Biggest Test Of Casey's Tenure Tomorrow

L....A.....F.....C

One of the only teams as hot as the Rapids comes to Commerce City tomorrow night, in fact they're so hot people are talking about the possibility of LAFC setting league records this season.  On this 6 game undefeated streak the Rapids haven't faced a top team yet, LAFC is it.  As a Friday night game the kickoff is a bit later at 8pm which means the tailgate will start at 5.  Its Friday night so the game is on Univision with Marcelo Balboa and company.  If you want your dose of Richard Fleming I hear he will be making an appearance at the tailgate since he has the night off.

Injury Report:

OUT: D Kortne Ford, D Deklan Wynne

QUESTIONABLE: M Sam Nicholson, M Jack Price

Disciplinary Report:

ONE CAUTION FROM SUSPENSION: M Kellyn Acosta

Unavailable:

M Nana Boateng - Personal issue

F Jonathan Lewis - U.S. National Team

No Nicholson or Price will make this a difficult task.  Presumably we'll see the likes of Wilson and Shinyashiki in their place.

This seems pretty obvious, given our player status.

Prediction: 2-0 loss.  We're improved, but we're facing the best offense and the best defense in the league and we're undermanned.  As long as we don't embarrass ourselves anything beyond that is a bonus.

Silly Season Rumor Roundup

With transfer windows opening across the world over the next month or so, including in MLS, and managers being hired and fired we've got a whole swath of silly season rumors to dig through.  First though, the one bit of news.  Today the Rapids traded an international spot for the rest of the season to Montreal for $100K in GAM.  With Rwatubyaye on loan to the Springs we had an open slot and apparently no plans to use it, so why not get something for it?

After that, the rest of this is rumor and speculation.  We'll start with various manager rumors (one hilarious) and then move on to players.

• Aitor Karanka rules himself out of any MLS job.  He had been linked with the Cincinnati job and was my top pick for the Rapids job if we looked outside MLS/US Soccer.  It was always a long shot but I'm happy to know he's not going to be coaching against us.
• Anthony Hudson is linked with the open Newcastle manager position.  No, that's not a joke.  Reports are they're at least talking to him this week.  I can't imagine they're seriously considering him, maybe his father put in a word or something, but there's nothing in his track record that suggests he's worthy of a Championship position, much less an EPL one.  Newcastle is poorly run lately though, so I suppose its not out of the question, but if they hire him it will be the most ridiculous move since Venky's fired Big Sam.
• With no other rumors it still appears Fraser is the leading candidate to fill Hudson's old position running the Rapids.  The curious thing is why it hasn't been announced yet.  Either the negotiations are taking longer than expected or there's another name in play.  At this point I'm not sure if its not better to wait until the offseason, its unlikely Fraser is going anywhere until then.

On to the player rumors.  These are all rumors of players leaving from various sources, no credible rumors of players coming to the Rapids.

• Diego Rubio has been linked to Liga MX's Cruz Azul, by way of a Chilean TV station.  Diego's brother played for them many years ago and some discussion makes this sound more like a rumor leaked to appease fans than any serious interest, but it is out there.  If there's a decent offer for him the Rapids should take it.  Rubio has struggled to fit in a bit here and if we could quickly turn him around for a good transfer fee that would be a smart piece of work.
• There are many reports linking Danny Wilson to League One side Oxford United.  This sounds like almost a done deal and the Rapids would be smart to take it if it lets them off without any additional salary payout.  Its no secret Wilson was a big signing that hasn't paid off, and getting out from the remaining $750K on his contract through the end of 2020 would be a win for the team at this point.  It would also be good for Wilson as talk is his family is dealing with some issues that would be helped by being back on the other side of the pond.  This would be as close to a win=win for everyone as we can get.  Today's trade of an international slot might be an indication this is getting done, as his transfer out would give us a free slot again.
• Per Richard Fleming's commentary during the Vancouver game, there have been multiple inquiries again about Kellyn Acosta.  That's all the details we have so far, and this is a tricky situation.  Any sale through the end of next season gets split 50/50 with Dallas, so the number is going to have to be high enough that half of it is worth losing a young midfielder in the middle of the season, one that's currently on a long-term deal.  My guess is that we're talking somewhere in the $3-$4 million range (so the Rapids would get $1.5-$2 million).  I'd be surprised if anyone is offering that.  If they are, the offer merits serious consideration.

Like I said, the silly season.  If I had to make predictions I'd go with; Fraser becomes Rapids manager in the next month, Hudson is never mentioned again by Newcastle, no real offer for Rubio is ever made, Danny Wilson leaves in the next month, and Acosta hangs around at least until the offseason.

Rapids Hit Troubled Waters In Canada

A post-Hudson start and a pre-Casey finish left us with a 2-2- game where both teams probably feel like they could have won.  As we saw in a prediction from Friday...

This has a annoying draw written all over it, where both teams will come out of it thinking they left 2 points on the field.

The Rapids could have, should have, been up 3 in the first 30 minutes.  Not finding the third goal came back to haunt us in a second half where we looked like Hudson's Rapids than Casey's.  An odd decision to only use one sub, and that being 16-year old Seb Anderson, while multiple Rapids were dead on their feet led to the inevitable late tying goal.

• After a less than stunning USOC outing the team followed it up with some poor play and poor decisions in this one.  Casey seems to be losing a bit of his magic touch.  I'm not saying that he's failed, I'm just saying we need to pump the brakes on him becoming the long-term manager, at least until the end of the season.
• Rubio picked up a red card that cost us the game against Vancouver last time, this time he makes a stupid foul that creates the Whitecaps first goal off a PK and changes the momentum right before the half.  This is a bad pattern.
• A bit of a soft foul and a great free kick for Vancouver's second, but you felt that goal was coming oe way or the other.
• Big credit for how the team played in the opening 30 minutes.  The Whitecaps were struggling just to clear their lines.
• Rubio was in the right place at the right time which is what you want from your striker.  I'm not sure he didn't steal a Olympico from Mezquida though, that might have been going in on its own.
• Stunning ball movement on the second goal.  Kamara-Mezquida-Kamara-Shinyashiki got the ball from midfield to the back of the net in 10 second.
• Mezquida picked up two assists in 20 minutes, his best start of the season.
• The undefeated streak now goes to 6.  Can we keep it up against LAFC on Friday?

Player of the Match: Kei Kamara.  Got an assist on the Shinyashiki goal, and Andre later apologized for "stealing" the goal from him (though I'm not sure his header would have gone in).  He had another great shot go right off the post as well and generally ran over the Vancouver defense.

Water Meets Water In The Frozen North

The Colorado Rapids (water formation) head north to restart the season against the Vancouver Whitecaps (water formation) in what would be a wet game if it were here in Colorado but will be dry under the dome in British Columbia.  This is the second matchup between the teams here after the 'Caps came to Commerce City and turned Casey's first game in charge into a loss.  They've been hot since then, but the Rapids have been hotter.  How much will the break have cooled off either team?  Kickoff tomorrow is at 8m and the game is on Altitude.

Injury Report:
OUT: D Kortne Ford (season-ending injury); D Deklan Wynne
QUESTIONABLE: M Sam Nicholson

Unavailable:
M Nana Boateng - Family issues
F Jonathan Lewis - U.S. National Team

Losing Kort for the season hurts, but we've been playing without him all year so on a game to game basis we've already dealt with his absence.  Lewis being gone and Nicholson being unlikely to play is a bit of a problem though.

None of the eleven starters I'm confident about, but Bassett or Rubio could be replaced by Mezquida and which one of the three starts behind Kamara versus on the right is up in the air.  Otherwise why mess with what's been working for us?

Prediction: 1-1 draw, goal by Kamara.  Vancouver's offense is horrible, but our defense isn't great.  Their defense and our offense are pretty middle of the road.  This has a annoying draw written all over it, where both teams will come out of it thinking they left 2 points on the field.

Not The Way To Return From Break

The Rapids announced today that Kortne Ford has undergone another surgery and will miss the rest of the season, which means he missed all of 2019.  While this isn't exactly shocking, as it was starting to feel like this might be the end result of the season for Kort, it is none the less disappointing for him and the Rapids.  Over the last two seasons he'll have played in just 15 games and at age 23 that's some serious development time he's missed.  He'll need to come back strong in 2020 or its quite likely his peak will be a MLS role player.