Its Game Week!

We're now within one week until kickoff of the season in Seattle on Sunday at 7:15pm.  That means its officially game week!  The offseason is over and its time to look ahead to the season.  Before we do that though there was a final preseason game against Orlando in Florida yesterday, which the Rapids won 4-1.  The 4 goals doubled the combined goals of the first two games which was a welcome sight after a couple of questionable starts.  To be fair Matt Wells was very clear that his goal in the preseason games was to see how a tired squad reacted so he didn't set the team up to win those first two games.

Yesterday Navarro had a pair of goals, Yapi had one, and our new Aussie Herrington had the last one  Yapi also picked up an assist and Aaronson has two helpers as well.  Good to see the big 3 of our attack on the scoreboard.  Also Atencio was subbed off for a "trialist" so there might be an additional name in camp we're unaware of..  Otherwise Holding, Cannon, Vines, and Ronan had the game off and Steffen and Hansen split time.  Otherwise the expected names got the start, with Ojediran coming off after 65 minutes.

Matt Wells said we should judge the team at the end of the transfer window, which is still 4.5 weeks away.  That said the team now is likely the team the starting XI on Sunday will be chosen from.  Anyone signed from outside the U.S. won't have their paperwork done in time, unless they're American but they still won't be ready to step into the starting lineup in less than a week.  This is the week where teams have to reach roster compliance which has led to the Rapids making notable intra-MLS moves in the past, most recently trading for Josh Atencio just before the start of last season.  Even if that type of move is made I think its unlikely that player starts since Wells seems to want a high level of fitness and integration for his team. 

Later this week I'll have my normal preview and predictions.  I may also update my international signing rankings for the first time in a couple of years.  And then of course we'll have a game preview either Friday night or sometime Saturday.  Remember, this will be the last full-season kickoff week in February.  Next year we'll be looking at the 14 game 'sprint season' before the calendar change next fall.