No Fan Alone Colorado Rapids Supporters

These days, the first question for goal keeper Matt Pickens has to be “what’s up with your beard?” Is it a bet? Or a “grow it until the team has 50 points” or an attempt to distract opposing forwards? The answer to all these questions is “none of the above”. Matt is simply growing a beard. He did however admit that it’s attracting attention from teammates, and in fact the beard now has its own identify. One of the names is “Travis”. Just so you know.

My more serious question had to do with the new ball dynamics. The ball has been re-formulated in honor of the World Cup, and it takes some getting used to. If you thought Pickens seemed like he wasn’t reacting to incoming shots in a timely fashion, you may be seeing the effect of the new ball’s dynamics while airborne. According to Matt, it’s very squirrelly, especially on long range kicks, such as corners and free kicks from outside the box. The ball moves side to side while it’s sailing through the air, so he has to wait longer to make a decision about where it’s actually going to be when it arrives in his vicinity. Why the re-design? To make the game more exciting, maybe cause more goal scoring. Pickens doesn’t see any change in ball behavior on close-in shots, so maybe that partially explains why the Rapids haven’t been scored on in game play so far.

The danger of this recent success is loss of momentum and over-confidence. Gary Smith doesn’t see any complacency at the moment. The players are in a very competitive situation right now. If anyone underperforms, they know there are some very good players on the bench. Smith says the energy level is very high and everyone is working extremely hard. They can’t underestimate the San Jose team, which he described as tough and changed from last year. Again, the game will be on a smaller pitch, although not so small as the Kansas City field.

And looking ahead, what if Conor Casey is called up for the national team? A call-up will impact more than the 2 week MLS bye in mid-June. The national team camp is coming up in 2 weeks, not to mention travel time to and from South Africa. Who would fill that hole in the front? Smith believes Claudio Lopez is closer to being match-fit, and he’s been very pleased with Quincy Amarikwa’s play. Finally Andre Akpan is similar in size to Casey, and could fill in as a target for forward passes. Overall, with so many good players who are also healthy, Smith is very happy to have a lot of options.

ESPN Power Rankings put the Rapids at #5 this week, up from 9. San Jose is ranked #7. Soccer By Ives Fantasy XI of the month include Pablo, Jeff and Omar in the honorable mention category. The Fantasy team includes 4 Galaxy players, who will all be here next Wednesday to prove how wonderful they are. Bob Bradley is considering using those oxygen tents to help US national team players to adjust to the altitude in South Africa. Johannesburg is 5900 feet. Ho hum. The Rapids don’t need no stinkin’ oxygen tents.

The Rapids waived Pat Noonan today.  He’s probably a victim of the new guaranteed contract language in the new CBA.  This leaves the Rapids with an open senior and an open developmental spot, based on the current understanding of the new CBA. 

Andy Lorei is still likely to take the developmental spot in my opinion.  The concerning thing is that there are only three forwards on the team (Casey, Cummings, and Akpan) and no midfielders that have ever really played forward.  I’m assuming that the open senior spot is already being offered to a forward with professional experience, because going into the season with the only backup to the Dynamic Duo being a MLS rookie is probably a bad idea.

On the heels of my post yesterday about Gary Smith having a set 24 in mind at the moment comes news from Steward Ceus that he’ll be returning to the USL-2 Charlotte Eagles on loan this season.  Ceus joined Charlotte in June last year for the remaining part of their season, playing 10 times for them and helped to lead the Eagles to a 4th place finish and runners-up in the Championship game.  With this move the Rapids now have 24 contracted players who count against the expected 24-man roster cap, plus a player on loan and a player on the DL (Schunk).  The fate of the two trialists, Andy Lorei and Jure Travner, is still up in the air.

Hi all!  The Grand Poobah asked if I’d be willing to share some of my on-field analysis of the team.  For those who may not know me I’m Jason Ma on BigSoccer, and before I started the View From the Couch blog I wrote under the same title at Rapidsfan.com.

On to current news.  Today the Rapids Undercurrent had some notes from Gary Smith. One in particular stood out to me:

Based on the announcements from the team, the Rapids have 26, not 24 on the roster. Ross Schunk’s torn ACL means he’ll be able to stay on the roster above the expected 24 limit. It sounds like Smith already has an idea of who the odd man out is at this point.

Given that Dalby has played two 45 minute halves in the first two preseason games and nothing since then, I’m still putting my money on him being the odd man out.

The other option is that Palguta’s injury is worse than expected and he’ll start on the DL as well, leaving the 24 signed healthy players as the 24.

(This all assumes that neither of the trialists are signed)

The first signs appeared at 1:15 ET on Galarcep’s blog, the Rapids were making a deal with New England.  One minute later the rumor was corroborated by Steven Goff via Twitter.  Then there was a lot of copying, followed by silence.  Was there a trade?  Did it fall through?

Then suddenly the Rapids traded Jacob Peterson to Toronto F.C. for some money.  Who’d have predicted that!  Whatever else might be said for or against Jake, he is recovering from injury.  That’s the sort of trade that makes you wonder if Bravo also offered Preki a nice bottle of wine with the comment, “Good as new!  Once I put the cork back in it.”

Then, once again, the trade with New England was on.  Yesterday,  confirmation, followed confirmation, followed Twitter leak, but no confirmation came from the horses’ mouths until today.  The Rapids let season ticket holders know first, which was nice, but in the age of blogging everyone’s a potential leak.  The story was out before the official press release was, released.

That’s how a news story develops, particularly in a niche sport that gets ignored by large media outlets.

So what have the Rapids done?

• To begin with, – not playing favorites, just picking the best – Class VI’s Bonji says, “I’m a big fan of the Rapids signing Jeff Larentowicz.  In 2009 he emerged as one of the top midfielder players in the league and central midfield was an area that needed improvement.”
• Jacob Peterson says, “I wish these guys the best of luck, but not when they’re playing us in Toronto. I’d like to see the Rapids do something in the Western Conference. The fans probably deserve that after putting up with some mediocre teams.”
• T.F.C.’s fans say their atmosphere rocks and ours, “up in the hills,” is well……listen here
• Preki says, “We’re looking forward to bringing him into camp and getting him working with the rest of the players.”  This makes me wonder if the rest of the players will be on crutches too?
• The Revs are saying, “Preston has tremendous game experience and has proven to be a very capable goalkeeping option when called upon,” Burns continued. “Cory is a very experienced, versatile defender who will help anchor our backline. We look forward to bringing both Preston and Cory into camp and getting them acclimated to the team.”
• Bravo says, .. watch the video.   Key adjectives for Wells, “willingness,” “bravery”.  For Jeff, “experience”, “the driving force through all their (Revs) injuries.”

Everyone’s happy!  Everyone wins!

The draft starts in a couple of hours

Everyone who is anyone within the Rapids organization is sworn to secrecy.  The videos the Rapids have put out, on facebook, promise information about the draft but deliver complaints about the weather in Florida.

What’s a fan to do for information on how the Rapids will use the 22nd, twenty-second, pick in the 2010 draft?  Turn to the W.A.G.s of the blogosphere…

• Rapids critic and occasional viewer, Ives Galarcep, thinks the Rapids are gonna take Kyle Nakazawa, citing the need for creativity in midfield.   To follow on the pick Ives is guessing the Rapids will pickup a defender, Nick  Cardenas, with our 23rd pick because he’s from Colorado and dominant in the air.
• The West Virginian Hooligan, has based his reasoning on the parochial nativism of the Rapids organization as he has the Rapids taking Collen Warner with the 22nd pick and Nick Cardenas with the 23rd.  Warner seems to address the depth-on-the-wings issue the Rapids have, while Cardenas still seems like adding a body to a very long queue in the back.  At least is appears like the WVH has an idea of at least one of the Rapids needs.
• Draftsite.com, a new one on me, has the Rapids taking midfielder Irving Garcia with the 23rd pick, and defender Chris Schuler with the 22nd.
• The website, OleOle.com, agrees with Ives and the WVH that we need Nick Cardenas.  The sites midfield choice for the Rapids is Michael Stephens.
• Goal.com, went original on us coming up with defender Zachary Herold and midfielder Nelson Becerra for 22 and 23.
• Finally, local blog FC Denver has their suggestions with reasoned explanation.  At number 22 they’re projecting midfield/defender Justin Morrow, who could play both as wing or wingback.  At 23rd their picking Ross LeBeaux for athleticism and potential.

Buzz Carrick of 3rd Degree does an excellent job of rating these players - forwards, midfielders, and defenders.  Take a look to see what he says about these players.

Most draft projections ignore the second round, but several pundits do weigh in on what the Rapids need, sort of…

• Soccer America says, “more guys who want to win.”  As a polite Rapids fan who grew up in the age of, “Welcome Back, Kotter ”  I believe the response is, “Up your nose with a rubber hose.”  Only we can say stuff like that.
• Ives says we need a creator in midfield.  Well… duh!  But, will that player come in the second round of the college draft?!

We will soon find out who we’ve got.  For my part Collen Warner sounds intriguing as possible depth on the wings, and Ofori Sarkodie sounds intriguing as a potential cover for the loss of Jordan Harvey.  Buzz Carrick’s description of Justin Morrow as, “the best left back on the list,” has me interested as well.

We’re back!  After a prolonged absence, we’re back to doing our weekly interviews.  This week, the newest Rapids player, defender Drew Moor more was gracious enough to take time to answer questions from Craig deAragon.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

by Donna Feldman

The word of the day is “plyometrics,” which is how keeper Matt Pickens described how goal keeper training differs from the endurance training the other players work on. Plyometrics improves the ability to quickly dive for a shot, or leap sideways or forwards to bat the ball away from the goal. With all this diving and leaping for saves, the risk for a nasty collision with a post is high. How does Pickens avoid that? A keeper with good technique should be moving forward while going for the save, away from the posts. In reality, he admits to hitting many a post in his career. Pickens spent the first 4 years of his MLS career with the Chicago Fire. I spoke with him before Sunday’s unfortunate outcome, so didn’t ask him about playing against his former teammates. He spent part of last year training in Europe, signed on with the Rapids this year and picked up the spot on the starting roster.

The safest stops are obviously catches, but no keeper can catch every ball. Batting the ball away can be a split second decision, useful when there’s any doubt about ability to catch the shot. So what’s the fastest shot Pickens has stopped? He wasn’t sure, possibly something in the 60+ mph range. Some of the other Rapids personnel mentioned trying to measure shot velocities once with a radar gun, and thought the fastest was just over 70 mph. For Pickens, a ball with no spin is a fast shot, time to get that Plyometric training ready.

Colin Clark had successful surgery and is now on the long road to re-hab. He’ll likely end up on the “season-ending injury” list, which can free up a roster spot, but doesn’t free up any additional money. The loaned players, Holody and O’Brien, will return at the end of their USL season. Any replacement for Clark would have to be someone who fit into the salary cap restrictions. No word on who or when that might be. I’m assured that there are plenty of available soccer players out there. The $64 question would be how good are they and would they fit in? I’ve asked various fans and coaches what position, if any, they felt was hardest to fill for a new player mid-season. One discerning Class VI fan believes it’s attacking midfield, as that person needs to know everyone’s playing style. Coaches tend to think no one position is any more difficult than another. What do you think?

What’s the hardest position to fill as a new player mid-season?(polls)

by Donna Feldman
Part 2 for this week

Jamie Smith made his debut as a Rapid against Columbus last weekend towards the end of the game, and immediately made his presence known, to the approval of our most discerning fans. Did the soft-spoken Scot set out to make a good first impression? He said he wasn’t doing anything different, just playing his game, but he was very happy to get fan support so quickly. So far, he feels it’s been easy to adapt to play in the MLS, and that the team has been very welcoming. He noted that playing style was different, in that he was used to teams that moved the ball very quickly from back to front, while the MLS relies more on controlling the ball and moving it forward through the midfield. Another big difference is the weather. He brought up the “heat” several times in conversation, although on that day the Colorado weather was doing its strange-2009-summer thing: cloudy and cool. Which apparently is BBQ party weather in Scotland.

I finally got to speak with Paul Bravo, in an extended conversation about recruiting. I had wondered how a Division III college player (forward Ross Schunk) ends up on the roster shortly after graduation. I got a very extensive answer to my simple question. Recruiting is a full-time, year-long and connection-driven mission, complicated by deadlines, windows, call-ups and injuries. The Rapids’ organization keeps track of prospects from the USL (two divisions), NCAA (Divisions I, II and III), NAIA college players and international players. Separate databases on players from each of these are maintained, and Bravo indicated there were almost daily discussions about recruiting. He maintains a network of contacts throughout the soccer world who provide additional insight on players.
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It’s tough to say goodbye to a friend, and to Class VI – Terry Cooke was truly our friend.

Already getting flooded with emails that are upset by the waiving of Terry Cooke for Scottish winger Jamie Smith and I can see that we’re close to another Kyle Beckerman situation.

Of course as Rapids fans, we hope Coach Gary Smith has made the correct decision and he shows us an improvement in the team and on the right flank with this move, but my inbox and telephone are telling me that Coach Smith has really put his standing with fans on the line with this move.

Please Note: This is just one man’s opinion. This doesn’t reflect the opinions of the supporters.
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