Counterpoint: We could have Abe *AND* Beaudry as the backups for a fraction of the cost of Ilić, and still have enough leftover to pay for a starting quality keeper at the #1 spot. Not signing Ilić in the first place means you're not forced to even make that kind of decision, and can instead spend the time and effort on fixing parts of the roster that actually are broken.
Thanks for the comments above that have cleared us some of the questions I had regarding continuing contracts. That Cabral and Priso are on this roster (or any roster north of the USL) is still inconceivable to me, but so it goes...
This is a large obstacle to the attempt to rebuild. All the players listed are internationals and of course Cabral a designated player spot as well as salary.
Join us tomorrow at 11:00 AM MT as Rapids President Pádraig Smith formally introduces Head Coach Chris Armas 🎙️Watch the press conference live on our YouTube channel 📺 https://t.co/CbIaXaTEdc pic.twitter.com/ZEqRxCAPUh— Colorado Rapids (@ColoradoRapids) November 30, 2023
Following the presser tomorrow, we will be live at 2:30 PM to talk through what we learn and read through comments to hear from you. See you then.— DNVR Rapids (@DNVR_Rapids) November 30, 2023
Needless to say, this pod takes place this afternoon. I appreciate watching DNVR pods live as they can be interactive.
For as often as Padraig seems to throw former coworkers under the bus, I wish more of them would return the favor.
Heck people in here bought his stuff hook, line & sinker. How many players were let go traded and rumor's all over in here they were a "bad apple/ problem"
I continually ponder if we just advance the Rapids 2 team and let them grow for a year if that would be better than the current plan....BTW if there is a current plan, can someone help me with *what* our current plan is? R
This feels muddy to me. Doesn't fit Armas' system of play. Was Armas brought in for his system of play?
ITS MAAAIIILLLL TIIIIIIME‼️Opening up the mailbag for tomorrow’s show - shoot us your Qs and we can break em down! pic.twitter.com/bL4jRvY6rV— DNVR Rapids (@DNVR_Rapids) December 5, 2023
OK, well, I did not see this coming. "Colorado Rapids in advanced talks to sign Zack Steffen from Manchester City" https://theathletic.com/5121174/2023/12/07/colorado-rapids-zack-steffen-manchester-city-mls/ What was the effing point of the whole Marco Ilic thing, god. And with this, now all our rumored 4 DP slots are spoken for.
Yuck. Steffen is a shell of his former self - which to be honest wasn’t all that great - after battling injuries. He’s also battled some mental health issues which shouldn’t be taken lightly, obviously. Maybe a change of scenery is desperately needed but if the past 2 years is any indication…. he’s not that good and will cost a decent chunk of change. We wasted an intentional spot on Illic, just go with him.
I'm not opposed to this entirely, but the reaction on Twitter/X seems to be universally praising this move and I don't get it. There are much bigger holes on our roster than goalkeeper. Yes, Ilic is terrible, but that doesn't mean spending huge money to grab someone at that position (which we will almost certainly have to do with Steffen). Domestic-based backup goalkeepers jonesing for a spot in a starting lineup are a dime a dozen. That seems like a far better use of our limited resources. Steffen is injured all the time and is coming off a bad one - he had knee surgery in June and was originally slated to be out a maximum of 4 months. We're 6 months after surgery and he hasn't played since May 17. I'm very concerned that he might show serious signs of regression. He was already starting to show poorly in WCQ'22 - I remember him being very poor against the Ticos... their attack is far worse than most MLS squads. Assuming it's a DP deal (which doesn't look to be confirmed in Bogert's article), I'll be pretty cross about it. I would have thought the club learned their lesson after Howard. Yes, StL proved it's not impossible to succeed with a DP keeper, but I think we can all agree Burki is a much better keeper even now than Steffen has ever been.
Speaking of Ilić - What a well run organization we are. Drop “well over” a half a million on an unproven international GK, when your current GK is doing just fine by MLS standards. And then that international GK doesn’t really work out, so you go out and drop another huge chunk of change on Zach Steffen (reportedly) who is an absolute shell of his former self Meanwhile, you cut the GK who has earned the respect of his teammates and the fan base - all because Steffen has name recognition with the USMNT - and then also bump the international GK to the sidelines because he didn’t cut it. Do they honestly think we’re that stupid??? If we sign Steffen and he’s our “big splash” then I don’t think this club will ever recover. There’s just no way to compete in this league anymore pulling crap like this.
By the way, while we’re talking about spending money on a guy like Steffen - did anyone else notice in the Jack Price exit interview that he said the contract offer they gave him felt like “a kick in the nuts”? And that they “couldn’t offer him any more money”. So either we have a tight purse string - or we don’t, as long as we spend money on goalkeepers…which in MLS history has been the best position to get quality players at discounted numbers.
Can't believe the Rapids or any other MLS side would seriously consider bringing in Steffen at this point. If it does happen it would indicate to me that the Rapids are not serious about building a competitive roster.
Wasting resources on another goalkeeper and ignoring the numerous other positions of need is a very Padraig thing to do.
And even if they don’t sign him and it turns out to be just talks - it’s still nothing more than a waste of time and effort that they could’ve been using elsewhere. Every phone / zoom call they make with Steffen, Steffen’s agents, and with City equals less time on the phone with other players, agents, and teams. Not to mention the ire they are continually causing in the fan base. Subtraction by addition.
Also now that Garber has announced there will be no 4th DP the only way to sign Steffen to a DP contract (and I doubt he’d accept anything less) is to spend even more of our xAM to buy down either Maxso or Cabral (I believe Navarro makes too much to be bought down). So that’s even more resources to be spent to make this deal happen.