Rapids Trade Ty Harden to Toronto

No huge surprise with this one. The coaching staff said all the right things about Harden when he was signed last year but his fate was somewhat sealed when he got injured in the early season game against Columbus and was replaced by Scott Palguta. Palguta cemented his place in the team thereafter and there was no room for Harden. His trade also frees up some space for the expected signing of central defender, Oscar Murillo, from Colombia. Harden was traded in exchange for a draft pick.

Peterson Leaves Rapids for Canada

Press release from the Rapids today:
The Colorado Rapids announced today a trade with Toronto FC in which Colorado receives allocation money in exchange for midfielder Jacob Peterson.
Per club and league policies, financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Peterson, originally drafted by Colorado with the ninth pick in the second round of the 2006 MLS SuperDraft, recorded eight goals and five assists appearing in 92 games for the Rapids. The four-year veteran from Indiana University played in 23 games last season, scoring two goals and adding two assists before suffering a torn ACL in his right knee on Sept. 23 and missing the remainder of the season.

Rapids Give It Their All But Fall Short In Canada

Well, they tried. A banged up Colorado Rapids gave it all they got against a Dwayne De Rosario-inspired Toronto and almost came up with the goods in Canada. Instead, they return home defeated for a few days to regroup before a vital home and away series against San Jose.
Conor Casey, with his 13th goal of the season, equalized early in the second half after some rubbish defending from Toronto made Kosuke Kimura's floating cross much more dangerous than it should have been and Mike Holody, in only his second MLS game, notched a crucial goal very late on to give the Rapids some hope but it wasn't to be. De Rosario had scored a beauty in the first half to give Toronto the first half lead and it was also his bit of sublime skill that led to the second Toronto goal as he chipped a great pass into the penalty area for substitute, O'Brian White, to run onto and score with a neat lob. A third goal soon after appeared to have ended the game before Holody's very skilful late strike. If only Nick LaBrocca had put that one in from point blank range just minutes before Holody took his chance, the Rapids might have escaped with a point.
In truth, it was hard to expect the Rapids to get anything out of this game given injuries, suspension and other absences. The midfield was depleted with Mastroeni out through suspension, Jamie Smith and Colin Clark out for the rest of the season injured and Mehdi Ballouchy unable to travel because of immigration issues. Such absences meant a rare start for Greg Dalby as a defensive midfielder. The Rapids were also without Matt Pickens who is out injured for at least two weeks. Preston Burpo got his chance in goal and could not be faulted for any of the three Toronto goals.
Bright spots? Many, to be honest. LaBrocca had a powerful game in central midfield and it would only have been fair for him to have scored on that late opportunity. Omar Cummings was his usual menacing self and he will be disappointed at scuffing a golden opportunity in the second half when he carved an opening out of nothing. Jacob Peterson, quiet in the second half, had a good first 45 minutes and almost scored after creating an opening with Cummings and taking the Jamaican's return pass. It was good, too, to see Facundo Diz get a chance in the last ten minutes or so. He pushed himself around powerfully and wasn't afraid to get in the mix.
Gary Smith said he wanted four points from the next three games including today's. The home and away series against San Jose looks increasingly important to reach the 40 point nirvana.

Don't Forget Your Passport; Rapids Head North

Players can be a little forgetful of the details and the Colorado Rapids are no different. On a whiteboard in the locker room, they are this week being urged not to forget their passports as they travel to Canada. More tellingly, there is also a note on that same board that reads "If you are healthy and not suspended, you are traveling." Just like Toronto last year on the road, the Rapids are down to bare bones in terms of bodies to put on the field.
Last year, a very inexperienced defense (Keel, Zambrano and others) were thrown into the fire that is BMO Field and did creditably enough but it was too much to ask and the Rapids lost easily. This year, thankfully, the defense for Toronto tomorrow looks a lot more solid. Expect an unchanged backline from last week. Minus the goalkeeper. Matt Pickens has injured his knee in practice and is out for at least two weeks. Preston Burpo, so patient all season long, will therefore get an opportunity tomorrow. The Rapids will also have the tandem of Conor Casey and Omar Cummings upfront. The availability problems are in midfield. Pablo Mastroeni will be curling up on the sofa at home watching the game because he is the suspended one. Gary Smith told me yesterday that Jamie Smith is out for the season to join Colin Clark on the dreaded season-ending DL. Take a look at the Rapids' website link on projected line-ups and you will see that Greg Dalby will get the start tomorrow. Mehdi Ballouchy is not listed as starting.
http://www.coloradorapids.com/TheMatch/Matchup.aspx
So, it may not be all that pretty tomorrow. Service will have to come from Jacob Peterson and assist king Cummings, it looks like. Maybe the big fella can get his pate on another couple of crosses and we could escape with something. Toronto will be a very different proposition at home tomorrow after being so poor last week. They will have internationals such as Guevara back after the World Cup qualifying schedule and they have a certain Canadian DP announced this week. Gary Smith has reiterated his desire to get to the magic 40 points and is looking at tomorrow's game plus the home and away series against San Jose to reach that. It would then leave four games to secure a playoff position.
Kick off tomorrow is at 2pm Mountain Time. The official viewing party is at GB Fish and Chips. See you there.

Banged Up and Desperate to Win

Big game today but then, at this stage of the season, they all are. The Colorado Rapids enter a home and away series against Toronto tonight in Commerce City. That will be followed by a home and away series with San Jose. Very bizarre. Gary Smith is not all that happy about the way the fixtures have been arranged but he can't do anything about it and his prime concern is getting a decent eleven on the field for tonight. No Pablo, no Cory Gibbs, no Jamie Smith, no Scott Palguta. Omar Cummings contines to struggle with a hip injury and hasn't been training much this week. Strike partner, Conor Casey, has been called up to the national team. The US Soccer Federation reported yesterday that he will not join the squad for tonight's World Cup qualifier because of wisdom teeth surgery.
Gary Smith said yesterday that he wants two wins and two draws in the next eight games to secure a playoff position. A win tonight would do very nicely and would help going into Toronto where the team will still be very short of many first team players. Toronto doesn't look a huge challenge at home with some inexperienced defenders and some trouble scoring but they will be a different beast in Canada. "They are good at home, they have great home support and a plastic pitch," Smith said. "These will be two very tough games."
You can expect a start for new boy, Drew Moor, in central defense. Increasingly, that deal to swap Ugo Ihemelu is looking at least as motivated by financial reasons as skill reasons, a bit of both anyway. Pat Noonan, who played pretty well when he came on last week against Houston, looks likely to step in because of injuries and suspensions in the midfield and I think we will see some game time for Facundo Diz. The big Argentinian striker has not had much opportunity to shine yet but has been scoring regularly in squad games and will seek to impose himself tonight should such an opportunity arise.

It's Not The Fear, it's the Finishing

The way the Colorado Rapids started this game, they certainly looked as if there was no fear. There was energy, purpose and some very clear chances in the opening ten minutes or so. Jacob Peterson, for example, had a glorious chance in the opening three minutes but was only able to offer a weak shot straight into the keeper's arms. However, the opening burst could not be sustained and the Rapids descended into some rather frantic play where they were barely able to keep possession of the ball for anything longer than a few passes. Toronto took advantage and eventually ran away with the game with some top-class finishing. And it was precisely the finishing where we lost the game. The Rapids were simply unable to finish. This was typified by a stretch of play in the 57th and 58th minutes when the game was decided. Tom McManus, captain for the day, put in a perfect through ball to Omar Cummings after some great build-up by Christian Gomez and Nick LaBrocca. Cummings, overly anxious, tried to hit the ball first time when he had all the time in the world to look up, maybe round the keeper and score. Instead, the keeper cleared with a long ball and a great shot by Rohan Ricketts made it 2-0 to Toronto. Game over. Christian Gomez got one back for the Rapids with a nice free-kick but we were already 3-0 down by then.
It was an interesting line-up with an enforced new-look defense including a first MLS start for Cesar Zambrano. What was even more surprising was that playmaker Christian Gomez did not start. There will obviously need to be some changes for the Houston game. Because of international call-ups, there will still be no Mastroeni (injured in the US thrashing of Barbados yesterday), Ihemelu or Coundoul. Herculez Gomez and Terry Cooke, unused in the Toronto game, are making obvious cases for reinclusion. The Rapids play Houston at DSG Park June 21.

Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid?

Let's hope there are stout hearts in those young Colorado Rapids players and that they don't get so afraid at BMO Field come Saturday evening. Those crazy Canadian fans, the difficult surface, questionable refereeing decisions. All these will no doubt come into play on Saturday against Toronto and the inexperienced players could be the ones tested the most. And there will be some based on a few conversations this morning at training. In a squad hobbled by injuries, suspension and national call-ups, there are a total of nine players missing. The Rapids' website still shows three at the back with Rafael Gomes just in front but you might see four at the back and these could include rookie, Cesar Zambrano, with the likes of Stephen Keel, Jordan Harvey and a fit again Kosuke Kimura. Jose Burciaga still looks unfit to play for now. The midfield may be familiar but there is a doubt that Conor Casey is fit to start so Omar Cummings or Herculez Gomez could get the nod up front. Whatever happens, it will be a major challenge for many of the players and they will have to show sufficient heart to deal with it. Coach Fernando Clavijo says the only way for the youngsters to build consistency and gain confidence is to play in such games. "There is no better environment in which to play football," he said.
Regarding the Ugo Ihemelu situation, FIFA is looking into it, according to the Rapids. It is one of the reasons why Canada is traveling with19 players, one more than is necessary, because they are unsure about Ihemelu's eligibility. He has Canadian citizenship (as well as US and Nigerian) but has already played one match for the US, apparently not in a full international however. It was odd to see his face staring down at me from one of those banners at DSG Park this morning with the word Nigeria written underneath.

Canada Shows Us How It's Done

There's a lot of stuff written about Toronto and how they have real fans, not ones who complain about buying tickets for superstars who then don't show up to play. Well, there may be substantial truth in that if a recent snippet or two of information is anything to go by. For a start, all season tickets have been sold for 2008. And, the club had to limit such tickets to 16,000, up from 14,000 in the inaugural season this year. Just goes to show you don't necessarily need a team to be playing well to create demand. You just need fans who will support the team through thick and thin. As I never tire of saying, well maybe after having to explain to Americans where it is, I am a fan of Gillingham FC and I will be till the day I die. And we never win anything. You also need, of course, a club who recognizes the importance of such fans.
The other brilliant piece of information about Toronto is that the club recently organized a major pub crawl in the city for fans to mingle with players. Fantastic. Talk about team and fan bonding. This is surely a lesson for all clubs. Hats off to Toronto. I hope they have a better season next year on the pitch because their fans, the players and the club certainly deserve it. I, for one, would love to make it to Toronto next year for an away game. Any Rapids fans agree?