Season Review - Forwards

Finally getting to the final part of the season review, the forwards.

Andre Akpan - Akpan only had one appearance this year but got some good experience while on loan to Tampa in the USSF Division II. He'll probably feature in the reserve division next year, and push Amarikwa for the forward spot on the bench until Kandji returns.

Quincy Amarikwa - Quincy was acquired early in the season from San Jose, and became the go-to option off the bench up front until Kandji was acquired. Unfortunately he appeared to be speed with no ball control. While he was great to run at defenses it was quickly obvious that he needed more time to become any type of threat, something borne out by his stats (1 goal and no assists in 13 appearances). Amarikwa will partner with Akpan in the reserve league, but probably not be a real threat for the first team unless his play increases greatly. I would expect the Rapids to either bring in another striker or draft one to challenge Akpan and Amarikwa next season.

Conor Casey - One half of Colorado's C+C Goal Factory, Casey had another great season, finishing with 14 total goals and 6 assists, the best combined total on the team. Despite the disappointment of not making the squad for South Africa Casey kept his head up and made 29 appearances, missing one game due to yellow card accumulation. He capped the season off with a goal and set up Kandji's attack for the own goal in MLS Cup, earning MLS Cup MVP honors.

We've seen that when Casey stays healthy all he does is score goals. At 29 he's probably at the peak of his career, but I don't expect a huge drop-off next season, especially is he's paired with Cummings again. Conor is never going to be the creative force in the team, he's your typical back-to-gal striker who can dish the ball to an onrushing Cummings or turn and shoot.

Omar Cummings - Omar was the team MVP IMO this year. 14 goals and 5 assists were second to Casey, but Cummings stepped up in a big way in the final third of the season when the team needed a spark to make their playoff run. He suffered through being played out of position in Smith's 4-5-1 experiment without complaint, but it was the move back to the 4-4-2 that sparked his resurgence. He had assists on both goals in the Columbus playoff series to push the Rapids through to the conference finals, and it was his run to the near post that allowed Koz's goal to sneak through for the winning goal in the Eastern Conference Final.

Cummings is the biggest question mark on the team going into next year. Currently training with Aston Villa, there's a real chance that he will be sold in the winter transfer window. The Rapids already turned down a mid-season offer for him from Necaxa, and reportedly they had an offer recently from another Mexican club. If Cummings returns I expect another successful season from the C+C Goal Factory, and I hope Smith has figured out that he has to play both of them up front.

Macoumba Kandji - Acquired before the trading deadline for the inconsistent and ineffectual Mehdi Ballouchy, Kandji didn't show much in his limited playing time, but was an immediate improvement over Akpan and Amarikwa. In 7 regular season appearances he had 3 assists and 0 goals. Of course he'll always be remembered for his attack in overtime of MLS Cup where he crossed the ball that George John knocked in his own goal for the winning score int he Rapids championship. In the collision with Ugo Ihemelu that happened as he was making the cross Kandji blew out his ACL.

Due to the blown ACL anything we get out of Kandji in 2011 should be seen as a bonus. He won't even be close to 100% until the very end of the season.

Ross Schunk - Ross was the victim of ripping his ACL near the end of training camp this year. After losing a season of development and the additions of Akpan, Amarikwa, and Kandji there just wasn't room for him.

Cummings To England...Temporarily?

The Rapids and Omar Cummings have accepted an invitation for Omar to train with Aston Villa this winter. Right now everyone is saying that this is just some training and they are investigating the possibility of a short-term loan. According to Rapids Managing Director Jeff Plush, Cummings will be in Colorado for the season opener against Portland.

Reading between the lines I'm not as sure. The Rapids have reportedly been approached by a Mexican team this offseason about buying Cummings, and this is after Necaxa made an offer for him in the summer transfer window. Now we find out Aston Villa contacted Colorado about getting a closer look at Omar. I suspect that Aston Villa is thinking more long-term but they need a close-up look at Cummings before they reveal their cards. I wouldn't be shocked to see this turn into a permanent move.

Rapids News 12/21/2010

I was going to do the final part of the season review tonight, but a few pieces of Rapids news have pushed that to tomorrow (hopefully).

• Larentowicz, Pickens, Wallace, and Wynne have all received invites to the annual January National Team camp in LA.

This will be the 4th of the last 5 January camps that Pickens has attended, but he has not yet been capped. Let's hope he gets at least that honor as with the depth at goalkeeper he's not looking at getting any serious playing time. Wallace will get a shot at the left back spot as there's nobody who's really claimed it yet. Wynne will probably be a sub somewhere on the back line at best but I don't see him as a starter yet. Larentowicz has the best chance of really making an impact as the team has been looking for somebody to partner Michael Bradley in the empty bucket formation, and Ginger Ninja partners Pablo in a similar formation in Colorado.

• Jeff Plush talks about a likely jersey sponsor and a possible friendly against a German club.

I'm glad to hear that a sponsor sounds close. I'm hoping its the long-rumored Chipotle deal. I would love to see a German club in the Dick for a friendly. I much prefer watching the Bundesliga to La Liga or Serie A but I'm limited to what I can find on ESPN3.com. My sister and brother-in-law spent some time in Heidelberg this summer and brought me a TSG 1899 Hoffenheim scarf back so I've been following them this season. I'm crossing my fingers that we get a German friendly and I'm hoping it might be Hoffenheim. ;)

• Rapids in talks with Ulrik Lindkvist

This report is from Tribal Football, so take it for what it's worth. If true I'm guessing he'll fill the need for depth at center back that Gary Smith has talked about. Think of him as this year's Julian Baudet.

And on a final note, Happy Birthday to my wife Hope. :)

Colorado Hosts Portland To Start 2011

MLS announced the home openers of every team today. The Rapids will host the expansion Portland Timbers in their first-ever MLS game on March 19th at 7pm. More importantly, this will (presumably) be the day that the Rapids raise their 2010 MLS Champions banner!

Through process of elimination we also know our second week opponent will be one of Seattle, San Jose, Chivas USA, Dallas, or Houston.

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.