Keel Waived as Forward Schunk Signed

Stephen Keel may be spending a bit more time on the trendy Denver singles scene now that he will no longer be playing for the Colorado Rapids. Keel, who was recently featured as one of Denver's hottest singles in 5280 magazine, was unfortunately waived by the Rapids today as they signed draft striker, Ross Schunk. Don't be surprised if more established players like Keel continue to be waived as Gary Smith puts his final pieces of the puzzle together. Smith said to me after the preseason game against LA March 4 that such established players with little prospect of making many first team appearances this year may have to make way as the team looks particularly for more striking options. Players like John DiRaimondo and Nico Colaluca may be anxiously looking over their shoulders after today. Always a shame for decent people to be let go and Keel is a decent person. He also showed some capacity for good blogging recently on www.rapidsundercurrent.blogspot.com. Keel started off as a regular in the centre of defense last year but gradually made way as injured players came back. We wish him well in his future soccer career just as we do Schunk who is probably still phoning all his friends and family to share the good news that he has a professional contract. We still look a little light upfront though with only a draft pick to back up Casey and Cummings. Coach Smith may still pull out a surprise upfront before the season opener. I'll try and get up to traning next week to see what is going on.

Rapids Sink to Disappointing Defeat

Oh dear. All that optimism from the recent games just went up in smoke tonight as the Colorado Rapids deservedly slipped to a 2-0 home defeat to San Jose Earthquakes. Lacking in creativity and verve, the Rapids never got going. Can anybody even remember a solid chance they had all night? Christian Gomez squeezed the ball across the goal in the opening minute but there was very little else. A 35-yard shot from Jose Burciaga at the death summed up the Rapids' night. It was what they were reduced to and Joe Cannon saved it easily.
San Jose fully deserved the victory. They were more creative, they made a hatful of chances and this was a big night for them. Kamara was a handful all night although Stephen Keel generally marshalled him very well. Kamara did outhustle the Colorado defense, though, for the second and clinching goal. Ronnie O'Brien notched the opener at the end of the first half after picking up the rebound from a great save by Bouna Coundoul. The Rapids did create a lot of pressure after the second goal but it didn't really result in much. Tom McManus was impressive afer coming on as sub but there was no way through the stout San Jose defense. Dare I say it was all a bit reminiscent of last season? No creativity, no spark and no fan atmosphere. All rather depressing and it is a wonder where the Rapids go from here to regroup and figure out what went wrong.

Watch Out San Jose - Rapidfire Approaching

The San Jose Earthquakes have very dangerous forwards in Kamara and Glinton but, by the time they shoot at Bouna, their team may already be three down. I say this not in some marketing bravura but because Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo will be fielding a very attacking formation come the game Saturday night. It won't be the tried and tested 4-5-1, that's for sure. Nothing like the projected formation on the club website, which looks as if has been left over from last week http://www.coloradorapids.com/TheMatch/Matchup.aspx.
I'm not sure how it's going to exactly work out but you can be sure the emphasis will be on attack. Given what he told me this morning at training, the starting personnel will be what we have become familiar with in recent games; i.e there won't be a place in the starting line-up for some of the more established stars. The youngsters will continue and it's hard to argue with that. Pablo Mastroeni may get a start as he battles back from another injury. I did overreact to his not even being on the bench last week as he had sustained a quadriceps injury in training last week. Clavijo told me he will either play on Saturday or for the Reserves on Sunday, depending on the progress of his injury. Christian Gomez looks to be fully recovered from the knee injury sustained against the Revolution. In other injury news, Ugo Ihemelu told me it will be another two weeks before he may be considered (he also sustained a slight knee injury in training). Justin Hughes continues to battle a groin injury and will not play in this weekend's Reserves game, one he had been targeting for a comeback (see my goalkeeper/Bouna post for more on this and its implications).
Whatever the formation and line-up, nobody is underestimating the San Jose team. They may be new, they may be winless but those strikers are dangerous. Stephen Keel is going to have his work cut out watching them. I hope it does not happen but it would be interesting to see how the Rapids (and the fans) react if they did fall behind. But, stop! No more negative thinking. We could see an exciting attacking performance by the team which could cement their reputation as early frontrunners.