Here This will not sit well with many. I thought he earned his spot on the bench with some poor play. While neither Freeman or Zapata are MLS first 11 material, I think they've both proved they are the best current options. This is just the first shoe. Ultimately, the wisdom of this move will depend on the other shoe, what the Rapids do with the money and slot.
Got to love the FB comment about "letting the greatest coach MLS has ever seen walk out the door then this".
Shocking. I'm just wonding how the effort of the lap dogs to paint K^2 as not a fan favorite is going to go.
I bet Omar is too, might explain his demeanor that was previously mentioned. I hope we end up with a bona fide defender for this. Kos was a real champ, played through the tsunami, shingles, came back from the broken foot, never gave up, always left it all on the field. Best wishes to him.
I've been wondering when this would happen. The rumor mill has it that OP has lost the players, one rumor has it directly from Kimura. That's probably too blanket of a statement - as it always would be -, but one of the ones certainly lost was Kimura and apparently Pablo doesn't have as many head issues as the official word says (Kimura's apparently not so injured either). I expect that we'll see a few more trades that'll include some players that Rapids fans have been fond of. I don't bring this up to knock OP, every coach has to form the team their own way. I didn't blame Clavijo for his initial moves (all correct if you ask me), nor did I care that Smith started to move Cooke and Christian Gomez out of the picture (again the right moves). OP needs to make the team into his own, and I'm kinda glad he's starting to do that, even if I'm sad to see Kimura gone. It's probably the right move for both the Rapids and Kimura. I always liked Kimura, and hope he does well with Portland. Maybe he'll help Spenny out? One win and they're no worse than the Rapids.
Didn't think about that. It probably won't help. I've been a supporter of OP, or at the very least somebody who doesn't see OP as worse than Smith. Bravo I could take or leave and supposedly Bravo has the final say on all roster moves. Koz was hands down my favorite player, and obviously a fan favorite. This hurts, more in some ways than the Beckerman trade even though that was a worse trade. The only trade that hurt more that I can think of was Balboa to NY. All that said, Kimura's play was obviously diminished this year and Freeman and Zapata have passed him on the depth chart. If we can turn that allocation money and international spot into a solid player then this might be a good trade. Until how we see that's used though, its a big question mark and its hard to evaluate the trade.
There’s no way I start tagging people and drag this board in that direction. Sorry. Not the regulars though. They are like family.
Wow I did just go to fb. Man, those people are pissed. You even left off the part where that guy renounces his season tickets.
I remember reading over the winter that Kimura went to the front office looking for a raise and an extension and was rebuked. I thought at the time it was a bad sign, but didn't think that it would end up in a trade just a protracted contract negotiation when his current deal expired. This completely took me by surprise. I wish Kimura only the best in Portland, the guy is a class act.
If the RFO can peddle 2010 footage without noting the year, the Rapids may be able to make another deal to add enough cash/allocation money to improve the team.
Sports can be a very unfriendly business. Bummed to see him go. He may not have been the best player, but he wore the shirt with pride. From an analysis stand point this leaves us woefully thin at outside back now. Freeman has definitely marked his territory and has claimed RB as his own. I'm still not convinced about Zapata yet, but at this point he and Freeman are all we really have. I'm guessing that international slot gets used very quickly. They probably already have someone lined up. I'm guessing it is a CB and they think about putting Moor at LB once he gets acclimated.
WOW - Kosuke is one of my all-time favorite Rapids due to his work rate and loyalty. He never went down and flopped rarely complained and seemed to always work hard. I am thinking about how he got himself into college in Illinois without knowing English and was simply determined to get to professional soccer. Does anyone know how to contact him? I'd love to let him know how I appreciated his play with the Rapids. I am a season ticket holder and have no plans to renounce my tickets. Really, if the Rapids come out of this trade better then it's all fine with me. As for OP having "lost" the team, I don't see it on the pitch.
I'm thinking that this is step one in a greater plan as well. I bet we hear about a new signing pretty quickly.
Last night I thought to myself that the team could use a good CB, that they should be using the mastro money they would be gaining next season on a CB. I had the idea that they were planning on enjoying the depth at outside back. But depth is a weird thing, I almost would rather see higher than league average salaries on the pitch in a starting 11 plus 2, than feel all cozy about your backkup otions when they don't play. In most cases, that backup is going to be burned by better opposition either way.
Man, Sorry to see him go. Never, ever questioned his effort on the field. Seems our Defenisve depth is only getting worse. Someone remind me again how Palguta was not cut with other 3 last week?
Would someone who understands roster management in MLS better than me chime in on how we stand now with respect to salary cap? I'm sure it's not this simple, but by my math, waiving Quincy, Ross, and Eddie, and trading Kosuke has freed up ~$210k in salary cap(!). We also got allocation money from Portland (any guess/indication as to how much?). Seems to me like we have created space to make a pretty significant move. I've followed the Rapids long enough to know to not get my hopes up too high, but I'm cautiously excited about what all these moves are going to result in.