Another Year, Another Round Of 16 Exit

For the 3rd year in a row the Rapids were eliminated in the 5th round, this time 2-1 in extra time.  Oddly Colorado largely controlled the game and only a defensive miscue allowed Dallas to take it to the extra 30 minutes where a good shot and a possible deflection was the difference.

The bad news was that Dillon Serna had to be carried off the field after 21 minutes when he was taken down on a yellow (could have been red) card tackle that prevented him from putting any weight on his leg.  Hopefully the injury isn't serious.

Colorado's goal came off a nice sequence of passes from Powers to Hairston who put it across the front of the goal for Badji to hammer into the top of the net.

Dallas' goal in the second half came off a bad mistake where Williams and Azira had Castillo trapped against the sideline but then the two Rapids collided with each other allowing Castillo a free run at MacMath.  After getting Zac to commit Castillo slid the ball over to an onrushing Diaz for the easy goal.

In extra time Dallas scored early and oddly.  Urruti rounded Watts very deep in the box and fired a shot in from a tight angle.  The YouTube stream was hard to make out but it may have taken a deflection into the goal, very reminiscent of the own goal by George John off of Mac Kandji's cross that won us MLS Cup 2010.  If it didn't take a deflection then MacMath was very lazy in covering the near post and got beat there.  officially it was awarded to Urruti.

A golden chance fell to Jared Watts to tie it on the final kick but Kevin Doyle (in an offside position) was also desperately trying to get to the ball and threw off Watts' shot.

Maybe next year we'll make our first quarterfinal appearance in 10 years.

Roster Cuts

The Rapids announced today that they cut 1st round draft pick Emmanuel Appiah and 3rd round pick Chris Froschauer.  The later is not a surprise, Froschauer was not on the bench for last night's game and with Howard coming in there really wasn't a reason for the team to carry 4 keepers (including Berner in Charlotte).  Appiah is a bigger surprise.  While some people felt he wasn't a 1st round pick I didn't expect the Rapids to move on so quickly (conversely, may thought Castillo was a steal in the second round and he seems to be living up to that).

With this news and the arrival of Greenspan the Rapids now have 2 open roster spots (1 if Ramirez unexpectedly returns).  If the plan is to sign Shelton we still need an international spot however.

Greenspan Back Early

The Open Cup just kicked off but there was news today that I wanted to get out there.  The Denver Post is reporting that Joseph Greenspan has been released from active duty in the Navy to join the Rapids full-time  He'll finish his naval commitment in the Reserves over the next few years and be a professional soccer player.  He'll be added to the roster on Monday when the window opens.  The team expects him to take a couple of weeks to be available, which may involve a loan out (presumably to Charlotte) to get back into game shape.  I'm sure being in the Navy his fitness is fine but he'll have to knock the rust off his skills.

Monday I predicted we would pick up some CB depth in this window.  I did not expect that depth to be in the form of Greenspan though.  Most athletes out of the Naval Academy have to serve for two years of active duty so him being released after one is unexpected.  If I had to bet I would think that it has to do with the fact that a couple of NFL teams have drafted Naval Academy graduates in the last couple of years and the Navy probably wants to get them playing in the NFL quickly for the PR boost.  To be fair that means they need to release Greenspan (and any other athletes) the same way.

Regardless, based on what we saw last year, this will be a nice boost for our thin back line.  As mentioned we have an pen roster spot and should have enough cap space to bring him in without issue.  Now the Rapids have some flexibility if they want to make any other moves as their biggest issue has been covered.

Rapids Face Dallas In USOC

The U.S. Open Cup Round of 16 is here.  Tomorrow night Colorado is in Frisco to face Pareja and the rest of FC Dallas.  At stake is a spot in the quarterfinals on the road at the winner of the Houston/KC game.  Historically in the MLS playoffs the Rapids have owned Dallas, especially in Dallas, but in the Open Cup the results have been reversed.  In 2002 and 2004 we were eliminated from the USOC in Dallas, being shut out both times.

St. Ledger and Burling are still listed as out on the injury report.  In case you're wondering Tim Howard is not eligible for this game (though if we win he would be available for the quarterfinal and any other games).  Jones and Gashi should both be back from National Team duties but that's yet unconfirmed.

My guess would be that we see a largely reserve lineup again with a big home game on Monday. Maybe Gashi gets a run out to knock some rust off after only having 8 minutes of game action in the last month.  Pappa might get a few minutes as well as he works himself back into full fitness.  Otherwise I expect players like Badji, Serna, Conor Doyle, Jared Watts, and Dennis Castillo.  MacMath will almost certainly get the start with Howard taking over for league games come Monday.

As always I'm not going to predict a final score as its hard to tell without knowing how serious they're going to take the game.  Assuming we do run out a reserve lineup though I will predict a loss, mainly because I'm not sure how much anyone in the organization cares about this competition this year with how well the league season is going.  If we decide to play a good chunk of starters though, we can beat Dallas.

EDIT: Forgot the most important info.  Kickoff is at 6:30 tomorrow and the game will be on U.S. Soccer's YouTube channel.

Summer Transfer Window Preview

He's here! (Image from Denver Post)

Next Monday the summer transfer window opens.  THe big news will of course be the official signing of Tim Howard but beyond that what are the Rapids likely to be looking for (if anything)?

Here's the makeup of our current roster:

28 of 28 roster spots full (not including Greenspan)

9 of 8 international spots filled

4 of 3 Designated Player spots filled

No, those numbers aren't a type.  We have one more international and DP than we're allowed.  Namely Juan Ramirez will be returning from his loan.  for the rest of this article I'm going to assume that there's already a plan to either loan him out again or transfer him permanently to Almeria.  Otherwise most of our summer transfer window will be getting us back under the roster requirements.

So moving forward without Ramirez means that we have 1 open roster spot.  Of course that's only half of what we need.  The other part is having salary cap room.  As we saw last month Colorado is pretty much up against the cap so if we're going to fill that open spot with anything other than a developmental player we're probably going to need to make a move to clear some space.

Given that, lets look at who's possibly on the trading/sale block.  I'm going to assume that the standard starting XI plus a couple of players won't be moved barring an offer we can't refuse.  To me that means the following: Howard, Williams, Burling, Sjoberg, Miller, Burch, Cronin, Azira, Gashi, Jones,, Pappa, Solignac, and K. Doyle.

I'll add St. Ledger onto that list because his injury (combined with the circumstances that got him cut for Orlando) means there will likely be no takers.

Serna will also be on the list due to his value as a homegrown player.

The next group is players who would not free up enough space to be worth moving them.  To me that's Badji, Berner, Calvert, Castillo, C. Doyle, and Watts.

That leaves us with a small group: Froschauer, Hairston, MacMath, Pfeffer, and Powers.

Froschauer is only on this list because I don't see the Rapids carrying 4 keepers.  If they don't decide to move MacMath I assume Froschauer will be cut to free up a roster spot.  He won't help our cap issue though.

Hairston and Pfeffer are unlikey to be moved but they would free up about $100K each so if the right offer came along I could see it.

MacMath is one of the two obvious choices.  With Howard arriving there isn't really room for another MLS quality keeper.  At $140K that would free up a bit of the cap to make a move.  I'm not sure there's a team looking for a keeper though.  I just think that the Rapids will keep him around until the offseason.

That, finally, brings us to Dillon Powers.  A $300K salary sitting on the bench.  When he has played he's looked like his confidence is gone.  Ever since that PK miss in Sandy last year he hasn't been the same player but its gotten worse this season.  His role on this team would be in the spot that Cronin and Azira have locked down for a lot cheaper.  Meanwhile Philly just had a hole open up in their midfield and they're hardly the only MLS team that would take a chance on a former Rookie of the Year that needs a change of scenery.

So my bet is that the Rapids move Powers this window to free up some salary cap.  Now, how iwll we use that room?

As mentioned earlier the Orozco rumor is bouncing around.  It makes a lot of sense for the Rapids as by far their weakest area right now is center back.  It seems odd to say that given our defensive record but I don't think anyone is real happy that we're down to Jared Watts as a starter due to injuries.  Orozco is currently with Club Tijuana but there's been some talk that the club wants to unload some salary and international players.  I don't think he would take a max (or higher) salary so the real question is what he would cost in transfer fee and could we get him for under DP level.

If not Orozco I think the Rapids still look at CB.  They have pretty good coverage elsewhere so that's the real weak spot in the team. 

So my prediction for this summer transfer window.  Powers out, new CB in.