Season Review - Wide Midfielders

I'm hoping to finish these player reviews before Christmas, but with the schedule I have this up-coming week, we'll see if I get to the forwards or not.

Brian Mullan - Many people see the acquisition of Mullan as the turning point of the season. I'm not sure I'd go that far but it was critical. Not only did it exchange a injured player that wouldn't help us in 2010 for a player who could go straight into the starting XI, but it also allowed us to trade Ballouchy for Kandji, which became VERY critical in the overtime of MLS Cup. Biran had 4 rings and a wealth of experience when he returned to his hometown, and I was quite happy to see him get "one for the thumb". Mullan only played in 7 regular season games for the Rapids, picking up 2 assists, but the threat of his play allowed Jamie Smith more freedom on the left and gave Koz cover to make overlapping runs.

Mullan is the second oldest player on the roster right now, behind Pablo. Its a question mark how long he can be effective on the right. I don't see any reason to expect a fall-off next year based on his play for us in the latter part of the season. Its a safe bet though that he can't be expected to play in the league, Open Cup, and Champion's League games we have next year though, so we should expect to see him rotated out pretty frequently so that he's available for the home stretch. While he's in I just expect him to do more of the same.

Sanna Nyassi - An expansion draft day pick-up from Seattle (by way of Vancouver), Nyassi can be the relief a player like Mullan needs. He's young and raw, but has speed to spare. He started about half the games for Seattle in his second pro season last year, as well as being a regular in the lineup for their victorious U.S. Open Cup run. The highlight of the season was Scoring both goals in the Open Cup final. While I don't see Sanna being a regular starter for the Rapids, he'll probably be the first sub int he midfield if the team needs more attacking power.

Jamie Smith - In 2010 we finally got to see what a healthy Jamie Smith looks like and now we understand why Gary Smith signed him. He led the team with 8 assists. Combined with his one game-winning goal he was involved in more goals than anyone but the C+C Goal Factory upfront. While injuries were still an issue, they had less of an effect on him once he was on the field and kept him off the field for less time than in 2009. Jamie is the third member of the Rapids 30 and older club though, so we can't expect those injury concerns to go away, if anything they'll become a bigger problem.

The biggest thing for Smith in 2010 will be working with the young Wallace behind him. Anthony is still struggling with his positioning, especially after going forward to overlap Smith, so Jamie will have to make sure he covers for Wallace and holds up his end of the defensive duties. On the attacking side I hope he's able to establish himself as a threat to score goals as well as set him up. The more threats in the midfield we have the more space Casey and Cummings get to work with in front of them.

Wells Thompson - Wells came over in the trade with Larentowicz and everybody regarded him as the throw away player to balance out the trade. There weren't many expectations for him this season. I think that Thompson actually contributed more than was expected though. He was the "utility infielder" of the midfield, being plugged in when necessary to cover for injuries or to give people some rest but never really being a starter. I think he filled that role quite well without particularly standing out.

I think Thompson's role in 2011 will be very similar to 2010. Not a top 11 player but called to start on a regular basis, especially with the expanded schedule. I think he's a better defensive player than Smith, but not nearly the offensive player. I can see Nyassi and Thompson being regular subs depending on the game situation, Thompson when we're happy with the current scoreline and Nyassi when we feel like we need another goal.

Ciaran O'Brien - In 3 years he had 19 minutes, 1 red card, and 1 championship ring. One of the odder career stat lines. He clearly was never in Gary Smith's plans and the team isn't going to be hurt by losing him.

Options on Lopez, Vagenas, and O'Brien declined

Yesterday Colorado chose not to pick up the options of Claudio Lopez, Ciaran O'Brien, and newly-acquired Pete Vagenas. None of these are a real surprise. O'Brien never saw the field under Gary Smith. Lopez always seemed like an odd pickup given the lack of playing time this year. Passback Pete was obviously just an excuse to unload a couple of internationals before the expansion draft.

Without boring you with all the details, what happens next is on Monday there will be a draft of all the players who's options weren't picked up or who are out of contract. Teams drafting players will be required to pick up the player's options at their current price. If the player is not selected, their current team has a week to negotiate a new lower salary before there's a second draft for teams to claim negotiating rights with the player. As the MLS champs the Rapids will have the 16th pick in both drafts, right before the two expansion teams.

Ciaran O'Brien has already tweeted that he's left Denver, so it seems he's been told that even if he's not selected the Rapids aren't interested in bringing him back at a lower number. If the Rapids could sign Lopez as a bench player for a lower number, it might be worth it. His veteran leadership and experience would be helpful for some of of our younger players. i don't know what the salary cap rules are for a player/coach, but Colorado might want to look into that. Vagenas is really surplus to our needs and probably should jut be let go.

Rapids News and Notes 6/4

A little reminder of what we're playing for on Saturday!

• National Team loses 3-1 to Costa Rica

Embarrassing. I'm torn between firing Bradley now and improving our chances, or keeping Bradley so the team goes down hard and the USSF learns a lesson.

• Pablo called up for the Nats

Given the way he played last night, this may be his last callup. I expect he'll start on Saturday due to suspensions and injuries in midfield, but that might be it for him with the "A" squad.

• Conor Casey called up for the Nats

This was just announced on tonight's ESPN MLS Game of the Week and on the U.S. Nats Blog. Brina Ching has re-aggravated his hamstring and they may need Casey for cover. His use will be based on how Ching is doing, but I think we should assume we won't have him for the Rocky Mountain Cup match this week. Casey deserves this callup, he's been playing great this year, but the timing couldn't be worse for the Rapids with a huge road match on Saturday.

• Bouna Time! in Philly?

Apparently there are rumors that Nowak might make Bouna Coundoul his first signing as Philly manager. I hope so, Bouna's a good MLS keeper and only his idiot agent kept him from signing with the Rapids this season. Somehow I don't think training in Finland is what Bouna was thinking when he was told he could do better in Europe. The Rapids still own his rights, so Philly will have to give us a draft pick or two if they want to sign him.

• Ciaran O'Brien on loan for the USL season

O'Brien is playing for the Austin Aztex of USL-1 for the rest of the USL season. That's a good way to get a young player som playing time now that the reserve league is gone. It hurts our depth on the wings a bit, but I don't think O'Brien was going to get significant playing time with the Rapids.

• Ivan Guerrero to Honduras?

There's been a rumor for a couple of months that Guererro was going to transfer back home to Honduras. The newest report has him in Honduras for his physical for his new team. Guerrero is a left sided player, and Harvey and Clark have been the only two Rapids to play every minute of every game this year, so he was finding it hard to get into the first team. With a cap hit of $145K that's a lot of money to warm the bench. It also frees up a roster spot for Julian Baudet. Theoretically if Guerrero wants to go the Honduran side would have to pay a transfer fee, but the Rapids are probably just happy to have his salary off the books so I expect them to free transfer him or ask for a very small amount of money.

• Julian Baudet signed by the Rapids?

The most recent report out of England mentioned quote Baudet as having signed with the Rapids, while all previous reports said he would sign. Still no official word from the Rapids or the league. Assuming this happens I find it a better move than I did originally. Our defense has shown that it can't keep mental focus for 90 minutes, so maybe somebody with experience in the pressure cooker of English football and a team captain can come in and settle the back line down. We still need some depth up front, but Baudet might be an asset.