Gary Smith is a now officially the head coach for the Colorado Rapids. Smith was signed to a 3 year deal. The Rapids also announced they re-signed Pablo Mastroeni, coming off arguably his best year ever in the MLS, to a 4 year deal. Mike Petke, Bouna Coundoul and Jose Burciaga Jr. are all out of contract with no announcements having been made on their status.
The match kicks off at Dicks Sporting Goods Park in a few hours. Rapids have only won once in their last five and twice in their last 10. They've been scoring goals, with only Columbus and Houston keeping them out of the net (incidentally both of those games were at home).
Toronto hasn't tasted victory in nearly 2 months. Toronto hasn't won in their last 5. They have 2 in their last 10 with both of those being at home. 2-0 at home against LA in May and 3-1 at BMO field against Colorado mid-June.
Nick at We Want Rapidman is reporting that we should see the same lineup that started against Everton. That means unlike recent games we'll see Pablo in the midfield, LaBrocca on the bench and the back 3 will be Ugo, Erpen and Burciaga. It's too bad. I'd rather see LaBrocca instead of Medhi at this point. Medhi's been struggling with his decision making and taking too much time on the ball.
More On The Upcoming Match :
We Want Rapids Man
View From The Couch
American Soccer News
What a terrible game by the Rapids last night. It was a painful example of the cliche about a team not showing up to play. They didn't last night and instead of getting 3 realitvely easy points at home, they gave San Jose their first franchise win. Nick at We Want Rapids Man was right about confusion in the Rapids back line. Keel and Erpen struggled to get things right quite a few times. It cost the Rapids their first goal. And it could've been another one or two in the first half if not for Bouna. The real stinker last night for defense was Jose Burciaga. Jose's off night was compounded at half-time when Clavijo opted for a a 3-5-2. When the Rapids traded for the Burciaga we all knew there would be times when he was a defensive liability. Seeing him with 3 in the was horrifying. He was being constantly beat. With 3 in the back he wasn't able to get some extra cover other than Colin Clark coming back. That in turn made it difficult for Colin to get forward. Which brings me to Clavijo. Rumor had it going into the game he was going to tinker with tactics and the lineup. After the New England game we could see why. The team did nothing offensively in the 2nd half other than LaBrocca's goal (off a nice cross from Burciage? Or was it Clark?). In their first 3 games they didn't make much use of Christian Gomez. The tinkering though didn't appear to result in an improvement. The Rapids were still playing too many long balls out of the back, Gomez was still not getting the ball and seeing Burciaga in a 3-5-2 left me wondering if Clavijo's actually paid attention to Burciaga's previous 7 years in the MLS. Is Clavijo actually capable of coaching well in the MLS? His history says no. Last night has many of us wondering why we should have hope that this year is going to be any different than the last 3 with Clavijo in charge. Is this making too much from one off night from the team?
My apologies for overlooking the obvious and not mentioning that Soccer by Ives is reporting that KC will be trading Burciaga to the Rapids for a draft pick. I should have mentioned it in the previous post [link]. A draft pick, eh? Surely the Rapids wouldn't be so daft as to give up their 1st round pick, #5 overall, for Burciage..... or would they?
The Kansas City Wizards are looking to further rebuild their team beyond today's trade of Nick Garcia to expansion San Jose Earthquakes for their 1st pick (1st overall in the draft). That gives KC the 1st pick overall and the 11th overall picks in the draft. The conventional thinking is that KC is positioning themselves to take promising striker Patrick Nyarko with their new pick. Why would they do that? Eddie Johnson looks set to move to Europe during the winter window with Fulham being strongly linked with him today.
Did you catch that Garcia's not the only defender KC is looking to trade? That's right, KC is looking to also trade Jose Burciaga Jr. This time to the Colorado Rapids. No word on what the Rapids will give up in return. It's not official but every now and then the little birdy comes through for me on a rumor that's about to be true. Like last year when some folks were shocked that then New York Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena was willing to trade for Clint Mathis {post here]. This trade wouldn't be as shocking but it would be more interesting in that KC would then be unloading 2 starting defenders. If the rumor holds true, we should see the announcement Wednesday or Thursday.
If the Rapids are trading for Burciaga, I can see some folks being confused. They'll be pointing out that the Rapids had the 3rd best defense in the league last year. 2 things on that :
Another interesting development is that the rumored is that beyond Burciaga the Colorado Rapids are on the verge of signing a young American defender from abroad? Who might that be? We don't know. The little birdy did rule out Ramiro Corrales. That doesn't surprise me as I feel the MLS's standard of play has passed up Corrales since his days in the league. It does add to emphasizing the young part of the rumor. I would assume it's not Tighe Dombrowski as he wasn't good enough to get much of a sniff at play in the MLS in the first place. DeMerit? It would be a wet dream for Rapids fans but he's not young and recently was made captain for Watford who are in the midst of battling for an automatic promotion spot to return to England's Premiership. Corey Gibbs? Again, not young even by MLS standards. Plus how would the Rapids afford him?
So who could it be? Ian Joy has been linked with a move to the MLS. It's been in the form of a move to Real Salt Lake. But there is nothing concrete yet. Could the Rapids be about to beat their rivals to the punch?
If it's not Ian Joy then it's pretty much Russian roulette in guessing who it may be. Maybe it's Charles Kazlauskas who has actually been spending time as a striker with Topp Oss in Holland. We all know the Rapids could use some offensive help. It's probably not Steve Purdy. Los Angeles still holds his rights after drafting him in 2007. And he's recently signed a pro contract with 1860 Munich. Zac Whitbread? No, he just signed a new 2 1/2 year deal with Milwall. Frank Simek? There was no indication of a move in his interview today or anywhere else. It doesn't seem likely with him only being 23, over 100 appearances for Wednesday and plenty of time to play in the Premiership.
Beyond that, who knows who it could be. Maybe Aston Villa and their American owner are willing to loan out young Eric Lichaj. Maybe it's Chase Hilgenbrinck returning from South America? Or could it actually be someone no so young like Danny Califf? Or maybe someone who, IIRC, is available on a free like Josh Grenier? We'll have to wait and see. For now my money would be on Ian Joy.Furthermore, it makes one wonder if a Rapids defender like Prideaux (note: If it is the chicken hawk it would be a return to KC after stints with DC United and the Colorado Rapids) or Mike Petke will be headed to KC to replace the newly traded Garcia. We don't know what the Rapids are willing to give up for Burciaga. We do know that the Kansas City Wizards having a defensive hole to fill now that Nick Garcia has left for San Jose.
And if you didn't already here, Carlos Ruiz has returned to Los Angeles. How much did LA give up for what they were badly missing in 2007, a natural goal scorer? They gave up allocation money and a 2nd round pick. How much allocation money did they give up? We don't know. One would have to think the amount would depend on how badly FC Dallas was looking to get rid of El Pescadito.
More on the Garcia trade :
The Offside Rules
Kansas City Star
Steven Goff
More on Eddie Johnson to Fulham
The Offside Rules
Caught Offside
More on the Ruiz trade :
FC Dallas' official blog
Steven Goff
Offical Press Release from FC Dallas
Official press release from LA
