/trialists:

Draftees:
Castillo: 90
Froschauer: 90
Kamdem: 90
Appiah: 45
Torre: 45
Manga: 0

Trialists:
Ekra: 90
Keel: 90
Ownby: 90

No, This Does Not Mean Kamara Is Coming To Colorado

Kei Kamara posted this on Instagram earlier today.  Its a picture of him riding the Colorado Rapids skateboard he got as a gift when he was here for last year's All-Star Game.

This has gotten some Rapids fans excited that its a hint he's about to move to Colorado.  He's not.  We had the same discussion in the fan base 7 months ago when he first tweeted out the picture of the skateboard and sure enough he didn't come to Colorado.  He's taking advantage of a nice day to ride his skateboard.  That's all.

First Action Of The Preseason

The Rapids played their first "real" scrimmage today against Seongnam FC of South Korea.  Here's the lineup for the first half (assuming we stuck with the 4-2-3-1 we've been using):

(t) - Trialist
(d) - Draftee

Calvert

Pfeffer - Ekra(t) - Badji

Watts - Cronin

Castillo(d) - Burling - Sjobeg - Kamdem(d)

Froschauer(d)

At halftime it was 1-1 with this goal from Ekra:

Full substitutions in the second half:

Doyle

Solignac - Powers - Ownby(t)

Azira - Appiah(d)

Burch - Torre(d) - Keel(t) - Hairston

MacMath

(I flip-flopped Appiah and Powers from the way the lineup was presented by the Rapids.  It seems more likely to how the played)

Game ended 4-2 Rapids with all 3 second half goals coming fro Kevin Doyle, the first two in the first 5 minutes of the half off of headers.  Here's the third:

The other news today was that the Rapids, as expected, made the Mekeil Williams signing official.

Rapids Add Gashi As DP, Williams As Well

BIG news from Commerce City today that nobody saw coming.  Colorado announced their newest Designated Player, Shkëlzen Gashi.  Who?  Yeah, pretty much everyone had that reaction (and because of that ë I'm just going to refer to him as Gashi from now on).

Gashi is a 27 year old winger/striker from Zurich.  The last two years he's been the Golden Boot winner in the Swiss league.  He's also has played 10 times in the last 2.5 years for the Albanian National Team, getting the winner in a 2-1 comeback over Armenia in Euro 2016 qualifying.

Two years ago he won the Golden Boot with Grasshopper, scoring 19 goals in 32 appearances.  He was then purchased by Basel, the biggest team in Switzerland and a regular Champions League participant (making the round of 16 last year),  Last season he scored 22 goals in 31 appearances to win the Golden Boot again.

Last summer (the Swiss offseason) Basel had a change  in manager and the new coach changed the way Gashi was used, restricting his style more.  Also there's apparently an undercurrent working against Albanian players in Switzerland this year as both National Teams are in the same Euro group next summer.  In the half season he scored 3 times in 10 appearances.

Gashi is generally lined up at the left attacking winger spot but the prior two years was give a more free role in the attack, allowed to drift to where he could be successful.  He's described as a poacher, not a setup man, so we'll need somebody to get him the ball in dangerous locations.  He can also play up top in a standard two striker setup.

This is a great signing by the Front Office and really one of the moves we needed to make.  An attacking player in the middle of his career with a top goal-scoring track record.  Reports in Switzerland say we've signed him until 2019 which is a serious long-term deal so that's a positive s well.  The  move from the Swiss league to MLS won't be that big of a change in quality, depending on who you talk to the leagues are seen as slightly better or worse than each other but not a big difference.  Obviously with Albania in the Euros we'll lose him for June and maybe late May but unless Albania makes an amazing run it should only be a couple of games.  Hats off to Bravo and Co. for this signing.

Along with the larger news of Gashi today there was also this news from Antigua GFC of the Guatemalan league.  Defender Mekeil Williams has been transferred to the Rapids.  No official word from Colorado yet but I assume they didn't want to distract focus from today's big signing and we'll hear something tomorrow.  Williams can play left back and center back though it sounds like he mainly plays outside.  He's 25 years old and has played 10 times for the Trinidad & Tobago National Team since 2012.

The final bit of news is that the Sarvas deal became official.  We got Targeted Allocation Money and a conditional 2018 Superdraft pick in exchange.  According to reports we also picked up about half Sarvas' 2016 salary.  I don't love eating the salary but if it frees up enough room to make another couple of quality moves it will be worth it.

Current roster:

GK John Berner
GK Zac MacMath
D March Burch
D Bobby Burling
D Marlon Hairston
D Axel Sjoberg
D Sean St. Ledger
D Mekeil Williams
M Michael Azira
M Sam Cronin
M Marco Pappa
M Zach Pfeffer
M Dillon Powers
M Dillon Serna
M Jared Watts
F Dominque Badji
F Caleb Calvert
F Kevin Doyle
F Shkëlzen Gashi
F Luis Solignac

Unsigned draftees:

GK Chris Froschauer
D Dennis Castillo
D Bradley Kamdem
D Javan Torre
M Emmanuel Appiah
F John Manga

Trialists:

D Stephen Keel
M Yann Ekra - Charlotte
M Brian Ownby - Richmond