BREAKING: The Colorado Rapids have signed American defender Reggie Cannon, per sources.Cannon, 26, has 28 caps with USMNT. Left QPR this summer and was a free agent. I’m told his agreement to leave QPR was set on Aug 14, making him eligible to be signed as a free agent now. pic.twitter.com/yl56XImwrR— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) September 11, 2024
The Colorado Rapids just slowly absorbing every USMNT player from last cycle with an unsuccessful transfer abroad.
Well.................................the strategy is working. In the last two games Colorado beat Dallas and beat Philly in the Leagues Cup 3rd place match. So, they won games against tthe teams with arguably the two best academies for domestic talent. There's lots of ways to acquire talent in order to win games. One of them is by picking up players like Cannon, Mihailovic, etc. These are above average MLS players in their primes. Steffen is 29. That's also "in his prime" for a keeper. We on these boards get excited by the young up-and-comers with USMNT ceilings. This is the USMNT forum after all. But in terms of winning MLS games? Cannon can help big-time. It doesn't help in some "sexiness" factor on these boards. I like being able to see what the business strategy is for a team. You can see a plan in Colorado. There are other organizations that seem all over the place. What is the plan in San Jose??? I don't know.
Colorado also develops a decent amount of their own talent. Vines, Bassett, Larraz, Anderson, Yapi, etc. Plus a guy like Rosenberry out of college. But yes, they do a good job of poaching the next level down, American or not -- Abubakar, Trusty, Lewis, etcv.
Rosenberry was Philly academy then Philly first team. The Rapids traded for him. Another example of an MLS vet picked up for impact. Although he's a RB, so he must feel a little less secure this morning. Nashville has been good at this too. Picking up domestic talent from other organizations because they develop nobody internally. I really like that Cannon signing. They got a player about to enter his prime that has 28 USMNT caps. He has that many caps for a reason. He's a good player. He's not Sergino Dest, but he's a good player. He's been on teams that won the Gold Cup and the Nations League. He was capped multiple times every year from 2018 to 2022. Has fallen out of favor this cycle. But that's a USMNT pool point of view; not an evaluation of whether he'd really help the Rapids.
Rosenberry spent one year with the Union Academy but played three years Georgetown. He's more a college guy than anything. I've always liked Cannon. I think he actually fit Berhalter's original offense very well, where the RB played in build-up and support but wasn't the primary width/vertical threat. He's not great at that role, but he's a very smart and controlled player who can defend well and feed a more aggressive winger. But he's definitely at that level where he can excel in the right role but that's it.
Can’t fate on what Colorado is doing. Much improved over a few years ago when they penny pinched worse than San Jose
Its interesting because their GM, Pádraig Smith, has been with the organization for 10 years. Its not like the Rapids have a whole new leadership team taking them in a new direction. They just seem to have made some really good player personnel decisions of late. Whatever we think of Mihahilovic vis-a-vi the USMNT or U23s....................he's been a fantastic signing for them. Hopefully Cannon will be too. And they're playing so much better under the guidance of Chris Armas of all people. These boards have tended to pound Chris Armas wherever he's been, and all the guys does is win games at a better clip than more fancied coaches. He has a 42% winning percentage as an MLS head coach with NYRB, Toronto, and Colorado. The same winning percentage as Jim Curtin in Philly. By the way, one of their new assistant coaches for 2024 was Ian Sarachan. Son of Dave Sarachan................
The 4 European based players in the 2021 Gold Cup squad were Cannon, Moore, Gioacchini and Hoppe. Was that foreshadowing a spell in MLS.
A tournament we somehow won while only conceding a single goal. And that was to Martinique in our 6-1 blowout. That whole roster was really mediocre, though. If people want to say "was Berhalter really just total hot garbage as a head coach??"................................point them to that 2021 Gold Cup title. Cuz that was a marginal roster that we somehow won a trophy with.
I gave him credit at the time, one of my two banana peel Berhalter moments (immediately after they ---- the bed in window 1, then when I propped him after Window 5 and the June friendlies/NL, the September friendlies happened), but I think the argument that some have made that that title was largely about Turner going on a heater and the rest being just barely good enough, was and is true, but yeah, credit to him for coaching that team across the finish line in a tourney we should have finished probably 3rd or 4th in.
I think you just see the difference between Cycle 1 Berhalter and Cycle 2. Both were conservative, but his Cycle 1 teams, while the effort did go in and out at times, were disciplined, especially on defense.
I think Berhalter did a good job that tournament but was aided by Turner playing so well. And for us to far in a tournament like the Copa or World Cup it’s not enough to get adequate goalkeeping. We need someone who can steal a game or two. That’s how you flip the odds/make up for the talent differential.
He also played three full MLS seasons with the Union, appearing in 80 MLS games and finishing second for Rookie of the Year in 2016. His involvement with the Union is a lot more than just the Academy.
🎙️ Nikola Kalinić on offers for Hajduk's players: "Parma made an offer of seven million euros for Pukštas, which was rejected because they are expecting ten million. That was the only offer besides the one for Sahiti. They expect ten million, but I'm not a magician. The… pic.twitter.com/fL2MTQDbYe— Croatian Football (@CroatiaFooty) September 11, 2024
... and what would've been the perfect international platform for Pukstas to justify a higher price? The Olympics.
They had UEFA Cup qualifying matches this summer. That's a better shop window than 3 games at the Olympics.
Well, they were knocked out by the team from Slovakia. Soccer clubs are supposed to care about their own matches and tournaments. Hajduk had actual games They set a price tag, and it wasn't met.
... and then that "good" Slovak team got blown out by a bunch of nobodies from Armenia. The suggestion that this is a comparable platform to the Olympics is laughable. MLS teams release players, so you're arguing that they don't care about their own games. Your words, not mine.
First of all he wasn't comparing the UEFA Conference League to the Olympics. I'm not sure you can. I'm not surprised Split prioritized qualification for the Conference League as they would have netted €3 million just for qualifying and another €500,000 for each subsequent win, plus any matchday revenue. But they effed it up.