Rapids Try To Start New Streak

USA vs Canada on the first full day of Olympics

Time to put last week behind us.  A home match against an opponent we just played to a draw on the road is a good chance to get back to winning ways.  Kickoff tomorrow is at 7pm and its will be a cooler, more enjoyable, tailgate starting at 4.  TV coverage is on Altitude.

Player Availability:

OUT: D Sean St. Ledger (knee); M Dillon Serna (season ending ACL tear)

DOUBTFUL: M Jermaine Jones (quad)

QUESTIONABLE: M Sebastien Le Toux (back)

SUSPENDED: M Micheal Azira

ONE YELLOW FROM SUSPENSION: F Shkelzen Gashi (2 games for good behavior reduction)

Yeah, I was hoping to see Le Toux start but I don't think that's happening.  Kind of an ugly list of unavailable players to work around.  Vancouver has 3 players out (including ex-Rapid Jordan Harvey) and 2 players questionable.

Starting XI Prediction:

We could see Powers pushed back for Azira and Pappa in the middle (and then possibly Watts back on the back line in place of Miller) but my guess is the lineup above.  If somehow Le Toux can go he'd take Hairston's place.

Prediction: 1-0 win, goal by Doyle.  As we saw a couple of weeks ago Vancovuer has a lousy defense.  I think our defense will get their act together at home but our offense isn't going to break out.  Another 1-0 game in the making.

Le Toux In, Solignac Out

So, a significant move at the end of the transfer window.  Le Toux is a significant immediate upgrade over Solignac but it comes with a price ($215K more) and its a short-term move.  Solignac is 25 and just getting into the prime of his career.  Sebastien is 32 and is generally seen as sliding down the backside of his.  He's also out of contract at the end of the season.

Pretty clear that this is a "go for it" move from Colorado.  Obviously our offense needs help and the rotating cast of characters at right mid of Solignac, Hairston, Badji, and Pappa wasn't getting it done.  I think this is a clear sign that Pappa has turned into (at best) a super sub while the other three have been stop-gap measures.

Le Toux gives immediate quality that can be plugged in there.  55 assists and 56 goals in 191 starts/236 appearances all time is significant.  In comparison Pappa is at 37/31 in 150/175 and Sarvas is at 11/21 in 120/132.  The downside is that I doubt we want to pay for him after this season so this will bee a 3+ month rental and then we'll need to fill that spot again.

I expect that the Rapids midfield/attack will line up something like this  now (assuming everyone is healthy and available):

Doyle

Gashi - Jones - Le Toux

Cronin - Azira

With Pappa coming off the bench as our primary offensive sub.

I'm not convinced we have enough offense but we're a lot better off than we were to start the day.  Its good to see the FO seeing a need and giving us a shot this year by filling it.

Le Toux Official

Sure, I find out its official the moment I hit post.  Le Toux to Colorado for allocation money.  Also Solignac to Chicago for allocation money.

More to come as I analyze this.

Trade Winds Are Swirling

The transfer window closes at 11pm MDT tonight (so in just over 3 hours) and until an hour ago I was getting ready to write an article about how we made essentially no moves outside the already planned and announced Tim Howard signing in this window.  Then the Twitter rumor mill started up:

First MLS blogger Sam Stejskal:

Fire apparently aren't done. Hearing Luis Solignac headed to Chicago, with Fire sending general allocation to Colorado in return.

Then Ives:

I'm told Philadelphia Union have traded Sebastien Le Toux to Colorado. That's 1 way to reduce the glut of midfielders 

So, those are two notable moves if accurate.   Obviously we'll need to get official word and figure out the exact details   Le Toux is a forward who tends to play on the wing.  In 7.5 years in MLS he has 56 goals in 191 starts (236 appearances).  He has a green card so would not require a international slot.

The big hit with Le Toux is his salary.  $300K this year.  Soliganc in comparison is at $85K.

More on these stories as we get official word.

Rapids Streak Ends Big In NYC

I predicted a 1-0 win with a goal by Gashi.  Well I got the Rapids score and goal scorer right.  Of course I didn't see the 5 goals coming from NYCFC.

There's a number off things that went into this loss and a number of reasons it can be excused away but I'm not really buying any of them.  This was a disaster of game.  There's no good reason Colorado should have been blown out of Yankee Stadium like that.  Not if we're contenders and not pretenders.

General Impressions:

• I'm not going to get much into individual play.  Nobody looked good.
• The lack of tactical adjustments to the most unusual field in MLS was disappointing.  The Rapids didn't do anything different despite playing on by far the smallest field in the league.
• I take that back, the one adjustment that seemed to be made was using Powers to mark Pirlo out of the game.  The problem with that strategy is it took on of the 4 attacking players on the field and made him a defensive one.  Not surprisingly Hairston, Gashi, and Doyle did very little with no support.
• The decision to start Hairston over Pappa was particularly poor in this game given that the smaller space neutralized Hairston's runs.  I know Pablo's an effort guy and Pappa isn't an effort player but we knew that we we got him.  This game was made for Pappa, if we're not going to use him here then why did we acquire him?
• Our CB situation is killing us.  The lack of leadership on the backline without Burling/St. Ledger is a glaring hole.  One the Rapids have done nothing to fix since the preseason.
• Viera out-coached Pablo in this one and he wasn't even on the sideline.
• There was no active offside on the first NYCFC goal.  The player crashing the other post wasn't near the play and perfectly fit the definition of passive offside the USSF/MLS has been using.
• Azira's first yellow was stupid.  There was no reason to make that tackle.  His second was a bit of bad luck as I don't think he intentionally made contact but it was a clear yellow (if embellished).
• Gashi's free kick was nice, if too late.
• Right now this season feels like its on a knife's edge.  I could easily see this as the point where we start stumbling to the finish line, finish 3rd, win an ugly wild-card game at home, and get blown out by LA/Dallas in the second round.
• Or we wake up, make a change in the offense, get back to our winning ways, finish 2nd (I doubt our ability to win the Shield now), beat up a tired winner of the play-in game, and face LA/Dallas with a MLS Cup spot on the line.

Man of the Match: The members of C38 who traveled to NY for the game (seen above).  They deserved better.