Rapids Trade For Doyle, Need More

Today the Rapids traded their 3rd round pick next year to DC for Conor Doyle.  Those who have been reading for a while remember that Conor Doyle was training with the Rapids in 2013 only for MLS's roster rules (and their screw-up with Eloundou) to send him to DC without the Rapids gatting a shot at him.

This is a solid move with good upside and little downside.  A 3rd round pick next year is nothing and if Doyle can develop into something we'll have some good depth.

The problem is its not enough.  We are 26 days out from the season opener in San Jose and we have 21 of 28 roster slots filled.  Looking at a probable starting XI this season based on our roster:

Doyle

Gashi - Pappa - Serna(?)

Cronin - Powers

Williams(?) - St. Ledger - Burling - Hairston

MacMath/Howard

Bench: Berner/MacMath - Sjoberg - Burch - Watts - Azira - Badji - Solignac

That's a decent but not great starting XI and a very thin bench.  I'm assuming at this point Howard will be a done deal so we have 6 roster spots left to fill.  What we need, in my opinion:

MLS quality super sub/spot starter at striker - Something like a Kelyn Rowe in NE or Urutti in Dallas last year.  We can be pretty sure that at least one and probably both of Kevin Doyle and Gashi will miss time this summer with the Euros and looking at some combination of Conor Doyle,  Badji, Calvert, and Solignac up top does not fill me with confidence.

Starting right mid or a commitment to Serna - I think Serna can do the job but Pablo will have to commit to letting a young player own the spot and not yank him back and forth from the bench.  If he can't do that then we need to sign somebody who can fill that spot.

Outside back that can play either side - Williams and Hairston seem to be the starting outside backs but I don't know if either one can hold their own in MLS.  Burch is the only real backup, with Serna able to drop back if necessary.  This is one of the toughest roles to fill in MLS (which is why passing on Brandon Vincent in the draft was such a risk) but we really need a quality signing in this area.

Center back depth signing - Right now our only backup at center back is Sjoberg.  The less said about Watts playing back there again this season the better.  We need more cover back there.

Draftee - One of these guys better be worth something, as we kept trading down on the assumption there was still some quality.

That leaves one spot open, which ideally would go for another "starter on every MLS team" level signing but my bet will be used on a draftee or trialist.

Six sigings, 26 days.  Unless its a draftee or other such depth signing we really need to have the other four signed before the Desert Diamond Cup next Wednesday.  So that's four signings in a week.  Tick tock.

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 Conor Doyle
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

Last Game In San Diego

In their last action before leaving San Diego the Rapids placed the USL Orange County Blues in a preseason scrimmage.

Starting XI:

(t) - Trialist
(d) - Draftee

Calvert

Solignac - Powers - Ekra(t)

Azira - Kamdem(d)

Williams - Sjoberg - Burling - Castillo(d)

MacMath

The game was played as 3 30 minute periods.  Calvert scored shortly into the second period to make it 1-0.  Midway through the second period the Rapids did a complete lineup substitution.

Doyle

Pfeffer - Ownby(t) - Badji

Cronin - Watts

Burch - Greenspan - Keel(t) - Hairston

Froschaeur(d)

Doyle scored near the end to make the final score 2-0.

Greenspan is with the team in San Diego.  His ship is based out of the base there so I assume he's on shore leave or other temporary duty from the Navy to train with the team this last week or so.  He is not expected to be with the team during the season.

Starting a tally of minutes played this preseason by draftees/trialists:

Draftees:
Castillo: 90
Froschauer: 90
Kamdem: 90
Appiah: 45
Torre: 45
Manga: 0

Trialists:
Ekra: 90
Keel: 90
Ownby: 90

No, This Does Not Mean Kamara Is Coming To Colorado

Kei Kamara posted this on Instagram earlier today.  Its a picture of him riding the Colorado Rapids skateboard he got as a gift when he was here for last year's All-Star Game.

This has gotten some Rapids fans excited that its a hint he's about to move to Colorado.  He's not.  We had the same discussion in the fan base 7 months ago when he first tweeted out the picture of the skateboard and sure enough he didn't come to Colorado.  He's taking advantage of a nice day to ride his skateboard.  That's all.

First Action Of The Preseason

The Rapids played their first "real" scrimmage today against Seongnam FC of South Korea.  Here's the lineup for the first half (assuming we stuck with the 4-2-3-1 we've been using):

(t) - Trialist
(d) - Draftee

Calvert

Pfeffer - Ekra(t) - Badji

Watts - Cronin

Castillo(d) - Burling - Sjobeg - Kamdem(d)

Froschauer(d)

At halftime it was 1-1 with this goal from Ekra:

Full substitutions in the second half:

Doyle

Solignac - Powers - Ownby(t)

Azira - Appiah(d)

Burch - Torre(d) - Keel(t) - Hairston

MacMath

(I flip-flopped Appiah and Powers from the way the lineup was presented by the Rapids.  It seems more likely to how the played)

Game ended 4-2 Rapids with all 3 second half goals coming fro Kevin Doyle, the first two in the first 5 minutes of the half off of headers.  Here's the third:

The other news today was that the Rapids, as expected, made the Mekeil Williams signing official.

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