Acosta, Bassett, Lewis, Trusty, and Vines are all on the 60-man preliminary roster for the Gold Cup. This will be cut down to 26(?) before the competition, and teams can add players from outside the 60-man roster as well, so being on the list is certainly a nice nod to their play but hardly any guarantee of making the Gold Cup. That said, I am almost certain Vines will be on the final roster (barring any injury of course). I wouldn't be shocked if Bassett makes it as well. Acosta would normally be a shoe-in but Berhalter is trying to balance how much he takes a player away from his club so he may leave Acosta off since he was in the Nations League squad. I'd be a bit surprised if Lewis or Trusty made it.
In this article, https://theathletic.com/2658468/2021/06/18/usmnt-gold-cup-squad-prediction/, Tenorio and Stejskal are predicting that Vines and Acosta will be starters on the Gold Cup team. No other Rapids on the preliminary roster get a mention in terms of making the team. Guess Acosta isn't getting a break from the nats as he's not on a Euro side that just finished the club season and this needs a break. If this prediction is correct, the Rapids will be missing Vines and Acosta for around six matches as there are six matches scheduled in July, beginning with the match on the 4th.
teams averaging 2ppg thus far in MLSSEA: 2.33NER: 2.22@ColoradoRapids: 2.00that’s it. rest of the league is earning fewer than 2 points per game. with nearly 1/4 of the matches played, it’s no longer just a hot start, either. this team is good #Rapids96 https://t.co/Lz8l3BCltm— Connor Cape (@MileHighCape) June 20, 2021
We also are now 2nd in the league in goal differential: Seattle: +12 Rapids: +6 New England/Orlando/NYCFC: +5 And T-4th on goals scored: Sporting KC: 17 Seattle: 16 NYCFC: 15 Rapids/New England: 14 Definitely not bad through the first quarter of the season!
Was looking at that last night. Man, Seattle is doing well. We are doing pretty good, but just above the pack. Seattle is head and shoulders above everyone. Let's kick the crap out of them on July 4 to bring them back to the pack!
July is the start of the fixture conjecture portion of the schedule with six matches scheduled, fortunately four of them are at home. Regardless, thee Rapids are going to be pressed to keep their position in the table. It will be interesting to see how Fraser handles lineups and squad rotation. And given that one or more of the side are likely to be with the Nats, it seems that players such as Mezquida, Larraz and Warner will get more time. Perhaps there will be some call ups for players such as Anderson and Kelly to provide depth? Oh, and the trade transfer window starts on July 7. Wonder if there will be some movement.
#Rapids96 News: Colo-Colo set to bid for Diego Rubio. A few notes:- The Chilean side made an attempt to acquire the forward on a short term loan deal last season but the deal fell through- The Rapids are said to be looking for around $2M USD if negotiations are to continue— Inside Rapids (@insiderapids) June 21, 2021 If we could seriously get $2M…. Do it! Aside from starting his career at Colo Colo, I don’t know why he’d want to go there. Traditionally a huge Chilean club (30+ titles), Colo Colo has been abysmal after selling off some players and finishing 16th last season.
Saw a report from the Colo-Colo side that said the club doesn't have any money right now. So this may be a play to make it appear to their fans they're trying, when they have no real intention of following through. Something long time Rapids fans might be a bit familiar with. (But if we can get $2M for him, sell)
If anyone is wondering the Bodmer line is already down to 1.08 pts/game the rest of the way. For those of you new to the Bodmer Line, it represents the average points per game the Rapids need to achieve over the rest of the season to reach the average point total for the last playoff spot. In this case in the seasons since the league went to 34 games in 2011 the 7th placed team has averaged between 43 and 44 points, so the playoff target is 44 points. So this year in order for the Rapids to get 44 points they have to average slightly over a point per game the rest of the season. (Also if you normalize last season by calculating the number of points the 7th placed team would have gotten at their PPG over 34 games, the average goes up a bit, but still under 44)
Should the Rapids sell Rubio this summer (I understand it's a long shot where Colo Colo is concerned) who would the Rapids then use in his role/position? There is no one on the team that could fill his role at this time. Shinyashiki is the most logical option, but he's most likely not going to be as productive both in terms of scoring goals and the other aspects of the game that are important to what Fraser has implemented. Even assuming Rubio stays with Rapids through the season, it would behoove them to acquire another #9 type.
Saturday was the first time Sam Vines has ever started, but not finished, a competitive match for the Rapids (aka, the first time he's ever been subbed out of a competitive game). That's 47 matches from 2019 to now.
Four assists from captain Jack Price has Colorado Rapids riding high in the Western Conference 🔑 (➡️ @CaptainMorganUS) pic.twitter.com/tBwfLdH4hF— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 22, 2021
https://www.uslchampionship.com/austinboldfc-coloradospringsswitchbacksfc-2199543 https://www.uslchampionship.com/news_article/show/1170993 Yaya Toure scored his 1st professional goal, a game winner, in the 90th minute to help the 10-man Switchbacks come back from 2-1 to win 3-2 over the Austin Bold. Yaya was subbed into the match in the 65th minute. Anderson and Mayaka started and went the full 90. Yapi made a 9 minute appearance after subbing into the match at the 81st minute. Mayaka had a strong match and continues to grow and grow. Our loanees keep contributing as COS continues to climb the Mountain Division standings in the Western Conference.
So, I've been thinking about the game last night. Ouch. That one hurt to watch. But the more I thought about it, the more I question the following: WHY DO RAPIDS COACHES ALWAYS FEEL THE NEED TO TINKER WITH WHAT'S BEEN WORKING???? I understand the need to have an alternate formation to work with. That's fine. The 5-3-2 / 3-5-2 on paper seems to be a good idea, but in implementation we simply don't look as good. Whatever. That's still fine, Fraser tried something and it didn't work against LAFC, and even though we won 2-0 against Cincy - we didn't look good or convincing against one of the worst teams in league history. What I don't get about it....when Fraser was planning on using it last night...is that it obviously plays to KC's strengths - AND it allows them to play their style of soccer in their home stadium. They like to play possession / pressing football. The 5-3-2 invites pressure. We made Cincy's attack look good with 20+ shots and Yarbrough was forced to make 7 crazy saves. Why would you then invite KC to play to their strengths??? But last night Fraser then at half time took the tinkering to a whole new level. Hudson-esque dare I say. The halftime sub...taking off Price - the captain, a vocal leader on the field, and a "defensive" mid - and bring on Lewis. Ok, so we're taking out a key cog in our passing game to bring on a speedy winger in Lewis. So, we're already down two goals at this point and we're gutting our midfield - and committing even harder to the counter attacking football that clearly wasn't working. The only time we looked good last night was when we tried to possess the ball and keep KC off of it. This sub also meant Bassett - who isn't so great as a 6 - to drop deeper from his strength as an attacking mid. We also saw that Rubio then moved into Bassett's old position. Why? Why are we going to play in a new formation, with players shifting out of their natural position - when we're already down 2-0? We've got an attacking mid playing defense, and a striker playing the playmaker role. And then up top you've got Lewis and Barrios - who are burners but not outlet valves. So then naturally KC scores again and we bring in a winger in Benezet to fill the midfield, and Mesquida to play that deep laying midfielder next to Acosta. So now we've got players all over the field and you see the 5-3-2 lose even more of it's shape then we already lost during the game. None of these subs / positional shifts made any sense. I can't for the life of me figure out why Rapids coaches always have to play players OUT OF THEIR NATURAL POSITION - especially in an already losing affair. And then you pair it with setting in a deep block and allowing KC to play their game in their stadium....It's like we were going out there and setting out to fail. Why? Can anyone tell me why Rapids coaches do this kind of tinkering??
A bit delayed but after the mess on Wednesday night I took a look at the numbers to compare the 4-5-1 and the 5-3-2. Spoiler alert, the 5-3-2 doesn't work. http://view-from-the-couch.blogspot.com/2021/06/the-5-3-2-doesnt-work.html
It never ceases to amaze me that when the Rapids throw up a stinker, they set the sack of doo on fire. It’s rarely a one goal affair.
"Hadji Berry (maybe a future Rapid) continues to impress, with an assist and 2 goals. He may be worth a look." - @SccrDon Interesting thought. IMHO, the Rapids need to find another striker. Rubio carries a lot of the load and at this point Shinyashiki doesn't appear to be getting much time as a #9. While Kei Kamara seems to be desperately looking for a team, my guess is that the Rapids aren't interested. So if they bring someone else in - and they don't have the money to pay a transfer fee, etc., what could they do? Pádraig has a list of MLS players that should they become available the Rapids would trade for, so that seems like one possibility in the upcoming window. In the case of Hadji Barry, he would be someone that would not cost a lot to acquire, I presume. He's a US citizen and of course the Rapids must have seen him play with the Switchbacks this season. How success in the USL Championship translates into the MLS, I have no idea. But thus far he is on a tear in terms of scoring goals, at a much higher rate than at anytime in his professional career (according to stats on his Wikipedia page). His 10 goals lead the USL Championship and he's scoring a goal every 71 minutes. At 28 years, he in theory is at the peak of his career, but almost his entire career has been in the lower divisions. He was the 13th pick in the 2016 SuperDraft by Orlando City. Looks like he played 11 games for Orlando's first team with zero goals. Anyone here seen him play in person this season for the Switchbacks and have thoughts on him as a Rapid?
As a matter of fact….. I was at the game Friday. My family came down for a wedding this weekend and snuck in a game Friday night. First off….. love the new stadium. It’s a sweet and quaint little venue. Highly recommend catching a game. Good atmosphere, too. As to Barry I’ll give you a quick run down. He’s scored nearly 50 goals USL Championship. Probably have more if not for a mixed bagged adventure in the Israeli Premier League. Barry is streaky. That’s the type of player he is. He’s scored in 7 straight in the USL and is fast approaching the record of 8. No coincidence…. he owns that record of 8 and achieved that while playing for SKC II. It’s my understanding he’s back to playing his natural #9. Supposedly, in Israel and in his return to the USL (with Ottawa and North Carolina) he was stuck on the wing. He’s deceptively fast. Straight line speed and equally as fast with the ball. I noticed his movement is very direct. Nearly every time he could, that movement was towards goal. He’s not a #9 that plays with his back towards goal. Instead, he played off the back shoulder of a CB or occupied that half-space between the RCB and LCB. Barry was pretty good at selling his run where he’d make a little diagonal run towards one CB then that CB would have a decision to shade towards ball or pick him up. If that CB chose ball, Barry would peel off and create space for himself. I saw Barry make smart passes but I didn’t see much in the way of combination passing between him and others. But I suspect that’s not his game. He makes more runs than passes. I liked what I saw. It’s nothing fancy. It’s efficient and he finishes his chances. The million dollar question is, could Barry be effective in MLS and could / should the Rapids take a look? I don’t know. It’s a tough question. Barry appears to one of those guys - to my eye - that’s a “tweener”. Certainly good enough to play in MLS but would be a depth guy. Being a depth guy doesn’t always lead to success for a streaky player. They need to play regularly.
Inquiring minds wanted to know, so here it is:The #USMNT @GoldCup roster will be announced TOMORROW at 10am ET. 🇺🇸👀— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 30, 2021
Just another annual day dream of seeing Messi in burgundy. Never gonna happen, but still fun to dream eh? Lionel Messi’s 4-year/$674M deal with @FCBarcelona — the largest in sports history by a landslide — expires today. 👀 pic.twitter.com/VLaHKux3pO— Boardroom (@boardroom) June 30, 2021
Bassett getting some love over at MLS Soccer . com Busio 📈Bassett 📈Which young baller would you start a franchise with? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/fSEOMIkmJf— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 30, 2021