Rapids Make Major, And Surprising, Move

Yesterday I theorized that the Rapids would announce an international would be bought out today to reach roster compliance and that international would be Wilson.  Well, that's not exactly what happened.

This afternoon the Rapids waived Shkelzen Gashi.

Yeah, I did not see that coming.  Not only did they move Gashi and not Wilson, they did it in a way that provided no cap relief (per Burgundy Wave's discussion with the Front Office).  Gashi will go on waivers for the next 48 hours and any MLS team can claim him.  The team that is willing to take on the largest amount of his salary will get him and the Rapids cap hit and salary responsibilities will be reduced by that amount.

Nobody is going to pick him up for anything more than the league minimum.

So, where does that leave us?  We now have a free roster spot and we're at our international limit instead of over it.  In theory we could sign another DP but with no cap room relief and no international slot there's not a high likelihood of that.  On the flip side, Gashi wasn't going to feature this season and hadn't made an impact since his goal in the 2016 playoffs.  Reports are that he didn't impress enough in preseason to really factor into the team's plans.

The confusing part is why waive him instead of buying him out?  All I can figure is that we have some sort of belief that another team will pick him up and save us some salary.  Otherwise this seems like a missed opportunity.  Getting ~$500K of cap space back would be a significant move.

Despite that though, I like this move.  Better to cut bait on somebody that had no role going forward than depth we might need somewhere else.  Its also the kind of major move prior Rapids leadership would not have made.  In the end Gashi had an amazing 2016 season and coasted on that for two years.  We can do better.

Euro and Copa Wrap-Up

Now that all the relevant Rapids teams have been eliminated from the Copa and Euros lets see how it went.

We'll start with the easy one, the Euros.  Albania was 3 and out, being the worst third placed team with one win and two losses.  Still, not bad for their first ever major tournament and their win over Romania was a major victory for them.  The whole team has been given diplomatic passports in honor of their victory (if your wondering they just get the passports, not diplomatic immunity.  Essentially they can now speed through customs and the TSA.  Not a big deal for most of the players as they play in Europe where there's a lot of free movement but I'm sure Gashi appreciates it).

Gashi only got 8 minutes in the tournament, in the opening game against the Swiss, and I'm guessing he'd kind of like to forget them.  He had a great chance 1v1 with the Swiss keeper to level the score late in the game but his shot was nothing special and the keeper made the save.  After that he watched the last two games from the bench.  Based on his twitter Gashi returned to Albania with the team for the celebrations this weekend but I'm sure he'll be heading back to Commerce City in the next couple of days.  He may fly straight to Dallas and meet up with the team there for Wednesday night's USOC match.

The Doyle-less Ireland squad finished as the 2nd best third placed team after beating Italy and drawing Sweden.  This got them into the Round of 16 where they faced France earlier today.  Despite leaving the match for over 55 minutes they were eliminated 2-1.

Now over to the Copa which was much more interesting from a Rapids POV.  After a lackluster match by the whole team (including Jones) against Colombia Jones roared back with the Yanks against Costa Rica.  After a 4-0 win JJ was named Man of the Match as the U.S. rescued their Copa chances.  Another strong match against Paraguay with a surprise win by Costa Rica put the U.S. on top of the group and in a quarterfinal against Ecuador.  Jones went the full 90 against Paraguay playing well.

The quarterfinal against Ecuador was eventful.  Shortly into the second half, with the U.S. up a goal, a double red was handed out putting both teams at 10.  JJ was the recipient of the red card and while it might have been light it wasn't unfair.  He brought his hand up and (possibly unintentionally) made contact with the face of the Ecuadorian player which is a textbook red under the new rules.  Both sides traded goal and the U.S. moved on to the semis but with 3 suspended for the match.

Missing those 3 (including Jermaine) cost them as they never looked like they were in the game against Argentina, who blew them off the field 4-0.  This sent them to the 3rd place game which was a replay against Colombia.  As it was the last game of the tournament Klinsmann gave Tim Howard a chance in the nets and he didn't disappoint.  While the Americans lost 1-0 (and improvement from the 2-0 loss to Colombia ins the group stage) but Jones and Howard played well.  An argument could be made that Jones was one of the best 3 Americans at the tournament alongside Wood and Dempsey.

Total game time:
Gashi: 8 minutes on Jne 11th plus heavy international travel
Howard: 90 minutes yesterday
Jones: 388 minutes in 5 games over 22 days which is equivalent to a busy MLS schedule but not overwhelming.

Depending on when Gashi returns he could play on Wednesday just to knock some rust off.  Jones will probably get a break to have him at full strength for the home game on the 4th of July.  Howard won't be eligible until the 4th and I'm sure he'll play.

Euro & Copa Preview

Two big tournaments kick off over the next 8 days.  Tomorrow we get the start of the Copa America Centenario here in the U.S. and then a week later Euro 2016 starts in France.  Surprisingly the Rapids have 3, but only 3, players involved in these tournaments when 5 months ago we thought we'd be lucky to have one (and sadly that one, Kevin Doyle, isn't involved).  Here's a schedule of when the teams featuring the Rapids will be playing and the TV coverage (all times MDT).

Copa America Centenario:

USA - Jermaine Jones, Tim Howard
Fri 6/3 - USA vs. Colombia - Santa Clara, CA - 7:30pm - Fox Sports 1
Tue 6/7 - USA vs. Costa Rica - Chicago, IL - 6pm - Fox Sports 1
Sat 6/11 - USA vs. Paraguay - Philadelphia, PA - 5pm - Fox Sports 1

If the U.S. wins the group (not likely):
Quarterfinal Thu 6/16 - Seattle, WA - 6:30pm - Fox Sports 1
Semifinal Tue 6/21 - Houston, TX - 7pm - Fox Sports 1

If the U.S. finishes 2nd in the group (could happen):
Quarterfinal Fri 6/17 - East Rutherford, NJ - 5pm - Fox Sports 1
Semifinal Wed 6/22 - Chicago, IL - 6pm - Fox Sports 1

3rd Place Game Sat 6/25 - Glendale, AZ - 6pm - FX
Final Sun 6/26 - East Rutherford, NJ - 6pm - FX

Euro 2016:

Albania - Shkelzen Gashi
Sat 6/11 - Albania vs. Switzerland - Lens, France - 7am - ESPN
Wed 6/15 - Albania vs. France - Marseilles, France - 1pm - ESPN
Sun 6/19 - Albania vs Romania - Lyon, France - 1pm - ESPN2

If Albania make the knockout rounds (possible but not likely) the Round of 16 matchup could be one of 3 on either June 25th or June 26th.  A quarterfinal matchup would be somewhere between June 30th and July 2nd,  a semifinal would be July 6th or 7th, and the final is July 10th.

Ireland - Kevin Doyle could be added next week if a player is injured
Mon 6/13 - Ireland vs. Sweden - Saint-Denis, France - 10am - ESPN
Sat 6/18 - Ireland vs. Belgium - Bordeaux, France - 7am - ESPN
Wed 6/22 - Ireland vs. Italy - Lille, France - 1pm- ESPN

If Ireland make the knockout rounds (not likely given their presence in the Group of Death) the Round of 16 matchup could be one of 3 between June 25th and 27th.  A quarterfinal matchup would be somewhere between June 30th and July 2nd,  a semifinal would be July 6th or 7th, and the final is July 10th.

Callup and Suspension

Some surprise news today as Michael Azira got his first ever callup for Uganda.  They play Burkina Faso in back to back World Cup Qualifiers during this international break.  Add him to the list with Kevin Doyle and Pappa.

A less enjoyable surprise also was revealed today.  Gashi is suspended for Sunday's game in DC.  As you can see from the video in the link he's suspended because he entered the field to celebrate Pappa's goal at the end of Saturday's match.  The suspension is technically correct but its a weak call from the MLS Disciplinary Committee.  "No harm no foul" seems to apply here.  I don't remember any of the subs from the U.S. who piled on Donovan at the end of the Algeria game in 2010 being suspended.

Again the DisCo has set a standard and we have to see if they live up to it.  My guess is they won't, but that's typical.  The only thing consistent about the DisCo is their inconsistency.

Rapids Add Gashi As DP, Williams As Well

BIG news from Commerce City today that nobody saw coming.  Colorado announced their newest Designated Player, Shkëlzen Gashi.  Who?  Yeah, pretty much everyone had that reaction (and because of that ë I'm just going to refer to him as Gashi from now on).

Gashi is a 27 year old winger/striker from Zurich.  The last two years he's been the Golden Boot winner in the Swiss league.  He's also has played 10 times in the last 2.5 years for the Albanian National Team, getting the winner in a 2-1 comeback over Armenia in Euro 2016 qualifying.

Two years ago he won the Golden Boot with Grasshopper, scoring 19 goals in 32 appearances.  He was then purchased by Basel, the biggest team in Switzerland and a regular Champions League participant (making the round of 16 last year),  Last season he scored 22 goals in 31 appearances to win the Golden Boot again.

Last summer (the Swiss offseason) Basel had a change  in manager and the new coach changed the way Gashi was used, restricting his style more.  Also there's apparently an undercurrent working against Albanian players in Switzerland this year as both National Teams are in the same Euro group next summer.  In the half season he scored 3 times in 10 appearances.

Gashi is generally lined up at the left attacking winger spot but the prior two years was give a more free role in the attack, allowed to drift to where he could be successful.  He's described as a poacher, not a setup man, so we'll need somebody to get him the ball in dangerous locations.  He can also play up top in a standard two striker setup.

This is a great signing by the Front Office and really one of the moves we needed to make.  An attacking player in the middle of his career with a top goal-scoring track record.  Reports in Switzerland say we've signed him until 2019 which is a serious long-term deal so that's a positive s well.  The  move from the Swiss league to MLS won't be that big of a change in quality, depending on who you talk to the leagues are seen as slightly better or worse than each other but not a big difference.  Obviously with Albania in the Euros we'll lose him for June and maybe late May but unless Albania makes an amazing run it should only be a couple of games.  Hats off to Bravo and Co. for this signing.

Along with the larger news of Gashi today there was also this news from Antigua GFC of the Guatemalan league.  Defender Mekeil Williams has been transferred to the Rapids.  No official word from Colorado yet but I assume they didn't want to distract focus from today's big signing and we'll hear something tomorrow.  Williams can play left back and center back though it sounds like he mainly plays outside.  He's 25 years old and has played 10 times for the Trinidad & Tobago National Team since 2012.

The final bit of news is that the Sarvas deal became official.  We got Targeted Allocation Money and a conditional 2018 Superdraft pick in exchange.  According to reports we also picked up about half Sarvas' 2016 salary.  I don't love eating the salary but if it frees up enough room to make another couple of quality moves it will be worth it.

Current roster:

GK John Berner
GK Zac MacMath
D March Burch
D Bobby Burling
D Marlon Hairston
D Axel Sjoberg
D Sean St. Ledger
D Mekeil Williams
M Michael Azira
M Sam Cronin
M Marco Pappa
M Zach Pfeffer
M Dillon Powers
M Dillon Serna
M Jared Watts
F Dominque Badji
F Caleb Calvert
F Kevin Doyle
F Shkëlzen Gashi
F Luis Solignac

Unsigned draftees:

GK Chris Froschauer
D Dennis Castillo
D Bradley Kamdem
D Javan Torre
M Emmanuel Appiah
F John Manga

Trialists:

D Stephen Keel
M Yann Ekra - Charlotte
M Brian Ownby - Richmond