I'd put Burling as the #3 CB behind Sjoberg and Watts but ahead of Ford. Speaking of which, I caught a little bit of the game against NYCFC and Ford looks raw/unprepared for the speed of the game.
Even before the goal Cronin looked to be one of the best on the field. NYCFC may not be up to fitness but Cronin was killin' it. Nice goal too.
I found this bit interesting: "The Rapids have until May 8 to sign players before the current transfer window closes, or they would need to wait until the summer transfer window, which will run July 10 to Aug. 9 this season, a league source said." My assumption was that the winter window had closed. And this as well: “We’re still looking,” Smith said. “We’ve identified a number of targets. We’d like to bring in another one or two before the start of the season. It’s a more challenging time obviously with the way the European season goes. So if the right option doesn’t come for us, we’re happy to wait.”
Mastroeni thinks that “if we can be more dynamic, have better service in the area, and have more players in the area, we’ll find ourselves in the position to score more goals. Couple that with a very good defensive group mentality and we’ll improve that 5-10% that will hopefully put us in a good position for the playoffs.” From: http://www.burgundywave.com/2017/2/24/14730002/what-is-preseason-good-for-anyway-colorado-rapids
A lot of people get tripped up on this because the coverage of "transfer windows" is slanted towards the big leagues in Europe. The key to transfer windows is the window for the league the player is going to, the window for the league the player is leaving is meaningless. MLS has (for many years) had its preseason window go from about a month before the season through the first two months of the season (window lengths are dictated by FIFA but the dates of the windows are up to the leagues/FA).
Some interesting changes/points of emphasis in the rules for this season: Walton said that MLS referees have been instructed to pay closer attention to holding and pushing in the penalty area on set pieces, acts of visual dissent, deliberate delaying of restarts, and persistent infringement. The major changes include no longer automatically giving red cards for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity in the penalty area, kickoffs now being permitted to be played in any direction, and players who were injured by a yellow or red card foul now being able to briefly receive treatment on the field without having to come off. http://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017/...eals-four-new-points-emphasis-2017-mls-season
Huh??? So basically if we improve over last season we could possibly make the playoffs????? Did I miss something??? What the?????
Last year is over. Every team has made changes so as the saying goes "Past performance does not guarantee future results.”
Some (most) of those came with the rewrite of the LOTG that came out last year in June for review (iirc) and went into effect in August e.g. kickoff in any direction. DOGSO handling (successful or otherwise) in the box is still always a red card, just handling in the box may be yellow and of course the penalty kick. Primarily, oversimplified, what used to be potential red cards for DOGSO in the box are now yellow if they don't include excessive force (still red) and the goal is scored. In practice it may be something like what would just be a foul and a free kick on the rest of the pitch may be a yellow card and penalty kick in the box, fouls that would be red or maybe orange outside the box may (and should) still be red cards in it even if the goal is still scored. Caveat -- I'm taking what I've read and heard at training and describing, based on that, how I intend to apply it. In MLS what PRO actually does we have yet to see. Keeping 11 players on the pitch and keeping 'stars' from missing the next match i.e. league officials happy -- will have to be balanced with player safety and fairness. I think it is likely that we will see some inconsistent application of the changes especially early on this season.
Even with the RFO changes, it's back to same ole pathetic excuse for sitting on their hands. Guess it's time for predictions but for now I think we are looking at 5th playoff spot if things go more for team than against it.
We've got them right where we want them, now we just have to hang on defensively and get that late equalizer. If we actually do that I would guess they go straight to KFTM (kicks from the mark)?
First half was better. No imagination in the second. I don't care if this group can go 90 minutes. They're just not that exciting. Would much rather see a sub to liven things up.
Just hoping to see some sign of our "improved" offense. Really, all I can say so far is Badji can get some serious air, Doyle looks awful, and Powers continues to be a waste of roster space.
Watts in midseason form with that awful sliding tackle/whiff. Pablo in midseason form with no subs. I think this season is going to look a lot like last season with respect to play. I just hope the 1-0's break our way again.