Our Toughest Opponent Ever?

Means Club America, which is trouble you've not known.

Two quick notes.  First I have some family and work plans that are going to make it difficult to keep up with blogging over the next couple of weeks, thus why you're getting this game preview a day early.  If we beat Club America don't be surprised to not see a game recap or preview for the semifinal but I'll do my best.

Second, as really their only move of the transfer window, the Rapids waived Aboubacar Keita today (they also traded an international slot to Atlanta last week).  Keita has been on loan to Bohemians in the Irish league but he was getting less and less playing time as their season went on and they terminated the loan (his last appearance was July 4th).  Its clear at this point that post-injuries Keita isn't a part of Colorado's plans and he may not even have anted to b here.  Moving on is probably best for both parties.

Now, on to the main subject.  On Saturday in LA the Rapids will meet Club America in the Leagues Cup quarterfinals.  America is arguably the best team on the continent and the biggest club we've ever played in a competitive match.  For comparison sake transfermrkt has America's club value at just under 100 million Euros.  A couple of million more than Inter Miami even with the GOAT and almost double LAFC.  Toluca is listed at 72 million Euros.  So this is really a step up for what Colorado has faced in the past.

That said, they needed a late goal and an awful PK call to beat St. Louis, a team the Rapids have handled twice this season.  Like every other team in this competition they're playing on short rest and in their case away from home.  They don't have to travel for this one, having played both their games in SoCal (as Liga MX champion they like Columbus got a bye through the group stage), but that doesn't make it home.  It will be a very pro-CA crowd in Dignity Health Sports Park however.

The Rapids biggest problem is going to be fitness.  This is now their 5th game in 16 days and we aren't a deep team. The backline other than Abubakar has played every minute of those games, as has Bassett.  At some point that amount of work is going to catch up to us.  I don't see a way around it this game though.  We have to start as many of our top players as we can if we're going to get past America.  This is not a spot to throw Anderson or Travis in the deep end, and a midfield of Ronan and Larraz behind Mihailovic won't work.

CA is going to out-possess  us in this game, guaranteed.  It will look like the Toluca game where we'll need to pick our moments to  press and hit on the counter, and the rest of the time we're going to need airtight defense.  Steffen looking like 2018 Steffen will help.

Kickoff on Saturday is at 8pm MT.  The winner gets the winner of LAFC/Seattle also on Saturday (we're on the road if we win).

Prediction: 2-1 loss, goal by Mihailovic.  I know I've doubted the Rapids in two of the last three games and they proved me wrong, but this is a new level for them.  The lack of depth, which has meant lack of rest in this competition, is going to catch up to them eventually and I think it happens Saturday night.  There's no shame in losing to the best team in CONCACAF though.

As Expected Keita Won't Be In Colorado, But Now Ireland?

After spending essentially the whole offseason training with an Austrian Bundesliga club it was fairly obvious Aboubacar Keita would not be in the plans for the Rapids this season.  What wasn't foreseen is that his new location would be Bohemian FC in the League of Ireland, not Austria.  The move was made official today with both Colorado and Bohemian announcing a one year loan with a right of recall.  Other reports are that there is no option to buy in the deal.

Bohemian needs a center back after Rob Cornwall blew out his knee.  Before moving to Ireland Cornwall's last team was the Northern Colorado Hailstorm.  The Centennial state seems to be a popular recruitment spot for the Irish side.

I'm not sure what it says about Keita though if he's moving to get playing time in a league that has recently pulled from the USL1, a league two levels lower than MLS and roughly equivalent to the MLS Next Pro Rapids 2 side Keita would likely get time with in Colorado.  It does seem that Keita is focused on making a move to Europe and this is certainly going to give him more of a shop window than playing for R2 would.

In unrelated news the Rapids made the formal announcement of the coaching staff today.  The notable piece of news is that Wolde Harris was not retained by Chris Armas.  You can always expect some turnover when a new coach comes in, but its always hard to see a former player now coach move on.

Quick Recap/Preview

I will be occupied with a family memorial for my uncle this weekend unfortunately so I won't have time to do a proper preview for Sunday's LAFC game.  I also likely won't be able to watch much of it either.  Before we get to that tough, a couple of news updates.

Yesterday the Rapids signed Keita to a new contract through the 2025 season, with a club option for 2026.  Keita has yet to play a minute for the first team after blowing out his ACL in preseason last year and still recovering form that and another injury this season.  Reports from people who have seen him playing for Rapids 2 have been positive though.  Obviously the coaching staff sees something in him if they're willing to give him a 2+1 deal.  They should have a pretty good idea of how he fits into the team at this point, so its really a matter of if he's good enough quality to help the first team.  That's not something any of the fans will be able to tell until he gets playing time.

Also Rapids Communications Director Omar Gonzalez said on Twitter that they've heard the feedback about the Padraig Smith press availability on Monday and they would be working to set up a second session next week.  Lets hope the digital media team takes a back seat at this one.

Now, the LAFC game.  First of all Hurricane Hilary is expected to hit Baja California early Sunday morning and work its way up the coast into the LA region by Sunday afternoon/evening and is expected to still be at Tropical Storm strength when it gets there.  So there's a very good chance that this games gets delayed or rescheduled depending on the exact timing and strength of the storm.  Even if it does get played, expect it to be very wet.

Reports from training this week is that everyone was there and participating except for Max and Jack Price, for obvious reasons.  Both Navarro and Tavares have their paperwork and are available for selection as well.  I'm assuming some players may not be 100% yet, so I don't expect a completely empty injury report, but Fraser should have the ability to put out his best possible lineup minus the season-ended players above.

That said, I don't think that will be enough.  LAFC is going to be hot after choking against Monterrey last Friday and giving up a 2 goal lead in the second half.  They're also at home and in rhythm, while the Rapids haven't played in closed to three weeks.  We've seen under Robin that this team has a hard time restarting after a long break.  We lose 2-1, but Navarro gets his first in burgundy.

Rapids Acquire Aboubacar Keita From Crew

Today Colorado made their first official new acquisition of the offseason.  They traded 300K of GAM, plus up to 150K more in GAM based on performance metrics, to Columbus for homegrown center back Aboubacar Keita.  He's a 21 year old U.S. youth international, who played every game at the 2019 U-20 World Cup for the U.S.  He's been on the Crew's roster for 3 seasons, getting 28 starts and 10 sub appearances in that time, but his lack of use last year when the Crew were looking to fill a hole in the center of defense made it clear he needed a change of scenery.

Keita joins Trusty, Abubakar, and Rosenberry as defenders who joined the Rapids hoping to jump-start their careers.  It worked for the later 3, and there's no reason to think it can't work for Aboubacar.  The knock on him early is that he is solid defensively but struggles with distribution.  That is certainly something that can be coached, especially by a head coach that was a all-MLS defender.

We've seen the FO move for players like this the year before they're really expected to contribute.  Certainly Trusty went through that pattern.  So this might just be getting the pieces in place for future moves, but this also might be an indicator that there's a move coming this offseason or in the summer.  There's been a lot of talk about interest in Trusty from Europe so if something happens that would be my expected move.

Somehow the Rapids have ended up with two Abubakar/Aboubacar's on the team (its apparently pronounced the same way).  My prediction is that our newest Aboubacar will replaced Rwatubyaye on my All-African XI team by the send of the season.  Keita was born and raised in the U.S. but also holds Guinean citizenship.