What Can Brown Do For Valerenga?

The Rapids made it official today and transferred Deshorn Brown to Norway's Valerenga.  A Norwegian paper says that the transfer fee was $4 million, presumably Norwegian Krone, which would convert to just under $500,000.

Overall this is the move the Rapids should have made.  An offer in hand is hard to turn down, though anything lower and the decision would have been questionable.  That doesn't mean we've improved though.  As I put it in my season preview:

Forward: Um, yeah, nothing much happened here.  We signed Badji!  Otherwise we're apparently hoping that what we have can get us enough goals until a move can be made.  At this point I think the assumption is that Kevin Doyle will be joining the team but the question is when.  If we have to wait for the July transfer window then Brown, Torres, and Badji are going to have to figure out how to score without a holding forward.  If somehow we can get Doyle before the end of Wolves season then we can probably muddle through for a few games until he gets here.  If we don't make any move at all we're in trouble.

This was not the move I had in mind.  Our already thin options are now transparent.  Badji doesn't look like the answer so that leaves Torres moving to the top of the formation and Powers moving back to center mid.  Really what needs to happen sooner rather than later is bringing in a new MLS-caliber and ready to play yesterday striker.  Its a bit frustrating that we don't have that player yet.  This transfer didn't come out of nowhere.  A deal like this takes some time and the Rapids must have had some idea this was possible during preseason.  I'm inclined to think that's why Badji got so much time with the first team at the expense of Brown.  Based on that, why didn't we get a replacement lined up in preseason?

In the end we're going to struggle until either Torres finds his 2013 Gold Cup form or we make a move.  The sooner one of those happens the better.

Brown To Norway?

It appears that Deshorn Brown is on the cusp of moving to Valerenga in Oslo, a team in Norway's top division.  A report three days ago from a Norwegian paper said that their managing director had traveled to Colorado to work on a deal.  This morning the Denver Post confirmed he was seen at training on Wednesday along side Paul Bravo, presumably to watch Brown.

If we're at the point where representatives of the team have officially traveled to Colorado and are talking to the team and Deshorn, its pretty much a done deal.  Negotiations may take another few days but I'd be surprised if it falls through at this point.  The Norwegian league starts in 3 weeks and according to the article from the Norwegian paper they would want to get Brown before the season starts.

From the Rapids point of view, if the money's good enough they should be making the deal.  This is how the Rapids will compete in MLS.  Finding good young talent, developing them, and selling them, then using that money for the occasional big purchase like a Ramirez or a Doyle.  Plus with Torres and possibly Doyle, not to mention the amount of time Badji's gotten, its going to be hard to find playing time for Brown.

The big issue is what to do between possibly selling Brown and hopefully signing Doyle (or another striker).  Based on last week's game Badji didn't look like he was ready to be the man up top in a 4-5-1.  The best option seems to be to push Torres forward and have Powers take the central midfield spot but that wasn't real successful last year.

2014 Player Of The Year

I'm a little late getting to this, but I need a break after he way the season ended.  Reviewing my Man of the Match awards:

1 award - Berner, Jose Mari, Nasco, Piermayr, Torres, the fans (the Mother's Day blizzard loss to Chivas USA), and the fan who paid for the plane at the final game

2 awards - Buddle, Eloundou, Moor, Sanchez

3 awards - Irwin, Powers, Serna

5 awards - Brown

Well, that makes this decision easy, and right in line with my gut feeling.  My Player of the Year is Deshorn Brown.

This season Brown was the only thing close to consistent on the offensive end.  He could be maddening at times but he still managed to finish 10 times for the second year in a row.  Only two other Rapids players have ever had back-to-back double-digit scoring seasons, Mark Chung and Conor Casey.  He's also the only player other than C+C Goal Factory to get to double-digits since Cunningham in 2005.  Over his first two seasons he's already 9th on the Rapids all-time list, and his current rate of scoring (a goal in just over every 3 appearances) is behind only Conor Casey and John Spencer all-time.

This year he had 4 more goals than Sanchez, and 5 of Sanchez's 6 were from the PK spot.  Powers was third with 5.  Essentially Brown doubled the goals of the next closest player.  Given how bad our defense was, nobody on that half of the field could be PotY and Brown is clearly the offensive PotY.

Despite my Man of the Match awards I'd give Jose Mari the runner-up spot.  He was 4th on the team with goals (with 4) including some absolute stunners.  He also was a sold distributor in midfield and largely wasn't at fault in our defensive breakdowns, other than the team is used to playing with hard-man defensive mid like Pablo and Thomas which isn't Jose Mari's game.

Not surprisingly Brown's season has continued after the season.  He's currently with the Jamaican National Team which is playing Martinique this evening (right now actually) in Caribbean Cup competition.  The Caribbean Cup is the qualification tournament for next summer's Gold Cup.  They will also play Haiti and Antigua and Barbuda later this week.  The top two teams in that group will qualify for the 2015 Gold Cup and the 3rd placed team will have a chance (if they're better than the 3rd place team in the other group) to play Honduras for the final spot.  Also the winners of the two groups will play for the Caribbean Cup championship and a spot in 2016's Copa America Centenario.

I Find Our Lack Of Firepower Disturbing

6 games in:
Deshorn Brown: 448 minutes, 18 shots, 6 shots on goal, 1 goal
Edson Buddle: 341 minutes, 9 shots, 3 shots on goal, 1 goal
Gabriel Torres: 241 minutes, 4 shots, 0 shots on goal, 0 goals
Combined: 1030 minutes, 31 shots, 9 shots on goal, 2 goals

If the Rapids had 2 strikers on the field at all times it would be 1080 minutes, so essentially our top 3 strikers have combined for all that time.  In it they're averaging about 5 shots and a shot and a half on goal per game.

This is, clearly, not good enough.  If it weren't for Sanchez's PKs (to be fair, one of which was earned by Brown) and Jose Mari's pair of bombs we would be in horrible shape right now.  Soccer is a team game, and the Rapids shouldn't be discounted because of those goals, but they aren't the type of goals we can depend on going forward this season.  Last weekend we saw what happens when one of those unusual goals doesn't turn up, a dominant performance by the Rapids with only 1 shot on goal (from Watts) to show for it and 1 point.

Each of the big 3 seem to have their own problems.  Buddle is holding the ball decently but his distribution has been poor most of the season, leading to a lack of quality chances being created.  Brown can't seem to keep possession of the ball to draw the defense and open up Buddle for a shot.  Torres, of course, can't seem to get on the field until late and then he never seems to impact the game.  Then, when any of the three of them do get a look at goal, they seem to hit it everywhere but between the pipes.

Some combination of Buddle, Brown, and Torres need to get on the same page and they need to do it yesterday.  Any combination of those 3 can work but it seems like the Buddle - Brown combo is the one that Pablo is favoring.  That means that Buddle needs to find Brown in space and Brown has to be able to hold possession so that Buddle can find the areas left when the defense collapses on Brown.  Oh, and they both need to figure out that the ball is supposed to go inside the white rectangle, not outside of it.

Metgod Out?

Maybe its just a glitch, but it appears every mention of John Metgod has been removed from ColoradoRapids.com.  This includes taking his name off the list of Technical Staff, removing the press release announcing his addition to the staff (seen here at MLSsoccer.com) and the video that they posted of him reviewing the team's SuperDraft results.  Odds are he's not a candidate for the head coaching job (that's still open 16 days before the season starts).

In other news Deshorn Brown (Jamaica) and Martin Chavez (Honduras) were both called up for their National Team friendlies next week.  Brown is heading to join up with the Reggae Boyz while Chavez will head to the Honduras team after Saturday's final Desert Diamond Cup friendly.

In yesterday's 3rd friendly in Tucson the Rapids and Chivas USA played a scoreless draw.  Some good chances for the Rapids but nobody could finish.  The lineups:

Nasco

Edward - Watts - VDC - Klute

Guzman - Hairston

Eloundou - Sanchez - Torres

Buddle

After half:

Nasco

Edward - Watts - VDC - Serna

Guzman - Hairston

Chavez - Powers - Torres

Brown

After almost everyone else was subbed in the 62':

Berner

Sturgis - Moor - Wynne - Serna

Mari - LaBrocca

Chavez - Powers - Torres

Brown

Galindo entered for Torres in the 71st minute.

In their final game the Rapids will face the Revolution on Saturday.

All-Star Voting Started Today

The Rapids have 6 players on the All-Star ballots that were released today.  Clint Irwin, Drew Moor, Atiba Harris, Dillon Powers, Edson Buddle, and Deshorn Brown.  Normally I don't really care about the All-Star Game, its great for those players who deserve it but the game is usually not interesting to me,  This year though the ASG is on July 31st in Kansas City.  3 days later the Rapids host FSL in the final Rocky Mountain Cup match, a game FSL has to win to retain the Cup.

That is the single biggest game on our schedule right now, because of the rivalry.  Given that, as much as they may deserve it (especially Irwin), I'd be happiest of none of these 6 guys got names to the ASG game-day squad.  There's a "2nd team" of All-Stars who get recognized and get whatever All-Star bonuses they have but are not a part of the game day festivities.  I'd prefer that all 6 of the Rapids are named to the 2nd team, get the kudos, but stay in Denver and rest for the RMC game.

I'd be thrilled if none of the Rapids made the game day squad and all 6 of FSL's nominees did.  Flying from New York back to Salt Lake after their Saturday game, then flying from Salt Lake to KC, playing mid-week, then flying from KC to Denver is much better than the Rapids who are hosting LA the weekend before and then staying in Denver until the RMC game a week later.

If you want to vote (for players from whatever team ;) ) the ballot is here.

Rapids Choose 3 In Draft

In today's Superdraft the Rapids stuck with their 3 picks at 6, 11, and 25 and picked up a trio of players who I expect to make the team and contribute.

Going into the draft the talk was that Colorado really wanted CB Walker Zimmerman and he fell to #6 but the Rapids surprised everyone and took UCF forward Deshorn Brown.  DeShorn is a junior at Central Florida and was signed under the Generation Adidas program, which means he doesn't count against the cap and is automatically protected in any expansion drafts.  He's Jamaican, so he will take up an international slot, leaving us 2 open slots.  He was named to the 2012 All-PDL Team and the Conference USA All Conference team.  At 6'3" he'll be a good target for Rivero's free kicks into the box.

At #11 Colorado took Notre Dame midfielder Dillon Powers.  He is one of a few seniors to already have signed a contract with MLS due to his high level of play in college.  He was also considered one of the best midfielders at the combine.  Powers has played for the U.S. U-18 and U-20 teams, being named MVP of the 2010 Milk Cup with the U-20 team.

With their final pick the Rapids took left back Kory Kindle from CSU Bakersfield.  Kindle is a senior but has not yet signed a contract.  He stood out as one of the better left backs at this draft, but he is a converted left mid.

Combined with the announcement of Kevin Harbottle this morning the Rapids are up to 25 players on the roster for training camp.  The other 21 players reported to Commerce City today for the first day of fitness tests, with training starting this weekend.  I'm sure today's additions will join them shortly.  The four rounds of the Supplemental Draft will be held on Thursday, the Rapids have a 2nd and 3rd round pick.

Here's our current roster as we enter camp.

Goalkeepers:
Steward Ceus
Matt Pickens

Defenders:
Diego Calderon
Kory Kindle - Unsigned draftee
Chris Klute (on loan from Atlanta through late-Sept)
Drew Moor
Anthony Wallace
Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:
Davy Armstrong
Eric Avila - Unsigned Re-Entry draftee
Tony Cascio
Jaime Castrillon
Kevin Harbottle
Pablo Mastroeni
Brian Mullan
Shane O'Neill
Dillon Powers
Martin Rivero (on loan from Rosario Central through 2013)
Nathan Sturgis
Hendry Thomas

Forwards:
Andre Akpan
Deshorn Brown
Edson Buddle
Atiba Harris
Kamani Hill