Nicolas Mezquida Transferred To Volos FC

Originally reported by Richard Fleming over the weekend and made official today, Nicolas Mezquida has transferred to Volos FC of the Greek Super League.  According to Fleming's reporting there was a "gentleman's agreement" between Nico and the Rapids to allow him to go back to Europe.  What that generally means is that the Rapids are willing to allow him out of his contract to sign somewhere else for free, but Nico won't get the rest of his contract "bought out" (so he won't get paid for it).  None of the reporting of the move has mentioned a transfer fee, so that would match up.

Mezquida was a free agent after last season and it had been reported he talked to a couple of other MLS teams before re-signing with the Rapids for a surprisingly low number.  The official press release said that he wanted to go back to Europe to get more playing time, and Colorado was happy to make it happen.  Presumably he feels like he's going to get more chances in Greece, and at 30 years old he knows he's coming into the backside of his career.

On the field Nico won't be that big of a loss, so far this season he had come off the bench 9 times for a total of 105 minutes.  Last year he had 652 minutes of time in 6 starts and 16 sub appearances, scoring once.  Off the field he's known as a great locker room guy who was always positive and willing to do what it took to help the team.  That part may be a bit harder to replace.

With the move the Rapids are back to 30 players under contract, including Sam Nicholson.  But with loans to Rapids 2 and season-ending injuries to Galvan and Keita there's room to add more players should we want to.

Rapids Died Of Dysentery In Oregon

Ok, maybe not dysentery but they were run over by the Timbers.  A slip-shop defensive effort and a lack of killer instinct in front of goal (again) meant the Rapids were never really in this game.  A particularly bad defensive lapse may have cost us Yarbrough for some time as well.  All in all, a pretty lousy weekend for the burgundy boys.

Random Musings:

• First and foremost, hoping for a speedy recovery for Will Yarbrough.  Its been some time since I've seen somebody go out like that due to a collision on the pitch.  He was clearly woozy after coming to and will need to make sure he's healthy and his concussion is dealt with before we even worry about when he'll play again.
• Of course, Yarbrough came rushing out for a ball that should have been an easy pickup, but Danny Wilson was sleeping on the play and let a Timbers striker close on the ball, leading to the collision.
• This wouldn't be the first, or last time, in the game the defense was napping.  A poor effort across the board from the backline.
• Meanwhile Warner just wasn't up to the level needed.  He was more engaged than the defenders, he just wasn't good enough on Saturday.
• Meanwhile on the other end we had 5 shots on goal, an xG of 1.5, and 0 goals.  Not good enough, not nearly good enough (to give Portland some credit, Ivacic had a great night in net).
• Zardes is getting paid a lot, and doing little.  Compared to the NYCFC game he was at least involved, but wasn't getting to the crosses from Lewis and Barrios.  Bad crossing or bad positioning?  A little of both.
• Once the game was lost I would have liked to see Fraser give more time to the young kids on the bench.  our average bench age on Saturday was just over 20 years old and there was no experience at all.  Why not bloody them in a lost cause?
• There's something off with this team right now.  They're inconsistent, don't have the drive they had last season, and are just going through the motions too often.
• Now its on to Austin at home on Independence Day.  We need to kickstart this season with a big performance.

Man of the Match: Abe Rodriguez.  He was thrown into the deep end, facing a PK as the first action of his MLS career.  But he didn't hesitate was was talking trash to Blanco before the kick and giving his defenders much deserved dressing-downs in the second half.  None of the goals were due to his play, and he actually showed a passion a lot of the team was missing on Saturday.

Rapids Hitch Up Their Wagons For Portland This Weekend

 

Colorado goes west tomorrow night to face the Timbers in Portland.  The Rapids are still looking for their first road win of the season, and the Timbers haven't been a good home side this year.  Kickoff tomorrow is late, 8:30pm, so plenty of time to enjoy the weekend before settling in.  19 games left in the TV blackout.

Injury Report: 

OUT: M Ollie Larraz

QUESTIONABLE: M Jack Price

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED: D Lalas Abubakar, M Brian Acosta (Yellow Card accumulation) 

SUSPENDED AFTER NEXT YELLOW: D Auston Trusty

Based on reports from training it sounds like Price is doubtful to start and questionable to be in the 18.

With both Price and Acosta out of midfield its a little hard to predict which way Fraser will go.  You could see somebody like Warner starting and Kaye more out wide, but I think Robin will want to put offense out there to start.  In the back I think Rosenberry pinches in for the missing Abubakar.

Prediction: 2-1 win, goals by Zardes and Kaye.  Portland is not a good team right now and I think we can take advantage even with our depleted roster.  It will be tight but I think we squeak out the 3 points and Zardes gets his first goal as a Rapid from the run of play.

Colorado Gets Good Point From Ugly Match

There wasn't much of a game worth watching yesterday afternoon.  Three weeks off combined with the less-than-stellar pitch at Yankee Stadium led to a lot of uneven play and an inability to move the ball by either team.  In the first half the teams combined for one shot on goal (by NYCFC) and I don't even remember it.  The second half was a bit better, but still ugly all around.  Any time the Rapids can go on the road and get a point from the defending MLS Cup champs and Shield leaders (at least going into the weekend) its a good result though.

Random Musings:

• Yarbrough got away with one early in the match when he may have collided with the NYCFC forward.  It was a judgement call which is why VAR didn't get involved but a different ref could have called a PK.
• Nice goal by Barrios, made up for a rough day for him otherwise.  The narrow field did not give him space to dribble and what little he did get ended quickly on most possessions.
• Esteves played a much more defensive game than he normally does, and did so well for the most part.  He gave up a bit too much space on the cross that led to the NYCFC goal however.
• Speaking of the goal, the real error was the lack of marking, again, right in front of the box.  It looked like Wilson lost his man but Rosenberry was right there not marking anyone ether.  Similar to a player getting between Trusty and Wilson in the Nashville game.  Something that needs to be fixed.
• Zardes was completely invisible in this one.  Not what you want to see from your DP.  The back-loading of that deal with the Crew is looking better with every game.
• Due to picking up their 5th yellows in this one Abubakar and Acosta will be sitting out the next match.
• There really wasn't that much to take away from this game.  Chalk up a well-earned point and move on to Portland.

Man of the Match: Mark-Anthony Kaye.  Was a destroyer in midfield, forcing NYCFC to play out wide, largely unsuccessfully, and had a nice assist on the goal.

Third Time The Charm At Yankee Stadium?

The Rapids have played twice at Yankee Stadium, losing 5-1 and 4-0.  Tomorrow they take their third attempt at playing in the last real baseball field in the league.  With a 3 week break and a road trip the odds are not in their favor.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 3pm, and we've got 20 more games of Altitude TV issues before the new AppleTV deal kicks in next season.

Injury Report: 

OUT: M Ollie Larraz 

Disciplinary Report:

SUSPENDED: F Diego Rubio (Yellow Card accumulation) 

SUSPENDED AFTER NEXT YELLOW: D Lalas Abubakar, D Auston Trusty, M Brian Acosta

Good to see everyone that's expected to be healthy is.  Other than Rubio's suspension Fraser has everyone to choose from.  In case you're wondering Sam Nicholson won't be eligible until the transfer window opens in early July.

After three weeks off I'm really not sure what Fraser is going to do with the midfield, so I went with the safest bet.  I'm feeling fairly confident about the back-line and Zardes though.

Prediction: 2-0 loss.  I just don't see the Rapids bouncing back in this one, even with NYCFC having a coaching change.  Best case scenario is that our defense doesn't make any mistakes and we can play to a scoreless draw.

Rapids Bring Nicholson Back, Reportedly Extend Esteves

Colorado made two roster moves today, one officially and one reportedly.  The bigger of the two (and the official one) is bringing winger Sam Nicholson back for a second stint in Commerce City.  Nicholson originally joined the Rapids in a trade from Minnesota in 2018 in exchange for Eric Miller.  He stayed with the club up until the COVID shutdown in 2020.  I had heard rumors Sam didn't want to leave Colorado but had to for personal reasons, and the club wanted to bring him back after his contract with Bristol Rovers was up.  Those rumors turned out to be correct today.

We signed him for 2.5 years (through 2024) with a club option for 2025.  He was a regular starter for Fraser in 2019 and the first couple of games of 2020 before the COVID shutdown, so he should have no problem fitting back into the style of the club.  At 27 now the added experience should help push the likes of Lewis and Barrios to step their game up or see their minutes lost to Sam.  Nicholson isn't the difference between winning MLs Cup and falling short, but he's a solid signing that should help the team.

The other reported move today (by Yahoo Sports) is that the Rapids have extended Lucas Esteves' loan from Palmeiras for another $200K, with the same clause to buy him for $1M.  And that $1M is only for 50% of his rights, it sounds like Palmeiras wants to keep 50% of any sell-on, so they are essentially valuing him at $2M.  This is the right move as Esteves has shown glimpses of being a strong left back (or maybe left winger) in MLS, but not enough to justify dropping $1M on him.

Recommended Blog

I've been meaning to do this for a while, but I wanted to recommend Joseph Samelson's blog to anyone who's enjoyed reading my work over the years.  Joseph has been blogging the Rapids off and on since 2018 but last fall he really kicked it into overdrive and is now writing the best blog on the Rapids out there (yes, better than this one).

If you remember some of my earlier posts I used to have a bit more statistical analysis that I have recently.  Well Joseph has picked up that baton and run with it.  When I started this the amount of advanced statistics available was fairly minimal but despite that we still dug in the best we could to get the best view of what was really going on.  In the last few years statistical analysis in soccer has taken off and Joseph as ridden that wave into pulling out some great detail on this team and what's working.

Anyway, I'm not suggesting you stop reading my random thoughts, but also go read his stuff too.

No World Cup For Denver

Coming as no surprise to many (including myself) Denver was not selected as a host city for World Cup 2026.  The closest city selected was Kansas City, along with Dallas and Houston.  Its been obvious for a while, IMO, that Denver didn't put on a full-court press to get the World Cup and it cost them.  There was no visible evidence of the bid in Denver, unlike most cities bidding, there was no excitement over the announcement, and in general it feels like it was a paper bid to make some people look good with nothing behind it to really land some games.  This feels like a pretty big missed opportunity by the city.

To be clear, KSE was not responsible for leading the bid (though they did donate a large sum to help the process) and when you look at other cities selected the current state of their MLS team obviously wasn't a factor.  It seems like other things like altitude and a rumored very poor FIFA visit last year is what cost us.  I'm sure the events during the Nations League finals last summer didn't help, but a good bid committee could have overcome those.

Now we just have to hope that some teams will want to use the Denver area as a training camp before the Cup or a home base during the competition.  Maybe we'll get an interesting friendly or two in the lead up.

Rapids 2 Adds Possible World Cup Defender

Today the Rapids 2 confirmed the rumored signing of Costa Rican international CB/DM Daniel Chcon to a multi-year deal.  Chacon was in the 18 for Costa Ricca's last 6 World Cup qualifiers, came in as a sub in 3 of them, and started and played the full 90 in the last match against the USA.  He was not part of the team that beat New Zealand yesterday to claim the last spot in the World Cup.

This is an interesting and surprising move for somebody who's fighting for a spot in Qatar.  He reportedly also had an offer from Costa Rican-giant Saprissa but chose to go with Rapids 2.  A team that, lets be honest, isn't very good.  I'm not sure how getting time in what amounts to a glorifies reserve league serves him better if he wants to go to the World Cup than playing in the Costa Rican top flight.  To be clear, he can't play for the Rapids first-team under a Rapids 2 contract.  He would have to be loaned or signed by the Rapids.

To me there's only a couple of ways this makes sense:

• He's already been told he's not going to Qatar regardless of what happens in the next 5 months and figures this is his best chance to get into MLS.
• He's already been told he's going to Qatar regardless of what happens in the next 5 months and isn't worried about losing his pot while he tries to impress and get a first-team contract with the Rapids.
• The Rapids have told him they'll loan him to the first-team before the end of the window but want to get the deal done before the window opens and he gets other options, and they need to wait to clear a roster/international spot in the window before they loan him in.

Regardless, I like this pickup for Rapids 2.  Even if he's not in Costa Rica's World Cup plans a young CONCACAF international is the type of player we should be evaluating.

Rapids TV Now As Easy as Apple Pie

Huge news out of MLS today as the long-awaited deal for TV rights for 2023 and beyond was announced.  The league signed a 10-year $2.5 billion deal with Apple to be the home of all MLS league matches and Leagues Cup matches for the next decade.  There's a lot to unpack here and we'll get to the details but the most important thing for Rapids fans is this.  NO LOCAL BLACKOUTS!  That's right, the long local nightmare is over.  Starting next season you'll be able to see the Rapids in Colorado without having to find...creative ways around the Altitude-Comcast/DISH impasse.

So, lets go over the basics:

• Apple will be creating a "MLS Channel" (official name is not yet announced, so we'll call it MLSC for now) in the AppleTV ecosystem.  This channel will show literally every league match, every Leagues Cup match, pregame, halftime, and postgame shows, a whip-around show during games (more on that later), along with highlight shows and other content.
• The league is still negotiating with ESPN and Univision to air games on their cable channels.  It sounds like slightly less than they currently do (more like 20-25 than the current 30 or so per season).  Those games will also be available through MLSC.
• There will be no more local broadcasts.  No games on Altitude at all (or Root Sports, or FOX Sports or any of the other regional sports channels across the country).
• The ESPN+ deal ends at the end of this season and will not be renewed.
• MLSC games will be available in English and Spanish, and some (mostly the Montreal matches) in French.  Portuguese is coming by 2025.
• You will not need a AppleTV+ subscription to get MLSC.  MLSC will be a separate subscription from AppleTV+ accessed through AppleTV.
• If you have AppleTV+ and do not get MLSC you will get some of the MLS content as part of your subscription but not all of it.
• If you have neither AppleTV+ or MLSC you will be able to watch a free game through AppleTV.  My guess is that these will be the same games ESPN/Univision are broadcasting.
• MLS full-season ticket holders will get a MLSC subscription as part of their season ticket deal.  The whole Apple MLS package will be free for season-ticket holders.

So those are the big points.  Essentially if you want to watch MLS, you're going to need to get MLSC.

One question I know we all have as Rapids fans is "who's calling these games?".  Well, that's the possible bad news in this deal.  MLS will be doing the production for these games in-house and they will be using a single commentary team for the games, instead of a local set of commentators for each team.  The plan is to hire about 10-14 teams of commentators to do all the games.  Who those commentators are is unknown.  So we are looking at the possibility of losing Richard Fleming's and Marcelo Balboa's call if they aren't hired by the league to work on MLSC.  (Balboa will still be coaching for the Rapids and presumably doing his Univision work)

The league has said that after the national pregame and postgame shows that if the team's want to do a local pre/post game they can, so maybe the Rapids can keep Fleming around with that being one of his responsibilities.  Also viewers will have the option to choose the local radio broadcast over the national feed from MLS, so you can get Connor Cape and maybe they can work Fleming/'Celo into the radio work?

The other significant change from this is that the league will be moving to a stricter scheduling plan.  All games will be on Wednesday or Saturday nights after about 6pm local time.  The only time games will be moved from those windows are for stadium availability issues or if ESPN/Univision needs a game in a different time slot for their channel schedule.  That's where the whip-around show I mentioned above comes in.  Each game day MLSC will have a show that will jump from game to game based on what's going on with live look-ins and reporting.  By having all the games in the same window this gives plenty of content over the 6 or so hours it will take to cover the early starts on the East Coast to the late finishes on the West Coast.  So no more (or significantly reduced) Sunday games, mid-afternoon Saturday games, or random Friday or Tuesday night games.

The two sets of games involving MLS teams that won't be on MLSC will be the U.S. Open Cup which will still be on ESPN+, and the CONCACAF Champions League which will be on FOX.  But as Rapids fans its not like we have to worry about those matches.  ;)

So what this comes down to is that starting next season you'll need a MLSC subscription through AppleTV to watch the Rapids, but you'll be able to watch every game, no matter where you are, and everything else in MLS too.  And if you're a season-ticket holder you'll get it for free.

Mystery Kit Box Reviews

I picked up a few kits over time, mainly from teams I support, but in recent years I've widened my collection.  One of the ways I've done this is through "mystery kit" boxes.  That accelerated a bit through the pandemic and I've now gotten kits from a number of different companies, so I figured now was time to do a review of them.

What is a "mystery kit" you ask?  Well while every company has its own twist on things but the basic idea is that you order a kit from one of these companies, tell them your size, tell them any rival team you want to avoid (so no Burnley for me, or no FSL if the company does MLS kits), and they go off and pull something from their collection and ship it to you.  Its a mystery what kit you get until it shows up in the mailbox.  Generally, because you're not ordering a specific kit and taking a risk you're getting a brand new kit for significantly less than it would cost you from something like World Soccer Shop.  Of course, you have to be open-minded about what you're interested in, if you don't like wearing a shirt from a team you don't directly support or a style you don't like this isn't your thing.

If you're wondering about sizing or duplication, most of these sites know which manufacturers run small or large and adjust your requested size accordingly.  They also include a text field on the order where you can list the kits you've already received.  And if you're concerned if these shirt are legitimate, they all come with tags or if they don't they're guaranteed genuine. 

I've got reviews of 4 different companies I've gotten kits from below, along with a 5th I follow on Twitter but haven't yet ordered from.  These companies all offer other items as well, either different type of mystery kits, non-mystery kits, or other gear.  I'll list some of them in the details.  I've been happy with all my orders and dealings with these companies and would recommend any of them, its really a matter of what you're looking for and what you want to spend. 

Away Days Football: 

Mystery Kit Price: $30 + $6 shipping

Kits Received: Brentford (then English Championship), Sunderland (then English League One), Lyon (France Ligue 1), Olympiacos (Greece Super League), Fenerbahçe (Turkey Super Lig), Rapid Wein (Austria Bundesliga), plus Montpellier (France Ligue 1) and AC Milan (Italy Serie A) child kits for my nephew.

Other Offerings: Mystery kits by year, Mystery scarves, lower-league U.S. kits (non mystery), plenty of other things

Away Days was the first of these companies that came to my attention.  As far as I can tell they were the first of this group to get started but don't take that as verified fact.  They were also the only one, until recently, to be based in the U.S. with the shipping benefits that provide.  As you can tell because of that and their low prices I've ordered multiple kits over the last few years and my sister gave me a 3 month subscription for Christmas one year.  

Away Days' selection seems to be largely "big" teams, either top level teams or bigger lower league teams like Sunderland.  You do get the occasional second tier team like Brentford or Montpellier but don't expect some small club you've likely never heard of.  Martin started the company as a one-person operation a few years ago and is super-responsive to questions.  Before Christmas a couple of years ago I wanted to get a second kit for our nephew but he hadn't re-listed kids kits yet, when I reached out he set me up with an order a week or so before he got them relisted on the site.

Non-League Football Shop: 

Mystery Kits Price: £30-£35 + £15 = $57-$63 including shipping

Kits Received: Hinkley AFC (United Counties League Division One; Level 10)

Other Offerings: Non-league shirts (non-mystery)

As you can tell from the name and pricing, Non-League Football Shop is a UK-based site that focuses completely on non-league teams.  If you're wondering what non-league is, its everything under the top 4 fully professional leagues in England, Level 5 all the way down.  When I say all the way down I mean it.  My mystery kit from them was Hinkely AFC, a 10th-level club outside of Leicester.  Certainly one I had never heard of before.  

Non-League Football Shop offers two slightly different mystery kits.  The more expensive 35 pound offering is their New Mystery Box, a brand-new with tags (if it originally came with tags) shirt from a non-league team.  The 30 pound offering is their Collectors Mystery Box, a kit that's not guaranteed to be brand new, but will be pre-worn.  Also along with that shirt will be a piece of football memorabilia.  I went with the latter option for my order because I was curious about the piece of memorabilia (and I liked the lower price), in my case I got a program from the 80's from lower league and now defunct side Princes End United.  Also of the three kits I've ordered from the UK they had the fastest shipping, but that could just be luck.

I love non-league football so they will definitely be getting another order from me at some point.

Bundesliga Boxes: 

Mystery Kit Price: £59 + £24 = $105 including shipping

Kits Received: Alemannia Aachen (Germany Regionalliga West; Level 4)

Other Offerings: Non-mystery kits, other Bundesliga merch

As you can tell from the name Bundesliga Boxes focuses on one country, Germany.  They also have a slightly different model in that they do their mystery boxes in waves.  They just about to open up ordering for Box 21 on Saturday morning (UK time).  Each wave tends to feature a small number of kits in the boxes, so everyone who orders gets kits on a theme.  They also have surprise boxes in the wave with player-worn or other rare kits.  All boxes include merchandise along with the shirt, thus the higher price.

I had been following them on Twitter for a while but not yet pulled the trigger on an order when I won one of their contests for a box of goodies, including a Sports Club Map, socks, pins, stickers, etc.  I figured if they were going to ship that to me from the UK I should make it worth their while and order a shirt along with it.  It was a great package that you can see here, the shirt and everything on the right came as part of the purchased box, the stuff on the left of the shirt and the two prints below it was the prize I won:

Obviously you're making a larger investment if you go with Bundesliga Boxes, but you're getting more than just a shirt for your money.  If you're interested in German football, especially outside of the top level, this is the way to go.

Surprise Shirts:

Mystery Kit Price: £35 + £20 = $69 including shipping from their UK site OR $68 + Free shipping from their U.S. site

Kits Received: Samsunspor (Turkey TFF First League; Level 2)

I was getting ready to write this review post as we came into the international break and I was lucky enough to win a free mystery box from Surprise Shirts, who I follow on Twitter but had not yet ordered from.  So perfect timing to include them.  But it is a little different in that I haven't really been their customer yet, just gotten a prize.

That said, they did just as well as any of the other companies.  All they do is mystery kits, with nothing additional, but they do send a small Haribo treat with every order.  They also include a sticker on the box with details about the shirt and team, which isn't something the other companies do.  I will say, following them on Twitter, that they seem to have the widest variety of shirts of any of the companies.  They regularly have people post pictures of their mystery shirts that include clubs from smaller European leagues, African leagues, and Asian leagues (they had one from a Singapore club they were sending out for a while that was one of the better looking shirts I've seen).  So if you want a good chance at a club you've never heard of from outside the "big" countries, this is who you should go with.

They've just recently opened their U.S. site which means shipping is much cheaper for us Americans.  I mentioned to them that I was writing this post when I won the shirt and they gave me a discount code to share with my readers.  If you order through their U.S. site (linked above) you can use the code FRIENDS20 for 20% off your order.

Mystery Football:

Mystery Kit Price: $45 + $18 shipping

Mystery Football is another company doing mystery kits but I haven't ordered from them yet.  They seem to have a good selection following them on Twitter.  They also have two different boxes at the $45 price point. a club box and a national team box.  So if you want a mystery National Team they may be a good choice for you.  Their site also handles pricing in U.S. dollars, which is nice.

If I had to rank my top 3 mystery kits I've gotten, in no particular order, it would be the Rapid Wein kit from Away Days, the Hinkely AFC kit from Non-League Football Shop, and the Samsunspor kit from Surprise Shirts.  I have no complaints about any of the kits I've gotten though and would gladly order from any of these companies again.  Hopefully if you're interested in a mystery kit you've found a good option here.