Beckham is here...

You no doubt have seen the Beckham hysteria on CNN, Yahoo, The New York Times, etc. I'm not going to bore you with a recap of it all. He'll be here in Colorado for the MLS All*Star game on Thursday. Find the most expensive hotel room in Denver and maybe you'll find Becks, Posh and the kids. Or he'll fly in on a jet morning of the game and you'll miss him. I don't think he is going to play against Glasgow Celtic this Thursday, but you never know what zany MLS has up their sleeve.

With all of the madness around Beckham it is good to remember he is human and he isn't the best footballer on earth. Not even close, really. Here is an article that spells out what he is good at and where he is deficient on the field. Think of it as a Beckham primer for the first time you tune in to MLS to catch a glimpse.

His first game with the LA Galaxy is a friendly against English giants Chelsea this Saturday, July 21st (8:30 ET on ESPN...yes real ESPN). Beckham is used to playing against them, although in the 90's when he was running roughshod over the Premier league, Chelsea didn't have the same glamor it did today, unless you're a Gianfranco Zola or Gianluca Vialli disciple.

Enjoy Beckham mania folks. Soccer hasn't been this famous in the US since Pele joined the Cosmos.

Toja > Beckham! Toja > Angel! Toja > Schelletto!

Major League Soccer Talk has a great point in their blog today. As much as we talk about the impact players like David Beckham will have on the MLS, the league still needs to continue to sign played like Juan Toja. If you haven't already seen it, make a point to watch the DCU-FC Dallas game. You'll see Toja's talent on display as Morrow's Hoops claw back from a 3-0 deficit to tie things up at RFK.

The MLS doesn't need players like him just because for his $100,000 salary he's arguably been the best player in the league. They also need talent like Toja because there is a good chance they can be selling him for a pretty sum in a few years. Major League Soccer has been and for quite some time will continue to be a selling league. And, as MLS Talk, they also help enhance the view of the league overseas. You have to wonder if the league had a few more Toja's and few less Kirovski's if teams would've been able to bring in some of those marquee players that got away like Borgetti, Figo or even Zidane.

MLS 2007 Team Moves : Colorado Rapids

With the season half over and Blanco and Beckham about to join their respective teams (Chicago and Los Angeles), I thought it would be good to go through each team in the league and summarize the moves they've made coming into and during the 2007 season. The first team I'll look at is currently the 2nd worst team in the league, the Colorado Rapids.

In
* José Cancela - Traded from Toronto FC (traded for Youth International slot to be held by Toronto until 2009)
* Conor Casey - Traded from Toronto FC (traded for an allocation and rights to Riley O'Neil)
* Nico Colaluca - S igned as 1st round Superdraft pick
* Omar Cummings - Signed as draft pick
* John DiRaimondo - Signed as draft pick
* Herculez Gomez - Traded from Los Angeles along with Ugo Ihemelu for Joe Cannon.
* Justin Hughes - Signed as draft pick
* Ugo Ihemelu - Traded from Los Angeles along with Herculez Gomez for Joe Cannon.
* Kosuke Kimura - Signed as draft pick
* Nick LaBrocca - Signed as draft pick
* Brandon Prideaux - Traded from DC United(for 2 3rd round draft picks; one in 2007 Superdraft one in 2008 Superdraft.
* Zach Thornton - Traded from Chicago Fire for a conditional pick in 2008 Supplemental Draft.
* Facundo Erpen - Traded from D.C. United for Greg Vanney.

Out
* Roberto Brown - Released by team
* Greg Vanney - Traded to DC United for Facundo Erpen
* Joe Cannon - Traded to Los Angeles for Herculez Gomez and Ugo Ihemelu.
* Matt Crawford - Released by team
* Eric Denton - Released by team. NYRB picked him up in the waiver draft in November of 2006 only to release him the next March when they acquired Hunter Freeman.
* Hunter Freeman - Traded to New York Red Bulls for a 2008 3rd round SuperDraft pick and a 2007 4th round Supplemental draft pick.
* Luchi Gonzalez - Released by team and has since joined Miami FC (USL-1).
* Sasha Gotsmanov - Released by team and has since joined his hometown Minnesota Thunder (USL-1).
* Matt Jordan - Released by team. Joined Montreal Impact of USL-1.
* Aitor Karanka - Released by team
* Aaron King Released by team. Joined Charleston Battery of USL-1
* Thiago Martins - Transferred to Bodø/Glimt of the Norwegian Adeccoligaen
* Clint Mathis - Traded to New York Red Bulls for a fourth-round draft pick in 2008 and a conditional pick in 2009.
* Fabrice Noël - Released by team
* Alain Nkong - Released by team
* Riley O'Neill - Traded to Toronto FC (technically he hadn't signed with the league and the Rapids traded his rights; part of the deal for Conor Casey)
* Melvin Tarley - Released by team. Joined Puerto Rico Islanders (USL-1).

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).

Fire Clavijo & The Rapids Woes

If you haven't already caught it, some Rapids fans have a web site up at www.FireClavijo.com. It's not just that the Rapids haven't won since May, they appear to be calling for his head because he's only won 6 of his last 30 games. Are they right to call for Clavijo's firing? Can a new coach really help the Rapids?