Draft is wednesday the 6th of Nov. https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=22349 https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=22355 Some dirt on other players available Roy Lassiter, Petter Villegas, Henry Zambrano, GK Mike McGinty from DC. Lazo Alavanja contract not renewed. Shaker Asad, Ian Fuller, GK Juergen Sommer from the Revs. Sean Bower, Luchi Gonzalez, Zach Ibsen from the Quakers. Percy Olivares from Dallas Ted Chronopolous, Bryan Alvarez, Martin Klinger, Leo Krupnik, Sam Forko from Jersey.
It looks like Tim is trying to strenghten all aspects of the game...defense, midfield, and forward. And with him opening two international spots, it should be interesting who they fill those with. Any ideas on where Hankinson is taking scouting trips to these days? With the success of Ruiz, maybe central america deserves a little more attention.
From this incomplete list, the only players that are especially attractive for the Rapids are Zach Ibsen (a defender with bite), Ian Fuller (tall forward with a cheap salary, so would be good for the bench). Luchi Gonzalez would join Beckerman in keeping Valderamma's conditioner warm, so that is a waste. Acquisition of Chrono would require a committment to overlapping wide defenders (four in the back) that the Rapids have not successfully instituted in my five years in Colorado. Could use him a wide mid, but he must be expensive as a seven year veteran and he is more-or-less equivalent to Kingsley in my opinion.
Daaaaaavid Krrrrramer! You just heped the Rapids into the MLS semifinals, and your statistics were just as good as Scott Garlick's! What are you gonna do next? I'm gonna get waived!
Fuller would not help the Rapids appreciably, if at all. He didn't do much at all with the chance he had with the Revs early in the season. Looked lost at times. The only way I could see him being picked up is if Hanki really doesn't like the Superdraft prospects.
is this just part one? i can't believe that more guys didn't go away. i can believe kramer, because he stinks, and musa, but really there should have been more.
Too bad for Kramer but it seems like a good move to me. Who might they pick up in his place? Sommer stuck out to me and since he and Spenny are friends, could possibly be motivation for Spencer to stay around longer.
Check out the article on the arrival of Palacios and Counce's comments. http://www.cybersoccernews.com/mls/rapids/020510rapids.shtml My favorite: "You can add a player to the roster because you have the space," he stated. "What, should we leave the space open? No, you add another good player who's young and could play professional soccer for the next 10 years. This guy could potentially be a good player for us this year, next year, or the year after. He doesn't have to be a good player today." There's more but I couldn't contain my laughter, frustration, and anger. Just for the record, I thought he was a decent player. The Rapids never should have picked him up when they needed another striker but once he was here, he had 5 assists (3 game-winning) and showed some flashes. I agree with the decision to waive him but "MLS Executive of the Year" Counce should have done better.
Oh, and Greenie, our buddy Jason Moore got whacked again. I feel sorry for the kid. He always worked hard and even Pibe liked him. I hope he gets a shot somewhere again. Just not here.
Defensive MVP? This quote from Hanki: “Unfortunately, his status as an international player worked against him. We have a number of young, quality defenders who won’t take one of those valuable slots, and we are looking for more from our international players next year,” Hankinson said of Titus. Granted, he was the media's choice for MVP but who really played that much better for the Rapids at defender last season, besides Stewart (my choice for MVP)? Fraser was just as bad, Purina Kotschau was benched, Herdsman still has a lot to learn, Garlick was injured when it mattered, and Kramer, well, he was a backup for a reason. Jackson played 15 minutes, Trembly played 43, Shak played 1. I hope Hanki is planning on bringing in Jaap Stam. Jeez, Hanki really must not have like Titus. BTW, how was Shak not waived? Good lord.
Complete waiver list: http://www.mlsnet.com/content/02/mls1105waivers.html Billy Walsh at the right salary ($40K, which is unrealistic) might be a good pickup as a backup D/DMid. I don't think the Rapids grab any of the GKs. I think GMs are deciding that an expensive backup is just too much of a luxery with the way salary caps are structured now. DC dumps McGinty (I don't know why, because he made pennies and didn't play), Revs dump Sommer (high salary with Brown looking like a starter), Rapids dump Kramer (mid salary and Garlick is the assumed starter). I have already made arguments for Forko and Fuller. These aren't great players, I won't argue that, but they are cheap and can provided bench depth at specific positions. Other than this I don't expect the Rapids to do much with the waiver draft today. It is realistic that they will pass and wait until the superdraft in January and the following practices to decide their positional needs and will get a second chance to grab these players.
Re: Defensive MVP? "BTW, how was Shak not waived? Good lord". My guess would be that he probably makes enough money to pay rent and that's about it. Does anyone know the deal with Shak??? Number 1 Superdraft Pick... gets limited time in NY/NJ and I can't even remember seeing him step on the pitch for the Rapids - maybe for a minute or two late in 2001. What's the deal???
Re: Re: Defensive MVP? Does Hanki consider Shak one of his "young, quality defenders?" If so, he has strange way of showing it. Unless Hanki has stumbled onto an ancient soccer text that says the best way to develop defenders is to have them get as many splinkers in their ass as possible before playing them.
Shak played quite a bit when he fisrt got here. I think it was just this year that he started sitting.
Shak played a total of 5 games for 397 minutes in 2001 with the Rapids. Which I guess for him is quite a bit. Perhaps you're thinking of all the time he got with the Metros.