The Rapids first team will not be playing in the U.S. Open Cup this season. If you haven't been following the drama around the USOC in the offseason MLS informed the U.S. Soccer Federation that they were withdrawing their teams from the Open Cup and replacing them with their MLS Next Pro teams (Rapids 2 and the rest). The USSF said no. Under the certification for the league granted by the USSF (and FIFA) they are required to participate in the USOC. At first we thought that was that, but a couple of weeks ago it came out that MLS was still negotiating with the USSF. The final decision came down today. The teams playing in the CONCACAF Champions League will not play in the USOC. The next best 8 teams in the 2023 standings will send their first teams (including defending champion Houston) to enter in the 4th round. The rest will send their MLS Next Pro teams entering in the 1st round. (DC doesn't have a MLS Next Pro team, so they won't be participating either)
This, to put it frankly, is hot garbage from the league. They are claiming schedule congestion as a primary reason but in the end it comes down to money. MLS and even USL teams largely lose money on this tournament. Now that shouldn't be ignored, but the answer isn't withdrawal. Its fair for MLS to say "hey, you have to run this tournament well enough that we're not taking a notable loss playing in it", but at the same time, MLS can afford to lose a little bit playing in the tournament for the good of the game. Taking the ball and going home because you can make more money with the Leagues Cup is a horrible move.
When it comes to the Rapids, multiple outlets have reported that they were unhappy with the initial decision to leave the USOC and, presumably, are equally unhappy with the league's decision that only RapiDos will play in the competition. For once the club is on the right side of something like this. The roster rules for the Open Cup this season have not been published but we know that Rapids 1 players can be loaned to Rapids 2 on short-term deals. It will be interesting to see if some first-team players end up playing for R2 during the Open Cup, especially if they progress to the point where they're playing USL Championship teams or the MLS first teams in the competition.
On to player news. Tom Bogert is reporting tonight that there's a deal being made to send Marko Ilic on loan to Norwegian club Sarpsborg When he didn't show up on the bench last Saturday I wondered if the club was trying to move him. He's an expensive player to just be playing backup and with Steffen here (and Beaudry looking like the long-term future) that's all he would be. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't see him in Colorado again.
Needless to say, this was a top-tier bad moves by the Rapids. Having Yarbrough, Rodriguez, and Beaudry waiting in the wings they went out and spent time scouting a new goalkeeper, then paid a top 3 transfer fee in club history (at the time) to bring him in, only to find out he put up some of the worst advanced stats by keepers in MLS last season. They then had to go out and sign Steffen to fill the hole they created (since Yarbrough had no willingness to stay after that move). In a year plus one game we went from Yarbrough-Irwin-Rodriguez to Steffen-Beaudry-???. Stability that is not. A graduate-level class on how not to build a position.
The final bit of news is the Rapids 2 announced the extension of midfielder Daouda Amadou's contract for 2024 and 2025, but the interesting part is that he's guaranteed a first-team roster spot in 2025. The club also has option years for 2026-28. Amadou was a big part of the success of Rapids 2 last season, but as we've seen with Remi Cabral and Yosuke Hanya, the next step is generally a year in the Championship before moving to regular first team play. We'll see if he goes on loan this season, or if he joins the first team next year and what he's able to contribute.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment