Exactly before I saw all this I was going to make a players to loan to USL and he was going to head the list. Nothing beats actual game experience/ speed.
The only similarity between Serna & Lahm may be size! Why do so many fans always seek out an anecdote. There is always one available but it proves absolutely nothing!
I have only seen Serna play a few times and have no understanding as to why he has ever been placed at FB. He is much more attack minded and does not have the physical attributes to be a defender in my opinion. He has a good first touch, good crossing ability and vision for making good passes. I actually think we would have had a better attack in our knock-out game with him in place of Harris. Give Harris the ball with numbers up on an opposing defense and he will surely make the wrong pass or dribble into the nearest defender. I also agree with the few people who have stated that Rivero would look much better if he was able to find more time on the field with quality guys in front of him. 2013 was a bad year for him with the injuries, but, I saw a few moments of his old self in the last few games he played. Actually, his shots were better so not all flashes of his old self.
lol Anyway, it's a simple come back to the equally simple he's too small canard. Which, by the way, also proves absolutely nothing. Size is but one attribute a player can use to be a valuable asset to a team. You are welcome to summarily dismiss a player because you can look him in the eye, I'd prefer a more robust set of criteria.
You may have seen him more times then I have. But I suspect the coaches on the national teams that placed him at FB may have a bit more direct exposure . Listen, I'm not trying to make a case for him at FB. But neither am I dismissing him. Let him compete for the job.
Though to be fair size is a concern for a player who will need to be able to hold the ball in dangerous (to the defense) situations. Just because he's small doesn't mean he can't do it, but it does put more emphasis on the other skills he'll need to compensate for that lack of size.
Not to mention that I'm sure Lahm didn't fall off the turnip truck ready to take on larger players. It's possible Serna already knows how, but then I'd wonder why he didn't even make the 18 until the end of the season.
Since RB has been a topic of conversation lately and throughout the course of the season, a name popped into my head that could be available: FCD's Zach Loyd. His season was riddled with nagging injuries and that allowed for the emergence of US U-20 player Kellyn Acosta. This could mean he is expendable. Loyd will be out of contract and it's uncertain if FCD will pick up his option. I'm not sure where the Rapids fall on the re-entry draft order but Loyd might be a player to pursue. Chances are likely Loyd would go pretty high in the re-entry draft. However, if there's a snow ball's chance in hell he'd fall to the Rapids, I think Loyd would be a nice addition. To top it all off, he does have a connection with OP.
Serna was a late pick to the team as a midfielder due to injury. Indeed, due to injury the best USA U-20 defenders were never a part of the U-20 side at 2013 FIFA World Cup. Caleb Stanko, a D-mid & Javan Torre a LFB featured at CB due to injury. Kellyn Acosta, who is carving out a career @ RFB with Dallas FC never played there during the Cup. Also, some of Ramos choices were definitely questioned thruout the soccer community. Ramos choices were far from magical. Indeed, he bombed his career in Spain due to bad choices & lack of discipline. I'll concede that he is a different man today but he is no coaching magician!
Sadly, I do not have much respect for the coaches of our US youth national teams. I'm not going to go into detail about it, but, I think we could be much farther a long if soccer brains, skill, were more sought after than athleticism. For me putting Serna at RB is just like putting putting Mullan there it is a waste of time.
The most logical geographical choice would be Phoenix FC. However, the last few days for the club have been a rollercoaster. There were some rules breached and USL / USSf did not renew their license to continue operation. It's been rumored the ownership group defaulted on its deposit and franchise fee. Almost as fast as that news broke, news emerged that a new ownership group was to be announced and Phoenix would have their license with USL renewed. Once all that crap gets sorted out then maybe the Rapids would explore a partnership of sorts.
Since Arizona falls under FSL "boundary" for homegrown prospects, I would think they have right of first refusal for an USL side there.
True. However, the rule of keeping your enemies closer may come into effect and supersede everything. BTW, Davy Armstrong did spend some time there on loan this season so their might be, at the very least, some familiarity and/or loose association in place.
Fixed for accuracy. Most youth soccer clubs are pay-to-play, driven pretty much solely for profit rather than developing talent. They, along with the NCAA, have created a system that tries to maximize the number of games played to create a "conveyor-belt" system for college scholarships. Youth soccer in the US is, at its worst, just a time sink for upper/middle-class suburban kids that has a vague promise of a cheap college education. Thats why youth academies like the one the Rapids have created are so valuable to the development of the sport in this country. Their motive is to turn kids into better players and to potentially make them into professionals, rather then simply wringing money out of their parents so that their kid can ultimately end up with an ethnic studies or communications degree at a discount.
Here is the roster: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AojMZv9gjjeTdG85RkRTbG5vYXlRWUFEZFV6OTZsaWc&usp=sharing It is a work in progress and anyone can edit.
Nice work, has everything you could want. So temped to Delete Ceus off list just to get that ball rolling
If anyone knows contract length of specific players, feel free to add them. That would probably be useful information to have because it probably gives us a better idea of what the roster will look like next year. Being able to identify who holds a green card and who takes up an international slot would be useful as well.
Well, I took a look and I just trimmed / freed up $1,276,840.36 worth of guaranteed salaries with the release / trade / retirement of Ceus, Buddle, HIll, Cascio, Harris, Smith, Kindle, Griffiths, Mullan, Castrillon, Pickens and Wallace. Now, I'd reinvest that money right back into the club with some acquisitions and/or fresh contracts for some deserving players. Seriously though, thanks for the in-depth list. I suspect there will be quite a bit of turnover in the roster. It, in all likelihood, will free up quite a bit of cap space.
On the topic of contract length...thats probably going to be the most difficult to fill in. Occasionally when the club signs or re-signs a player, it will mention in the press release how many years they have signed on for. That probably about the best we can do at this point beyond insider info.