Rapids News During The Break

Two pieces of Rapids news dropped yesterday, but Comcast had an outage in Arvada all-night so I couldn't post them.

First, as expected, Connor Ronan has been transferred to Aberdeen FC.  Reports are it was a free transfer, which hurts a little bit.  At the same time it was clear he wasn't a top choice for Wells and he was likely going to have his 2027 option declined at the end of the season.  Its not worth holding out for $250K or less if the player wants to go.  Presumably Ronan would prefer to be in Aberdeen camp as soon as the World Cup ends to fight for a starting spot over sitting on the bench in Colorado most of the time this fall and joining them in the winter.

Second the Rapids announced a friendly against FC Juarez on July 9th at the Duck.  Tickets are on sale.  They well also play a closed-door scrimmage with Minnesota on July 15th.  Obviously as the teams return from the long break they need some warm-up games to get ready for the restart of the season.  Now that we're going to be on the same schedule with Liga MX these might become more frequent.

Back with more kit rankings this weekend (probably).

Colorado Rapids - Arsenal, July 15th

The long rumored (and even longer deserved) is official now.  Before their International Champions Cup matches in LA, Charlotte, and DC Arsenal will be coming to Commerce City to play the Rapids on July 15th.  Despite Kroenke owning shares in Arsenal since 2007, being the largest shareholder since 2009, and owning a majority of the shares since 2011 this is the first time the teams have played a friendly in the U.S.  The Rapids did travel to London a couple of times in preseason to train and played closed-door scrimmages against Arsenal there but that was many years ago.  The last time the Rapids played a European team in a friendly was Swansea City in 2012 and the only friendly they've played in Colorado since then was Boa Juniors last year (they played Santos Laguna in Albuquerque a few years ago).

Now, honestly, this is probably going to be Arsenal scrubs against Rapids scrubs.  Two days before this match the Rapids have a MLS game in Portland and two days after this match Arsenal is playing Bayern Munich in LA.  Neither team is likely to save any of their starters from those games to play in this match.  But, if you're an Arsenal fan, this is the first game they've played in the U.S. off the East Coast that wasn't in California.  Its going to allow a number of their fans who don't usually get to see them in person a chance to do so.  Tickets are on sale already for season ticket holders, with prices already reported from $50-$95.  General public can buy tickets in mid-April.

In case you're wondering, for a number of reasons I am not planning on attending this one.  My family is already planning to visit that weekend is the main reason but also because I have no real interest in seeing either team's scrubs.  Plus I'm going to spend $45 on a ticket to see QPR-Blackburn at Loftus Road in London next month so that's where my extra soccer budget is going this year.

Badji Away, Rapids Playing A Friendly In Memphis

Two pieces of news this week.

• Badji is back in Senegal finalizing his green card

Lousy timing, what with the Rocky Mountain Cup this week, but the government offices involve set the timing and the Rapids have no control.  He's not expected to make it back in time for Saturday's game.  On the plus side, we have 2 international slots open now.

• Rapids will play the USL's Tulsa Roughnecks FC in a friendly Sept. 1st in Memphos

This is a kickoff event for Memphis' USL team that will start play next season.  Since they were announced in January Tim Howard, a Memphis resident in the offseason, has been a special adviser to the team.  They'll be unveiling the team logo and such as part of the event.  The Rapids were invited, obviously, because of Howard and will presumably be getting paid for the appearance.  I'm not sure why Tulsa was invited, unless they just happen to be one of the USL teams that have a bye that weekend (the Rapids have a bye because its an international weekend).

Rapids To Host Boca Juniors July 24th

The Rapids have announced that they'll be playing a friendly against Argentina's Boa Juniors on July 24th at 7pm at the Dick.  Ticket information will be released on Friday.  Really, they should be giving the season ticket holders their tickets free as a makeup for this debacle of a season.

Depending on pricing I may or may not go.  While it would be cool to see a storied team like Boca Juniors I'm not sure I want to pay a lot to either see the Rapids gets steamrolled or play against the C squad from Argentina on a Tuesday night.

Is Arsenal Aware Of Their Rapids Partnership?

Today Arsenal FC announced their first trip to the U.S. since MLS started (their last trip was to Miami in 1989).  Its great to see them come over and support their partner club here in Colorado, especially since Stan Kroneke is the primary owner of Arsenal.

Oh wait, they aren't coming over to support their partner MLS club.  They're flying to NY to play a different MLS club, the New York Red Bulls.  Tim Hinchey confirmed on Twitter that they aren't coming to Denver:

Tim Hinchey III ‏@tkhinchey3  8h

@TonyTouch303 @Arsenal @ColoradoRapids @C38sg won't happen this trip as they are coming in to NY then straight back. Working on the future.

Needless to say, some Rapids fans are seeing this as a bit of a slap to the face by Arsenal.  Apparently an unaffiliated MLS club is more important than their partner club with shared ownership.  Yes, Arsenal club-legend Thierry Henry, who is likely in his final season before retirement, plays for NY and this is probably a way to send him off by his old club.  Its not unreasonable for Rapids fans though to have the expectation that this link between Arsenal and Colorado would result in a game though, considering the amount that it has been built up over the years.

I'm not putting this on the Rapids FO.  I'm sure with the World Cup schedule this summer Arsenal decide to make the quick hop to NY after the WC, play for Henry, and head home.  But its a little ridiculous that KSE couldn't at least make sure they went through the effort of mentioning the Rapids in the announcement and committing to a game in the future.  I think that had they said something like "We want to take this opportunity to honor one of our club legends and time does not allow us to also travel to Denver.  We value our relationship with the Rapids though and we'd like to announce that in the summer of 2015 we are planning to train in Denver and play a friendly against the Rapids" everyone would understand that.

Given Arsenal's track record though (first U.S. trip in 25 years, a manager who has said he doesn't like the idea of preseason tours of the U.S.) this appears to be a quick in and out with another MLS club while completely ignoring their actual partner club, leaving it up to Hinchey to explain the situation to the fans of the Rapids.  The odds of them coming back in the near future seem remote, so Arsenal's only game in the U.S. against a MLS team in their history won't be against the team that shares a partnership or an owner.  Poor form Gunners and poor form KSE.  You could, and should, have done better instead of ignoring your "other" soccer team.

International Soccer In Denver

On a lighter note the plans for two different international friendlies in Denver this spring/summer were announced today.

First, on April 6th, the U.S. Women National Team will take on China at the Dick.  Tickets go on sale at 10am next Friday, Rapids season ticket and multi-game pack holders can call and get a special deal.  A word of advice, don't bring any Tibet flags as a form of silent protest.  It won't end well.

Then on July 26th Manchester United will play AS Roma at Sports Authority Field.  Tickets go on sale this weekend for that one, the Rapids don't appear to be involved in any way.

Good job by the Rapids getting another international friendly back to the Dick.  I will probably be passing on both games, none of the 4 teams really make me want to go out and spend the money the tickets will command, but that just means another ticket for fans of the teams.

Rapids Lose To Santos Laguna

Friday night's friendly resulted in a 2-1 loss by Colorado, which is an improvement over what happened two years ago in CCL play (4-1 loss at the Dick in an overall embarrassing night for the organization, 2-0 loss in Torreon).  Reports are that Santos carried the majority of the play, but the Rapids scored on a gorgeous 30-yard free kick from Kevin Harbottle and almost tied it at the death when Dillon Serna had a gift-wrapped chance but sent it wide.  Here's our starting XI:

Griffiths, Armstrong, Smith, Hill, and Serna all got time in the 2nd half as well.  Steward Ceus is the only player who traveled and didn't play.

Rapids Buy Klute, Leave For ABQ

Two pieces of news today, one big.  Colorado has bought out Chris Klute's loan now that the transfer window has opened, making him a full member of the Rapids.  Great move by the team, Klute has a chance to be a mainstay at left back for the next few years.  He's also being talked about as a possible Nats team call up.  If it happens it will probably be for Camp Strudel in January, though my bet is that he doesn't get a sniff until after the 2014 World Cup.

17 players also left today for Albuquerque to face Santos Laguna in the friendly tomorrow night.  The group that went includes Pickens, Ceus, Mera, O'Neill, Mullan, Wynne, Armstrong, Griffiths, Serna, Harbottle, LaBrocca, Wallace, Smith, Castrillon, Mwanga, Hill, and Cascio.  Kory Kindle would have made the trip as well except he picked up a knock in training yesterday and was kept in Denver to recover.  Dave Dir and Paul Caffrey remained in Denver to handle training sessions with the players that didn't travel while Pareja too assistants Steve Cooke and Chris Sharpe with him to ABQ.  Wilmer Cabrera is still in Turkey at the U-20 World Cup.

Unfortunately there will be no streaming options for the friendly tomorrow, the only way to follow it will probably be Twitter updates.

Colorado To Play Santos Laguna June 12th in Albuquerque

The rumored friendly with Santos Laguna was made official today.  June 12th at the University of New Mexico's stadium in Albuquerque at 7:30pm.  Tickets went on sale today as well.  The Rapids faced Santos in the 2011 Champions League, losing 4-1 at home and 2-0 in Torreon.  Hopefully the team is getting a nice payday for playing a neutral site friendly in the middle of the season.

Is The USSF High?

Next month the U.S Women's National Team will play Australia at the Dick as part of their gold medal celebration tour.  That's a great friendly for the Rapids to line up.  I'm not that interested in women's soccer so I'm not planning on going but I know a lot of Rapids fans are excited about the game, and given the season we've had, the Front Office doing something to get fans excited is a good thing.

Yesterday Rapids Season Ticket holders got their pre-sale information to buy tickets before they go on sale to the general public.  I was interested it what it would cost me if I did want to go so I went to the link ant took a look.  A ticket in Class VI's Section 108 will run me $58!  Then they're adding a $10.75 service fee. Oh and parking is another $10, $20 if you park in the VIP parking where I normally park with a Class VI tailgate pass for Rapids games.

So to sit in my normal seat and park in my normal spot this game would cost me $88.75. W.T.F.?!?!?!?!

To be clear, the USSF sets the pricing for this game, not the Rapids.  The only Rapids involvement is providing the contact information for season ticket holders to the USSF.

My normal Rapids season ticket costs me $21 a game, no service charge, and parking is free.  My ticket to the Swansea friendly cost me $28 and parking was free as a season ticket holder (I can't remember if there was a service charge but if there was it was only a couple of bucks).

How does the USSF justify charging 4 times as much as a regular MLS game and 3 times as much as an EPL friendly?  I think the U.S. women are great, but the level of soccer pales in comparison to those other options.  The women's National Team players themselves would admit that if asked.  They would get shelled by the Rapids in a straight up game, even as bad as we are this season.

I understand that the reality of this "goal medal celebration tour" is really a money-making tour for the USSF but there's making money and then there's highway robbery.  When the game is played and there's less than 50% of the house in attendance the USSF shouldn't take it as an indicator that the Denver market is a bad market for soccer, it should be an indicator that the USSF needs to lower their prices!

Swans And Keepers

No full review of last night's friendly, but some odds and ends that I observed. First though, the news of the day. Colorado signed goalkeeper Matt Pickens to a multi-year contract extension today. As always terms were not released but we'll see the new salary when the Players Union updates its salary list. Pickens joins Mullan, Moor, Larentowicz, and Cummings with new multi-year deals since the end of last season.

Now, onto last night's game. The Rapids won 2-1 with two great goals from Andre Akpan and Kamani Hill in the first 15 minutes before Jonathan De Guzman scored directly from a free kick with 12 minutes to play. With the exception of the last 15 minutes or so Swansea wasn't really trying hard, and after 30 minutes their players were obviously struggling after their long flight from London on Monday and playing at altitude. Despite that there were some interesting notes:

• Swansea players laid a wreath at midfield before the game and both teams held a moment of silence in memory of the Aurora victims which was very much appreciated.
• Oddly there was no British/Welsh flag flying and neither God Save The Queen or Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau (the Welsh anthem) were played, though the Star-Spangled Banner was sung like any other game.
• Hill looked good last night.  Pareja's post-game comments seemed to insinuate he may have read Hill's place wrong and he's reassessing.  Its will be interesting to see if we see more of Hill now.
• On top of that his goal was an absolute bomb off the post from outside the area.
• Thompson had a harsh tackle that would have been questionable for a league game, much less a friendly.
• Great combination work between Smith, Zapata, and Akpan for the first goal within 5 minutes.
• De Guzman's goal was good, but Joyce completely misread it.  Most keepers probably could have stopped it.
• Great to see homegrown players Davy Armstrong and Shane O'Neil get their first home playing time (for Armstrong) and first playing time of any kind (O'Neil).  Armstrong played RB while O'Neil took Larentowicz's spot in midfield.
• Unfortunately the attendance was only about 6500.  I have a feeling that's going to lead to the Rapids not bringing in a big European team again for a while.  They'll probably revert to Mexican teams where they know they'll get good attendance.

Newyddion Cyfeillgar

That's Welsh for Friendly News and we got a big piece of news today.  On July 24th Swansea City of the EPL will be facing the Rapids in a friendly at the Dick.  Game time is 7pm and tickets go on sale to season ticket holders on Tuesday.  The general public will be able to buy tickets starting on Sat. May 26th.  Tickets will start as low as $22 or a two-pack with the Wed. Sept. 5th Portland game for $40.  Swansea is 12th in their first ever season in the EPL going into Sunday's final games and they'll finish somewhere between 10th and 14th.  Swansea is the only Welsh team to ever play in the EPL.

July 24th is the night before the All-Star Game so any Rapids picked to play against Chelsea in that game will not be with the team.  The Saturday before we're in Sandy to face FSL with the Rocky Mountain Cup on the line.  The Saturday after Seattle is at the Dick.  So my guess is that we'll see a mostly reserve lineup with a couple of younger starting XI members (Rivero for example) sprinkled in for a half.  The older starting XI players (Casey, Mullan, etc.) will be lucky to get 15 minutes as subs.

Even knowing that though I'm excited for this match.  This is the first friendly since 2009 and the first non-Mexican team friendly since 2008 when we played Everton.  I know that some other MLS teams are getting friendlies against clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool, and Tottenham but I'd actually rather see a smaller club like Swansea.  For one the game is likely to be more competitive, the tickets are cheaper, and I actually like the smaller teams more than the big money front-runners.