Book Review: Emancipation for Goalposts

Amazon link

I found this book recently while digging through the history shelves at Boulder's Bookworm.  I'm always up for a good crossover between history and soccer so I grabbed it.  This seemed similar to Gunshots and Goalposts on football during the Troubles (which based on my search I've never reviewed here) which I enjoyed.

This is a solid book about football in Yugoslavia and then what football was like in the 6/7 countries that formed after the Yugoslavian civil war.  What this isn't, despite the subtitle, is an explanation of football's role in the civil war.  As far as I can tell that's because it didn't really play one.

The book starts with a couple of chapters detailing the history of football in the region before Yugoslavia was founded after WW1, and then the ~70 years before the country broke up.  This includes both the National team's results and also the major successes of its club teams.  Red Star, Hajduk Split, Partizan, and Dinamo Zagreb are heavily covered as you would expect.  Their successes in Europe, culminating with Red Star's European Cup championship on the cusp of the civil war is also featured, as is Yugoslavia's expulsion from Euro 1992 because of the war (they were replaced by Denmark, who would go on to win the tournament).

The book then turns to a history of the civil war and the founding of the breakaway states.  Football is barely mentioned in this chapter, with a couple of names associated with the running of clubs or ultras popping up and an occasional aside to how soldiers would identify themselves as supporters of one of the big teams.

After that its a couple of chapters covering the new leagues and new National teams that were formed in the wake of the dissolution.  One note is that in 1990 Croatia played its first international match of its modern history in Zagreb against a travelling U.S. team who had played in Poland a week earlier.  The starting lineup that night included Steve Trittschuh, Robin Fraser, Peter Vermes, and Marcelo Balboa.  Croatia won 2-1 with Troy Dayak scoring for the Yanks.  'Celo picked up a yellow card.  Since Croatia wasn't yet recognized by FIFA this is considered an 'unofficial' match and doesn't appear in the record books of results from that year.

The book finishes by following the large immigrant population from the Balkans, especially Croatia, in Australia and the impact on football there.  Then it turns towards the work being done in the former Yugoslav republics to repair fences with football and talks about how the newest republic, Kosovo, had lead to some  internationals to question if they want file a switch to play for them.

Overall I give this 3 of 5 stars.  I found the history of football interesting and as somebody who lived through the time period of the Yugoslavian civil war but wasn't old enough to really focus on it (I was in high school/college, my general reaction was "that seems bad, ok, back to thermodynamics") the overview of what happened filled in some gaps.  Unfortunately it didn't live up to the sub-title like I was hoping it would.  As you can tell the book is a little scattered.  The last two chapters felt like they were tacked on to reach a full book length and it would have been just as good without them.

If you want to know more about football in that part of the world I'd recommend it.  Otherwise there are better football books to read (like Gunshots & Goalposts above).

Rapids Waste Best Offensive Performance Since April

Colorado game out of the gate and took an early lead, gave it back, took a two goal lead, and then folded like a cheap suit to surrender 3 goals for the second time in a week and lose 2 points they desperately needed.

On the plus side both Whittaker and Farkhi started, and our DPs combined for two goals bracketing a goal from our first round draft pick.  Whittaker also took the corner that led to Phillip's goal but since there was a save between the kick and the goal he doesn't get an official assist.  Still, two goals and starting the attack on the third is a great outing.  Farkhi, on the other hand, was a bit quieter.  He had a couple of good looks and the best xG on the team out of the players who didn't score, but he was never really threatening.

The troubling thing was the lack of pressure and intensity late in the game when the subs came in.  Seattle scored two of their goals after the 75th minute and they were given plenty of time and space to do it.  Darren Yapi and Josh Atencio particularly stood out as not engaging defensively as you would hope.  Stealing this from fellow Rapids fan Ben on Burgundy Sky.

Yapi came on in the 64th, Atencio and Minoungou in the 72nd.  Surprising no one, parking the bus did not work.

To be slightly fair to the team, all three of the Sounders goals were great shots, the last two being absolute bangers.  The three of them had a combined x^ of 0.17.  In comparison Phillp's goal had an xG of 0.54.  The problem was that we gave them the room to get those shots off.  Wells has to figure out why this team is so mentally weak when things start to go sidways.

Losing these two points is a real blow to our playoff chances.  Of the 9 games we had left Seattle was the worst team on PPG, they were beat up, on a 11 game winless streak, and we were at home.  If we couldn't get 3 points from this game where are we going to get the 8-9 points we need in the last 8 games to hit the Bodmer Line?  Trips to Dallas and San Jose seem unlikely, and even our trips to the Galaxy next week and Portland are not reliable given our road form.  We've got Minnesota at home, which seems winnable and maybe Chicago, but Vancouver and San Jose, even at the Dick, feel like a long shot.  Not to mention 6 of those 8 games are happening during 3-game weeks.

Man of the Match: Morgan Whittaker.  2 goals, unofficial assist, yeah, that's what we need from our most expensive player ever.

Can A 7th Placed Team Have A Must-Win At This Point?

Seattle's Seafair Pirates, a pack of rogues 

Avast there!  Your local crew has an appropriate nautical opponent for International Talk Like A Pirate Day tomorrow   So drink up me hearties!  Yo ho!

Ok, I can't keep that up for a full preview.  But yes, the Sounders are in town tomorrow night to face a Rapids side that's staggering a bit after the midweek USOC loss.  Seattle is beat up themselves and in a death spiral, they've gone 12 games without a win.  This is the easiest game left on our schedule (home against the weakest team left) and its a must win.  Colorado needs 9 points in the last 9 games to get to the playoff average and if we can't get 3 here I question where we're going to get them.  This is about as much a must-win as we can have.  Kickoff is at 7:30.

Player Availability:

OUT: GK Zach Steffen (shoulder), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), F Mamadou Billo Diop (knee)

QUESTIONABLE: M Youssef Maziz (leg), 

SUSPENDED: D Kosi Thompson (yellowcard accumulation)

No surprises there, but good to see Maziz upgraded at least.  Also of note not this week but next, both Farkhi and Frederick have been called up by their national teams (Israel and T&T)  so they won't be available in LA.

Its time to see what the new guys can do.  Yapi is not working as the striker and there's no next week for Farkhi, so throw him out there and see how long he can go.  Same with Whittaker.  The rest is fairly obvious.

Prediction: 1-0 win, goal by Aaronson.  That score seems to be our home MO, why predict anything else?

Colorado Crumble

A pitiful effort saw the Rapids run out of their own building last night with barely a whimper.  For all the talk of being a new era with Demoff taking more interest and Wells coming in we saw the same old Rapids problems as we've seen for almost 10 years.  A team that can only work when things are going their way and all their starters are available. , Any kind of mental pressure like missing leaders or giving up the first goal and the team crumbles.

In this case it was third-string keeper Adam Beaudry, pushed into service by Nico Hansen's suspension (something we all forgot about until the lineup came out) who tried to pull a full Joe Nasco after misplaying a backpass, failed, and gave up an easy goal.  As we all know the Rapids don't come back after giving up the opener (its been 2 years!) and sure enough they didn't this time.  For the third time this season a bad backpass sequence cost Colorado against St. Louis and in the end the newcomers beat us by a combined 5-0 over the three games with those mistakes.

Even a 1-0 loss off a bad individual error would have been disappointing but acceptable, sometimes the bounces don't go your way but instead the team gave up.  Two more goals when St. Louis sliced or defense open because they just wanted it more.  The easy blame on this game is to point at Beaudry and say if he had done better by not giving up that goal things might have been different.  Its the general take on the loss last time we were this close, the 1999 final.  But much like Ian Feuer that night the goalkeeper wasn't really the problem.

We could have build a brick wall across goal and it wouldn't have mattered because in the biggest game in 5, if not 10, years there was no chance this team was going to score a goal.  The only shot on goal we had all night was right before Beaudry's gaffe, and it was an weak ground shot from Minoungou right at the keeper.  We played 62 minutes from behind and didn't put a single shot on net.

Its not hard to conclude that the Front Office sold our best chance at a trophy in 10 years for $12M.  I don't know that having Rafa last night wins the game, but I'm sure having Rafa and Mihailovic would.  Instead they got $20M, the amount they invested in Aaronson and Whittaker, and the two of them combined for 5 chances created and 3 shots with none on target.  Since the sale Rafa is averaging a goal every 58 minutes of game action.  The Rapids as a team are averaging one every 180 minutes.

Both Yapi and Farkhi looked ineffective as the loan striker which really makes you question where the goals are going come from the rest of the season.  In the first 8 league games this season the Rapids scored multiple goals 6 times, including 4 goals twice and one 6 goal effort.  In the 17 leagues games since they've scored multiple goals once, and the second goal was against 9 men.  My first thought was that they had to shift to focusing on defense, as they gave up 14 goals in those 8 games, but in the last 8 games (including last night) we've given up 10 so that doesn't seem to be the reason.  I think its likely that after 8 games there was enough tape on the Rapids for the league to figure out Wells' system and he won't, or can't, change it.  Thus the reason for backpasses that keep killing us.

More on this tomorrow but Seattle on Saturday is about as much of a must-win as a 7th place team can get with 9 games to play.  A lack of 3 points this weekend and you have to really question or chances to make the playoffs, much less do anything once we get there.

Man of the Match: Nobody.  You have to want to play to earn the award.

First Home Semi-Final In 10 Years

Not since the Western Conference Final (the MLS Cup semifinal) against Seattle in 2016 have the Rapids hosted a shot at a spot in a final.  While they reached the semis of the Leagues Cup (and eventually claimed the CCC spot in a shootout) that was in LA.  Tomorrow they get another shot at a final in front of their own fans.  The thing standing in their way?  St. Louis City, a team that's already beat them twice this year.  The good news is that Rafa Navarro is cup-tied after playing for us so he can't hurt his old team.  The biggest home game since Thanksgiving 2021 kicks off at 7:30 tomorrow night.

We don't have an availability list for the Open Cup but everyone seemed to come out of this weekend's game healthy so the only real question mark is Maziz's injury.  Given our struggles we need every weapon we can get so hopefully he's able to go.  Both Farkhi and Whittaker are eligible too, but Sadiq is still waiting on his visa.  As far as discipline goes it appears that the competition does not track accumulated yellow cards so Hansen would not be at risk of a suspension in the final should we win if he gets a yellow tomorrow, but I can't confirm that.

Its all hands on deck tomorrow because, to be blunt, this is our only chance at hardware.  We're not going to win MLS Cup this season.  So Farkhi and Whittaker have to start, even if they only have 60 minutes in their legs.  If Maziz can go, you risk him.  If he can't then you're probably looking at Frederick instead.  Everyone else is the clear best option.  I know a lot of these gays played 90 on Saturday but they have to go deep for another intense 90 (or possibly 120) for this one.

Prediction: 1-0 win, goal by Aaronson.  This will be a tense match all the way through and St. Louis will probably have the majority of the play.  My heart is driving me on this prediction more than my head, which would lean towards it being decided in PK's or a loss.  StL is the hottest team in MLS right now and even without Rafa I wonder if we can stop them.  If we were in St. Louis I'd give us a small chance but at home with what we've shown at the Dick since the World Cup break?  That's just enough to put us over the top (I hope!).

Colorado Makes It Six In A Row

With a 1-0 win on Saturday night the Rapids tied their team record with 6 straight home wins, set in 2016.  All 6 have been by shutout which is a new team record.  The league record for consecutive home shutouts is 8 by KC in 2000 (they actually went 87 minutes into their 9th game before Clint Mathis broke the streak).  If you're wondering the Rapids record for a home undefeated streak is 23, stretching from the second game of the 2021 season through May of 2022.

Really the biggest question watching the game, especially after the first couple of minutes, was if we were going to score.  Montreal never really threatened after a shot in the 2nd minute which was 30% of their xG on the night.  No other shot got above 0.07 xG.  Unfortunately the Rapids finishing issues continued Yapi had shots above 0.2 xG in both halves that weren't finished and Fredrick had one in the second half as well.  It took a PK from Aaronson to get one in the back of the net.

Whittaker and Farkhi both game in around the 55th minute for their first ever appearance in burgundy (black).  Whittaker was able to show more in this one, being active on the right side and getting a couple of good looks at goal.  He almost had his first goal in Colorado but his long shot went just wide of the far post.  Farkhi held up the ball well but wasn't as involved in the offense otherwise.  As Matt Wells said after the game their only goal on Saturday was to get some game time in their legs.  Hopefully its enough for them to start on Wednesday.

This was about as low-intensity a game as you can hope for with a league match right before a Cup semifinal.  That said, both Navarro and Williams were pretty toasted by the final whistle and they aren't really replaceable as starters (Travis and Cobb are not the same level).  The good news is that with the home winning streak the Rapids are solidly in a playoff position, so they can afford to sacrifice the game on Saturday against Seattle and just have everyone go all-out on Wednesday.  Also with this win the Rapids have equalized their win total from 2025 with 11.

Man of the Match: Paxten Aaronson.  He's stepped up with Rafa's departure and managed to get it done on offense when nobody else is.  The Rapids have now been outscored 4-2 by their former striker since the trade.

Reinforcements Are Trickling In Just In Time

The Rapids got good news today in their prep for tomorrow night's match against Montreal, Morgan Whittaker has his visa.  No news on Farkhi, who they were hoping for today, and Sadiq is still expected to be a bit longer, but this is the first (and biggest) step as Colorado can now put the biggest signing in their history on the field.  Burgundy Wave thinks he'll start but that might be a stretch given he's had at most one session with the team.  I do expect him to come off the bench though.  Meanwhile the opposition is a truly awful formerly-known-as-Impact side that would bein a race for the Wooden Spoon if SKC weren't having a historically bad year.  Kickoff tomorrow at the Dick is 7:30.

Player Availability:

OUT: GK Zach Steffen (shoulder), M Ali Fadal (head), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), M Youssef Maziz (leg), F Mamadou Billo Diop (knee)

SUSPENDED: D Reggie Cannon

As feared when he came off the field in Austin, Maziz's injury was serious enough that he'll miss at least this game.  Hopefully that's all it is.  Also Kosi Thompson is one yellow card from suspension.

I'm assuming we're going to see some rotation and resting players for the semi-final on Wednesday.  Given the thin roster though this seems to be the best we'll be able to do, and Wells may not even go that far.  If Whittaker does start it would be in place of Phillip I assume.

Prediction: 2-0 win, goals by Aaronson and Thompson.  Montreal has a pretty similar offense to ours, which is to say below average, but a truly horrible defense, second-worst in the league.  The Rapids keep the home shutout streak going into the semifinal and this one actually feels like a comfortable win.

Rapids Break Road Woes

I'm going to be honest up front, I only had one eye on the Austin - Colorado game last night as most of my focus was on Patriots - Seahawks.  But I did watch it and did see a Rapids side who looked better on the road than they have since May, but still couldn't finish.

The first half was largely the Rapids controlling play and creating chances.  They scored first when a cross was centered to Yapi unmarked in the middle of the box.  He should have one-timed it but instead he tried to chest it down and by the time he took his second touch the Austin defense had clamped down on him.  However their clearance went right to Aaronson who did one-time it and a worm-burner of a shot went off the left post and in for the early lead.  Side note, seeing the Austin defender raise his hand for offside when he was standing between Yapi and the goal was fairly funny.  Maziz and Phillip also had shots on target int he half but generally they were at the keeper.

The second half tilted back to Austin.  They had the majority of play and opportunities in this half but Aaronson had a great look at goal with a curving shot that a laid out Stuver just managed to palm around the post.  Right after that the home team came down the field and managed to pull the Rapids defense out of position leaving Torres unmarked at the top of the box for a cross.  He put a looping header over Hansen to level the score.  Colorado overloaded their right side of the defense with both Cannon and Holding marking the same player (maybe Cannon was supposed to push out even wider to the wing?) and Navarro not moving over to the open space in the center.  After the goal both teams seemed to accept the draw in the last 10 minutes.

Once again our lack of attacking depth was a problem.  Minoungou and Harris were our only options on the bench and that's just not enough for this team.  Wells said there's some chance Farkhi and/or Whittaker could have their visas in time for Saturday's game and we really need them.  Hopefully that means the odds of having them in time for the USOC game next week is high.

Speaking of, Reggie Cannon got a yellow card last night when means he's suspended for Saturday's game due to yellow card accumulation.  That should make him well-rested for the semi-final.  Atencio had to come on for an injured Maziz in the first half.  Youssef walked out under his own power but was shaking his head like he knew something was wrong.  Not great.  Meanwhile Atencio picked up his 9th yellow card of the season, tied for 2nd in the league but Josh has played 500 minutes less than Segovia (9) and Durkin (10);.  Time to dial it back.

Also, Rafa had 2 goals in his first start for St. Louis last night, which is one more goal than the Rapids have scored since they traded him...

Man of the Match: Paxton Aaronson.  Apparently Matt Wells challenged him after the Columbus game to step up and be more involved and he responded last night with the best to chances the Rapids had.

Road Warriors Go Again

Honestly, this is my focus tomorrow night. Sorry Rapids.

The Rapids have a quick turn around from their Ohio trip to head down to Texas.  Austin is on the schedule and that schedule is getting tight.  Specifically this is when Matt Wells is going to have to start making some decisions about which games matter more over the next week and a half.  We've got Austin tomorrow night and then three games in a week at the Dick, the middle of which is the USOC semi-final.  Anyone that plays tomorrow night could have a week off to be fully rested for St. Louis in that one, but that means leaving Montreal on Saturday with a bare-bones lineup.  Or he could mix and match some starters on both games.  Add to that the possibility of Whittaker or Farkhi getting their visas and being available (Sadiq seems like a long-shot).  Kickoff tomorrow is at 6:30pm.

Player Availability:

OUT: GK Zach Steffen (shoulder), M Ali Fadal (head), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), F Mamadou Billo Diop (knee)

QUESTIONABLE: GK Nico Hansen (leg)

I'm going to guess that Hansen doesn't make this trip to give him more rest and then if he's able he gets Montreal to get back into the flow before the USOC match.

Outside of that I'm not actually going to predict a lineup for this one.  Coming off the 3-0 mess on Saturday, the balancing of the roster against the USOC match, and the unknowns about the visas means nothing would surprise me tomorrow outside of the keeper position.

Prediction: 1-0 loss.  Until they actually prove it on the road I can't predict anything but a loss.  Austin is a bad team, as bad as Columbus with even a worse defense, but this Rapids team has no mental toughness and once things start going sideways they don't stop.

Another Garbage Road Game

Ugh, I really thought this would be the game where we got something figured out on the road but nope, we looked worse than we did in San Diego.  I'm not going to spend much of any time analyzing this one, its just garbage from start to finish.  Two things about the game I do want to mention though.

• The corner kick that led to the first Columbus goal appeared to be offside, so much so the color commentator kept harping on it during the game.  It wasn't.  It was almost the textbook definition of passive offside, which is not to be called in the current offside interpretation.  Calling offside is not just about the position of the player, that player must actively be involved in play too.  The cross that Holding intercepted and flubbed out for a corner wasn't close enough to any Columbus player to be played by them, nor was Holding close enough to any Crew attacker to be interfered with.  Thus the offside players were passively offside and the flag should not have gone up (and didn't).
  
  If you want to argue that's a stupid way to interpret the rule and it penalizes defenders playing it safe, I'd agree with you.  But that's the rule as FIFA and the IFAB want it enforced right now.
  
  
• Our subs in this game were Kosi Thompson, Reggie Cannon, Alex Harris, Donovan Phillip, and Keegan Rosenberry.  Three right-backs and two rookie midfielder when down a goal.  That shows you how thin this roster is while we wait for visas.  I said it last week that this was a hell of a transfer window from the Rapids, but you have to wonder of the FO could have gotten one or two of the deals done before the final day so that this team isn't so weakened for the next week or two.  If we lose the USOC semi or miss the playoffs by a few points it puts pressure on the signings to really deliver in the sprint season and the 27-28 season to make up for what the moves cost us this season.

That's it for the game.  Now lets talk about the season.  Burgundy Wave made some good points today on Burgundy Sky that should be repeated here.  The Rapids have one draw this season, the 0-0 at LAFC.  They have 10 wins.  In every one of them they scored the first goal.  They have 12 losses.  In 10 of them they gave up the first goal, then you had the game in Toronto where they scored first but had two red cards and lost, and then you have the Sandy curse where we scored first and loss, as we always seem to do in Utah.

Essentially the Rapids are a team that wins when they score first unless something unusual happens and lose when they concede first.  The last time we won a league game after giving up the first goal was over two years ago, our trip to Dallas on August 31st, 2024 where we won 3-2 on a stoppage time winner from Yapi after giving up a goal in the first 10 minutes.  That's not a great streak to be on.

Wells needs to get us mentally locked in on the road and when we go down a goal.  That's the challenge for the rest of the season now.

Man of the Match: Miguel Navarro.  Unlike the rest of the team he kept fighting after going down.

Potential USOC Final Preview

The Rapids enter their post-Rafa era with a trip to Colunbus tonight.  Both teams are still alive in the Open Cup and if they both win their semis the Crew would host a rematch of tonight's tilt in the final.  That said based on current form both teams might be considered the underdog in their semi.  The road has not been a great place for the Rapids but nothing has been good for the home side, can we figure out how to get our first win away from home since May?  Kickoff is at 5:30/

Player Availability:

OUT: GK Nico Hansen (leg), GK Zach Steffen (shoulder), M Ali Fadal (head), M Ted Ku-DiPietro (shoulder), M Hamzat Ojediran (yellow card suspension), F Mamadou Billo Diop (knee)

Along with this none of the trio we signed this week are available as they're waiting on their visas.  So a thin squad heading to B1G country.

Assuming no other availability surprises the only question seems to be the winger opposite Minoungou.  Yapi has already been confirmed to be getting a shot up top so our options are players like Harris, KSB, or pushing one of our center players wide like Fredrick.  I went with Harris but that's a guess.

Prediction: 0-0 draw.  Both these teams have offenses that are struggling but Colorado has a top-tier defense while Columbus is in the bottom quarter of goals allowed.  I just don't see where the goal is going to come from for the Rapids but if there is a winner I could see the Rapids getting a smash and grab 3 points.

Rapids Finish Biggest Transfer Window Ever

Technically we're still waiting the official announcement on one of these moves but the Rapids are teasing it for tomorrow morning so along with Bogert's reporting we're going to call that official.

First, the the bare bones recap of what the Rapids did in the 2026 summer window.

OUT:

• M Connor Ronan - Aberdeen (free)
• D Ian Murphy - San Diego (2nd round pick plus up to $100K GAM)
• D Lucas Herrington - Hull City ($17M + up to $6M + 15% sell-on)
• M Dante Sealy - Montreal ($1.4M GAM + up tp $300K GAM)
• F Rafa Navarro - St. Louis ($12M + up to $250K + sell-on)

IN:

• D Loic Williams - Granada (unknown fee, $1M-$3M)
• M Youssef Maziz - OH Leuven (free)
• F Sayed Abu Farkhi - Maccabi Tel Aviv ($6M)
• M Ibrahim Sadiq - AZ Alkmaar ($1.16M)
• M Morgan Whittaker - Middlesbrough ($10.7M + up to $3M)

Yeah, that's a lot.  From a pure position standpoint it was almost like for like but we swapped a defender for a midfielder.  From a talent level we probably increased, greatly.

Obviously we've already seen Williams and Maziz, so lets talk about the other trio.

I talked about Farkhi a week ago and my overall feel hasn't changed.  Long-term we'll probably look back and think the forward swap of Rafa for Farkhi helped us or worst case didn't hurt us long term.  St. Louis over paid for Rafa and we may have over paid for Farkhi but given his age that's likely to pan out in our favor.  But short-term I don't like leaving our forward position up to Farkhi (if he gets his visa) or Yapi in two weeks when we face St. Louis in the USOC semifinal.  If our lack off offense leads to us losing that game then Farkhi and the other signings will need to pay off big in 2027 and 27-28.  Farkhi was signed as a U-22 player.

Ibrahim Sadiq is the biggest "mystery" of these signings.  Matt Wells said tonight that he saw him when Spurs played against him in the Conference League as was impressed, thought he could have fit in London.  That said he only took a little over a million to sign and he only signed a 2 year deal, through 27-28.  That doesn't scream "cornerstone" signing.  Sadiq is a 26 year old winger, Ghanaian, and started his career ins Ghana's Right to Dream academy before moving to Denmark and then Sweden, finally ending up in the Netherlands with Alkmaar.  I would expect he would compete with Minoungou for playing time to start.  Sadiq will be on a TAM contract.

The last signing, and the one that isn't yet official, is Morgan Whittaker.  A 25 year old winger currently with Middlesbrough Whittaker has bounced around the Championship, playing for Derby County, Swansea City, going on loan to Lincoln City and Plymouth Argyle while there, moved to Plymouth Argyle, and then Middlesbrough 18 months ago.  The report on him is that he's streaky but when he's on he's one of the best attackers in the division.  His defense is questionable though.  This is somebody Wells has been tracking and pursuing for a while and Matt is all in on him despite those concerns.  I'd expect him to be an immediate starter, replacing Sealy, once his visa is done.  He plays as an inverted winger, as does Sadiq, so I'd expect to see a lot of cutting in to the middle.  He will, obviously, be a Designated Player.

All combined the Rapids generated 29M in cash plus another $1.4M in GAM in this window, and then turned around and spent somewhere between $19-$21M.  Remember, prior to last year's acquisition of Aaronson Colorado had never spent up to $3M on a single player!  If you add in the $8M in 2025 for Mihailovic and the $7.7M for Bombito in 2024, that's almost $50M alone.  That's probably enough to cover every fee the team has paid in its 31 year history.

Take a look at these two rosters.  The first is the opening day lineup in Seattle.  The second is the potential lineup once all the visas are processed.

I can't remember a season that's changed the roster this much by choice.  At this point even if healthy I would start Hansen over Steffen and eight of the other ten positions are pretty locked in on paper.  The only real battles are between Minoungou and Sadiq for the  second winger spot and between Yapi and Farkhi at forward.

Matt Wells had a media availability and it sounded like he has much more input on the roster than we saw during the Chris Armas and Robin Fraser eras.  This clearly shows that.  Many of these moves are players he had identified while at Spurs.  I don't know if its just because we have the money from the Herrington and Rafa deals or its because Kevin Demoff is more involved or if its Wells, but this is a different, more active, Front Office than we've ever seen.  Only time will tell if these were the right moves, but given the conservative, barely spending, strategy of the past really wasn't working I'm happy to see this new tack.

Sayed Abu Farkhi Signed, More To Come?

Just a quick post to acknowledge that the Sayed Abu Farkhi deal is done.  $6M transfer fee, signed today.  Braidon Nourse reports that he'll be on $800K salary and will have a clause that pays him part of his next transfer fee as an incentive.

I'm going to hold off on what this means for the lineup because Tom Bogert broke news of two more deal almost done today that are expected to get over the line before tomorrow's cut off.  English winger Morgan Whittaker from Middlesbrough and Ghanaian winger Ibrahim Sadiq from AZ Alkmaar are both apparently inbound.  Once the window closes tomorrow night we'll have a wrap-up of all of this and where we sit.