What Does Retirement Mean?

Remember when the Colorado Rapids announced that the Mexican Clint Mathis, Daniel Osorno, had retired at the age of 28 after the 2007 season? It seems that Osorno these days is playing for the Mexican club Dorados (2nd division. Did Osorno announce his retirement even though he wasn't going to stop playing? Or did the Rapids think that announcing that a player without any serious injuries and only 28 years of age had retired was somehow a means of saving face? After all, $140,000 isn't the sort of money you see spent in Major League Soccer on a player that plays 55 minutes (3 games) and commits a solitary foul.

Did Osorno actually retire or did the Rapids waive him?

Colorado Rapids:
Also in addition to this list, Rapids forward #16 Daniel Osorno has announced his retirement, and will not be made available for the draft. Dorados de Sinaloa

Is It Time For Conor Casey To Be Called-Up?

You may be thinking "Conor Casey called up to the US Men's National Team?" and I can't blame you. But that's what Kartik over at Major League Soccer is calling for, Ben Olsen and Conor Casey to be called up by the USMNT coach Bob Bradley. I don't have a problem with Olsen. I have 2 issues with Conor Casey being called up.

The first issue is the quality of play, or lack of it, that we've seen out of Casey. As Kartik states " his early play in MLS after leaving Germany earlier this year was pathetic." Why would someone call in a player that has recently played so poorly? Well, the answer in MLS talk's case was "But Casey has in the past four Colorado Rapids game completely regained his confidence, scoring two goals and contributing to several more. Casey has held off Daniel Osorno, the longtime Mexican National Team forward to keep the starting striker position with the Rapids." Where does one start? First off, Osorno came to the Rapids out of shape. He first showed up in Colorado before the 4th of July. The word on the street was that if Osorno couldn't show he was improving his fitness, he wasn't going to get a deal. More so Osorno was brought in to play on the left side of the midfield. There really hasn't been direct competition for a spot between Casey and Osorno.

Beside not wanting to take someone because they have allegedly beat out a washed up ex-Mexican national team player for a starting spot at their club (as stated, not really the case since Osorno is used as an LM), why would you want to use criteria like "did they play really well in the last 4 games?" when selecting a player for the USMNT? If that were the criteria for making the national team every American in DC United's starting 11 should be on the USMNT for the game against Brazil.

Has Conor Casey looked good the last 4 games? Yes, he has. 2 goals and an assist are great. And in a game like the one against New England he could've had another one or three. But when it comes to the US Mens National Team surely higher standards than playing well in a few games are needed. It should be ones play over a long period of time combined with their talents, skills and how they can make the USMNT as a whole better.

And that brings me to the other big issue with calling up Conor Casey at this point, the timing. Part of Casey's issues with clubs in Germany has been the timing of his call-ups. He was at a time when he was trying to establish himself at a new club and would called away for the USMNT. One time he came back from USMNT duty with a serious injury. It's hard to impress your new coach and gel with your new teammates when you're not playing even on the training pitch. And in this case Conor Casey is still relatively new to the Colorado Rapids. He's still working at getting back into shape after having some minor injury problems that have kept him out of the team. Bob Bradley, if you're reading this, just let the guy get his land legs back. Let him continue to focus on playing well for his club, learning his new teammates and most importantly staying 100% fit and healthy. Let's worry about calling him up until after this MLS season is over. Until then, just give the guy a chance to try to be healthy.

Salaries Updated

Props to Laurie for this link. It looks like the MLS Players Union does publish a list of salaries that is updated during the season. Interesting to see Osorono is making $138,000 while Sanneh is only making $60,000.

http://www.mlsplayers.org/files/8_31_07_salary_info_club.pdf

Osorno One Step Closer To The Rapids

A bit ago I mentioned the Colorado Rapids were in the hunt for ex-Mexican International Daniel Osorno. He was seen at Dick's Sporting Goods Park on the 4th of July. On July 12th VP Jeff Plush confirmed that the team was in talks to sign him.

Before signing Osorno the Rapids needed to clear up an SI slot. They've done that by releasing Panamanian Roberto "El Bombardero" Brown yesterday. Brown's spot on the team was in question once the Rapids were able to bring in Colorado-native Conor Casey who plays a similar role as El Bombardero up top. And with Osorno's paperwork about to go through, it was time to release Roberto. Brown came to the Rapids after having played with Tacuarembó FC in the Uruguayan First Division.

Just before this the Rapids release defender Chris Wingert. Real Salt Lake traded a first round pick in the 2008 supplemental draft and a 2nd round pick in the 2009 supplemental draft for his rights. That's not a surprising move for a team looking to add some defensive depth. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see Torres put in another poor performance and find himself on the bench with Wingert starting alongside Pope.

Reminder : As FC Rocky points out, there is still no official word from the Rapids on the status of Osorno. Keep in mind that as much as this may look and sound like a done deal, until it's done it's not done. There are plenty of examples of situations like this in the past where at the last minute the team or the player walks away from another player or another team (or for nothing other than just walking away).

Rapids New SI

The rumors has been floating around for awhile now. The Rapids are on the verge of signing Mexican forward Daniel Osorno. In the middle of June Kansas City was linked with a move for the player. Last week 3rd Degree reported that FC Dallas was interested in Osorno but he had decided to sign with Colorado. FC Rocky reported that Osorno was spotted in the press box at Dicks Sporting Goods Park last 4th of July. When the Rapids held their "Chalk Talk" Sunday, July 8th GM Jeff Plush was asked about Osorno and not only didn't deny the situation but admitted the Rapids were working on finalizing the paperwork.

It's July 12th and so far nothing has been announced. The word on the street is that the other non-guaranteed contract player, the first being Chris Wingert, is Panamanian Roberto "El Bombardero" Brown. Once things are about to be finalized for Osorno, the Rapids will release Brown.

I understand the team letting Brown go. Conor Casey is a better big man target forward than Brown. Osorno is a better player than Brown. Daniel Osorno's earned 73 caps with the Mexican national team. However this move doesn't seem to address any of the Rapids weaknesses. It doesn't give them natural depth on the left. It doesn't give them a left-sided fullback. And, at least for now, one struggles to see how it helps the Rapids with possession and, more importantly, quickly transitioning from defense to offense. These seem to be the Rapids core problems. And maintain a roster of 7 forwards (Niko, Peterson, Casey, Herculez, Kirovski, Cummings, Brown / Osorno) doesn't seem to be the answer.

The last statement is more apparent when when takes into account 2 players have recently left the Rapids. Defender Chris Wingert left the team when they wouldn't guarantee his contract for the remainder of the season. Yesterday midfielder Daniel Wasson announced he was leaving the team to try to find a team in Europe. Before those moves the team was already needing fresh blood in their defense and midfield. And now their hands are tied. They already have the maximum number of Senior Internationals and have to release one to make room for Osorno even though they now have 2 open roster spots.

Is this a team on the verge of completely falling apart? Is it time to fire Clavijo?