http://www.coloradorapids.com/news/2014/03/spanish-midfielder-jose-mari-makes-rapids-move-permanent blah, blah, blah standard P.C. quotes here. C'mon Jose! I wanna hear you say something like" "I am here to be a disruptive player on the pitch that will destroy any attack and/or attacker that gets in my way. I am the protector."
Glad this finally happened, couldn't see it going any other way but delay was eating at me. EDIT: Will he be available for game 1? (Given our previous experience) He'll be eligible pending receipt of his P-1 work visa and international transfer certificate.
Something tells me that the Spanish federation is not in the same league as those of Cameroon or Argentina They aren't as likely to extort, etc. They have bigger fish to fry such as winning another WC and I would bet they have more money/less corruption.
Just talking about available for game 1, I am factoring in its Spain fed we are dealing with. Like Jason mentioned in blog Mari had to return to Spain for a USA work Visa as well. Which Metgod is now example #1 for how quick that can go.
I'm wondering if Dallas gave Thomas close to what he was asking for...? He's not listed as a DP (...at least I think) so I wonder if he preferred to pressure the Rapids for more money and not get signed so he could make it to Dallas. An easy conversation for OP to have with him over e-mail or the phone.
Thomas seemed like a really strong on field leader who was always directing traffic. I have not seen enough of Mari to know anything about his physical game but I've been encouraged that in the preseason games I noticed Mari pointing and moving teammates around positionally. Good communication seems to be such an important part of playing that position well.
Agreed Cos, every preseason game you can see him directing the ball out of the back so hopefully we do more passing as opposed to long balls. Didn't someone find out that he had a fairly substantial card history at least per game. He already has a couple in preseason lol I think he will have plenty of bite. Although, I'm not a fan of card collectors so I hope it doesn't get out of hand.
The positives that I saw from Mari in his preseason games is that he was very solid positionally, distributed the ball calmly and effectively when given space, and he just has a poise and confidence about him. As for negatives, I noticed that against New England he was pressured quickly and forced into a few giveaways. So, like most players, he seemed to do very well when given time and space, but struggled with quick pressure. I hope he works out for us, I think he will.
Wasn't impressed with Mari in the home opener--and that was before he got red-carded. Too many mistakes and errant passes. Hope it's just a matter of adjusting.
I haven't seen a lot of terribly impressive play out of Mari yet. He has some good touches but I noticed some poor passing as well. He will need to reign in those challenges if he wants to be on the pitch most games to impress coach and fans. I think he can offer a lot to the Rapids still but he needs to find his groove.
I agree with most of what's been said above about Mari's play being a tad underwhelming so far. However, European players almost always require an adjustment period when coming to MLS. I'm willing to withhold judgment for now.
I think you're underrating his play. His distribution may be off, but there's a reason teams aren't coming through the middle against the Rapids in our first two games.
Sadly, I agree with Jason on this one. I think his play has been good enough to earn the starting spot. I haven't seen a huge fall-0ff from Thomas, although there seems to be less "bone-crunching" tackles. I chalk the yellow cards up to learning the league (he will still get a number of them), whereas Thomas was just a beast and probably deserved more yellow's than he got. Mari's passing seems solid (observational, not empirical) and he seems to be clicking with the rest of the defense. Berner hasn't had too many shots, which means the defense (Mari is a big part) is doing their job. rod.
I've been a little bit mystified by Mari's play thus far and have racked my brains trying to figure out what he is or isn't doing well and how that aides and/or hinders the team. Then it dawned on me........ I know exactly who Mari reminds me of. It's not a mirror image, per se, but there are some distinct similarities between his style and the style of Jermaine Jones. Similar physical stature aside, they both seem to have play with a little grit, a little bit of a intimidation factor. It's not of the Hendry Thomas, "I'm gonna knock you on your ass" variety, but it's more of a harassment approach. Mari, similar to Jones, will track you down and provide a good blanket in front of the backline. He seems pretty relentless yet has a clear understanding of his positioning. Mari is a huge reason NY and Port. steered cleared of the middle of the pitch preferring to swing everything from the outside despite both clubs being heavily reliant and stacked in the middle. Did anyone see Dax McCarty, Cahill, Eric Alexander, Will Johnson, Valeri, or Diego Chara, having a big influence?? Nope. They were damn near invisible. Mari does possess a pretty smooth and calm first touch but much like Jones, his passing is high risk - high reward. Mari has been totally guilty of few "hospital balls" and been a little lackadaisical in possession. That will drive you nuts. However, almost Jones-esque he has managed some intelligent combo passing and some dead accurate diagonals and switches that eventually will lead to some chances on goal. I don't think it has yet, though. What I have not seen, a la Jones, is the ability to make those incredible lung busting box-to-box runs into the attack that rewards him or the team with a goal. BTW, Jones does this more on the club level than with the US. Does Mari have that in him?? it remains to be seen. I think when it's all said and done Mari will be a divisive player, again, like Jones. Some will see the errant passing, the getting caught in possession, and card accumulation (assumed) and dismiss his impact. Others will see what coverage he provides for the backline, how quickly he can transition, and how his intelligent, almost mundane, touches can impact a match. I love Jermaine Jones. He can frustrate the shit outta me but at the end of the day I know what he's trying to accomplish and how receptive his teammates are to his play. I envision Mari winning me over in the same vain. It will take time, though. It won't happen overnight. I will have to fully understand his game before I 100% embrace him.
That seems like the life of a d-mid. I thought Thomas was also a mixed bag. Whereas others fear our D will fall apart without him. Hell, people complained about Pablo.
Agreed. D-mids play such an important role in the modern game yet it still a non-glorified, unsexy position. Old school thought was a d-mid was neither quite good enough (or big enough) defensively to be a CB nor offensively skilled enough to be a #10 or #8. So players got tossed and sucked into a d-mid role. Now, the best d-mids are certainly hybrid players (often without diminished attacking/defensive skills) and take on HUGE amounts of responsibility. But old school perception still exists and it's a hard life of acceptance. It's easy to complain about d-mids because it's such a difficult position to understand all of its responsibilities and complexities.
Although they both got red cards this weekend, I was happy to see Mari's was a result of not understanding the referees in the MLS vs. Thomas' connecting on his once-a-game-close-your-eyes-this-might-be-really-ugly tackle. Mari will figure it out where Thomas is a red card threat every game with his wild challenges.
I'm still a Thomas fan, probably because he lived up to the Rapids' Thug Life reputation. He also had an incredible frown. I don't think he was unsafe like Harris but he definately made his presence felt (literally) in the midfield.
I'm not going to complain about mari in the opener's he aint seen snow or rain in spain if hardly ever. that said i like most of his passing but other times i'm baffled what i just saw. i really think this team needs to push it to the wings and let buddle play in the box. buddle be floating to rw lw waaaaaaaaaaaaay to much. needs more an organized apparoch gettin brown or chaves or shancez some through balls to run on the wings will help this team. duno what i seen latley i dont know how they will score in open play feeding it to the middle. i'm not seeing them break up the middle but they do defend the middle nicely.
You mean other than the two times we broke up the middle last match and earned a PK? Or the multiple times Brown or Serna went up the middle in NY but couldn't finish?