Leagues Cup 2025

 

Tomorrow night the defending 3rd place Rapids kick off their Leagues Cup 2025 campaign with a home match against our old friends Santos Laguna.  The competition has undergone some radical changes this season.  Out are the 3 team groups, in is a cross-league Phase 1 of the competition.

In Phase 1 the 18 playoff teams from last season (one exception, due to their CCC and Canadian Championship play Vancouver has been replaced by San Diego) face the 18 Liga MX teams.  The 36 teams have been broken down into six 6-team pods.  Each team in the pod plays the three teams in their pod from the other league, in the Rapids' case that's Santos Laguna, Club Tijuana, and Cruz Azul.  The top 4 teams from each league across the six pods will move on to the quarterfinals where each matchup will be Liga-MX - MLS.

So we are no longer trying to win our group, we are trying to be one of the 4 best MLS teams in the competition.  And, as the lowest MLS team in the group we play one game on the road while the other two teams in our group get three home games.

Looking back at the last Clausura Santos Laguna finished deal last and Tijuana finished 13th.  Cruz Azul finished 3rd.  The prior Apertura Santos Laguna once again finished last, Tijuana was 7th, and Cruz Azul won the whole thing.

So tomorrow night's game is absolutely winnable and Sunday against Tijuana is a game we can win.  Next Thursday in LA against Cruz Azul?  We will not be the favorites in any way.

So because of all of that, we shouldn't prioritize this competition this year.  I know our run last year was the high point of the season, but the situation was different.  One, we were solidly in a playoff spot needing only a few more points to clinch one when the Leagues Cup started.  Two, the league took a break for a month to play Leagues Cup so we didn't have to balance the playoff fight with the Cup.  The Rapids play a league match in Minnesota a week from Sunday.  We can't run out the starters tomorrow night, Sunday, Thursday, and Sunday again without ending the season like we did in 2024, with no energy and racking up loss after loss.

Plus this season with the format change, just getting one home win doesn't get us to the knockouts.  We need more than 6 points probably to have a shot.  So throw out the starters tomorrow night, play the kids against Tijuana, and then see where you stand going against Cruz Azul.  Unless the odds are very good that 1 point will get us through against the Liga MX giants we should throw the reserves to the wolves and rest the starters for league play.

No prediction for this one as its impossible to know what Armas is thinking right now.  A quick recap of the game plus a preview of Tijuana on Fri/Sat.

Rapids Get Flattened In Philly

It was an ugly game in Philly Saturday night.  I won't go through the blow by blow since this recap got delayed but more general thoughts.

• A pretty goal by the Rapids even with Bassett hitting the bar.  Nice to see the Bassett-Mihailovic-Navarro combo working well
• That was the only combo that worked on Saturday night.  Its like the team forgot the concept of midfield possession.
• The wingers, especially Harris, had an awful night.  Just when you thought we had settled on a couple of starters they lay an egg like that.
• Harris was also responsible for losing his man on Philly's first goal.  Though I have to question the tactics of covering a corner in a way that leads to the dangerous number 9 being marked by a right winger.  That should be Maxso or Murphy.
• Murphy...is not the solution to fill the CB hole.  Rob Holding or somebody else needs to show up soon.
• Colorado had one shot on target (the goal) and 4 total shots.  Philly had 30 shots, 11 on goal.  You can't win a game with that level of discrepancy.
• The Rapids have given up 2+ goals in the their last 9 road games.  The last time they didn't was the 2-1 win in San Jose on March 15th.  That was also their last road win.
• We gave up two goals late, again, but in reality being the last 5 minutes didn't really factor into it this time.  Philly was going to get a winner, with their level of pressure and they did.  Then the Rapids pushed up to find an equalizer and gave up a third.
• Only using 3 subs, and Sam Bassett being the 3rd, was an interesting choice that did not work for Armas.  MLS Analytics had Sam Bassett with the lowest G+ on the Rapids (and lowest in the game).  The bottom 5 were Cannon, KDP, Maxso, Harris, and S. Bassett.
• If the playoffs started today the Rapids would be the 9 seed and play the wild card game on the road...in Sandy.

Man of the Match: Zack Steffen.  Without him this is a 5 or 6 goals against game.  At least.

Rapids Make 249th Birthday Pilgrimage to Philly

 

Independence Hall National Historic Park

Since they're in Philly this year the Rapids likely won't be able to visit for the country's 250th birthday next season.  Barring some kind of Cup matchup that is.  Tomorrow night they take on a Union team that's just a point off the Supporters Shield and tied for second in the East.  A tough task for the visitors, but coming off of games against LAFC, Vancouver, and Seattle they should be used to it by now.  Kickoff for this one is at 5:30pm and there's a gathering at the Celtic to watch the game after the NWSL Denver Summit kickoff event downtown.

Availability Report:

OUT: Connor Ronan (ankle)

Not ideal for Ronan to be out but with the hole in the backline after Awaziem was sold I think Larraz or Atencio were more likely to start anyway.  Nice not to see anyone else on the list.

Tomorrow night is the debut of the new green third kit and I'm looking forward to that.  The real question is how Armas chooses to fill the Awaziem hole.  I think he'll minimize the changes and leave Cannon on the right and Keegan in the middle, but I could see those reversed.  A possibility Murphy starts as well.  Cobb might be on the bench but I'd be surprised if he saw time.

Prediction: 2-1 loss, goal by Mihailovic.  Based on their recent play I wouldn't be totally shocked by a draw here, but I think this is a steep hill to climb while rebuilding the back line.  Philly bosses the game and gets the win but Djordje gets one off a set piece (or at worst assists one off a set piece).

Rapids Loan Cobb, Agree With Holding?

Two quick player updates in this post with my Philly game preview immediately following.  Colorado has taken Atlanta United centerback Noah Cobb on loan for the rest of the season with an option to buy him.  Atlanta will get $100K GAM   Cobb is 20 years old and came up through Altanta's academy.  He's also played for the U.S. U-20 team.  He's made 3 starts and 13 appearances for the Five Stripes this season after 13 starts and 19 appearances last season.

Cobb has some really good passing instincts and is good in the air.  I wouldn't expect to see him starting regularly this season but it gives us some depth with Awaztiem gone.  He's not a direct replacement though. for that we're still looking at Rob Holding.

Speaking of, EFL Analysis is reporting that the Rapids and Holding have come to terms and he'll be flying in for his physical this weekend.  That has yet to be confirmed by anyone else yet, but they also report it would be a free transfer.  I also found out today that Holding's girlfriend is not an American, as I had earlier heard, but Icelandic striker Sveindís Jane Jónsdóttir, who recently signed with Angel City FC of the NWSL.  So that's one draw for him to the States.  Denver is a lot closer to LA than London.

Au Revoir Awaziem

The expected transfer of Chidozie Awazeim to FC Nantes in Ligue 1 was made official this morning.  Terms of the deal were not announced but Burgundy Wave is saying the transfer fee is around $1.5M, with an expectation of 10-20% of that going back to Cincinnati.  Colorado paid Cinci $1M of GAM to get Awaziem and Murphy.  So we're going to come out a little ahead on this by getting Murphy and some money we can use other ways while getting our $1M of GAM back.

One target of that money appears to be English center-back Rob Holding, who Bogert is reporting (and confirmed by Burgundy Wave and the Post) is in discussions with the Rapids.  Holding is a 29 year old who made 98 appearances over 7 seasons with Arsenal (KSE connection).  Since 2023 he's been with Crystal Palace where he almost immediately had a falling out with the manager and was relegated to the reserves and U-21 team though he made 11 appearances for Sheffield United on loan in the Championship earlier this year.

According to Tom Holding also has an offer from an English team, so we have to hope MLS and the Rapids aren't being used as the stalking horse for him to drive up his contract to stay in England.  That said I did see today that his long-term girlfriend is American so he might have a reason that he wants to come to MLS.  Somebody who had a training blow-up with his manager has some concerns (see Aigner, Stefan) but you would hope the Rapids have access to Arsenal's information and know what they're getting.  He would be an unusual signing for Smith and Taylor, being on the backside of his career, but we need immediate help at CB, not "potential" so that's not a bad thing.