(The following is a reprint of the Rapids preview I
published prior to the opening of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park to MLS play in
2007. As we celebrate the 10th
anniversary of the first Rapids game played in Commerce City later this month,
please enjoy part 1 of 3 in a series of my favorite moments from that inaugural
season.)
Clavijo Ready for Exciting 2007.
Spring is always a time for hope for sports teams. Everyone is a winner. No team is out of contention. Roster spots are as wide open as they’ll ever
be. And, no coach is being asked about
must-win contests. For Colorado Rapids
third year Head Coach Fernando Clavijo this year especially has begun with renewed
anticipation and excitement.
“Right now the lineup is open except for Pablo (Mastroeni)
and probably Kyle (Beckerman), but the rest of the lineup is open,” admits
Clavijo. “The attitude of the players
coming in has been tremendous. I’m
telling you solid and I’m very happy.”
“I’ve been saying all along it would take 3 years to put a
group of players together and this is 3 years so no excuses. Everything is falling into place and you have
to believe that this is our time.”
“One other thing is sometimes personal goals influence team
goals and have in the past,” Clavijo explains.
“For me, I want the team to do well as a team. We all benefit. It’s all up to us this year. We cannot blame anybody else. I think we have an opportunity with the new
stadium and the whole thing going on, we cannot just be happy getting into the
playoffs but to make a good run for it.”
MLS announced that the annual All-Star festivities will be
held at the soon-to-be-opened Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, CO. With MLS bringing in modern soccer icon David
Beckham, certainly much more attention will be paid to America’s “other” major
sport this year and a highlight will be the All-Star break in Colorado’s new
park, which will also be the largest soccer stadium/complex in the US.
The biggest change to the Rapids has been the overhaul of
the team’s look and a partnership with world soccer powerhouse Arsenal FC. Not only does the English club gain a
marketing leg in the United States, but the Rapids will be able to learn from a
soccer team which has been extremely successful for over 100 years. Colorado will see first-hand how their
English partners operate when they visit London on the second leg of their
pre-season training beginning March 8.
Colorado subsequently announced a logo, color, and uniform
change configured in the line of the other Kroenke Sports Enterprises Denver
teams (the NBA’s Nuggets and the NHL’s Avalanche) that has given fans a new
identity to watch on the field. The
Black-and-Blue kit is gone replaced by a burgundy and sky blue combination akin
to English clubs Aston Villa and West Ham United.
Other on-field changes will be noticeable in the form of
personnel. Gone from 2006 are players
such as defender Aitor Karanka, forward Thiago Martins (now playing in Norway’s
second division), defender/midfielder Eric Denton, and maybe most importantly
goalkeeper Joe Cannon (sent to the Los Angeles Galaxy).
This provides extra emphasis on Colorado shoring up its
defense in 2007. However, the season
will begin with MLS veterans Greg Vanney, Ugo Ihemelu, and Brandon Prideaux
vying for starting positions alongside holdovers Mike Petke, Dan Gargan, and
Hunter Freeman among others.
“I’m extremely happy with the way we’re set up with the
defenders,” admits Clavijo. “I thought
with the players we’ve brought in, some of the younger players we drafted,
we’re very very solid in the back-as solid as we ever had in this franchise.”
“I thought we had some pieces in the back we needed to
address. Defenders-we added the kind of
defender I want. We’re talking about Ugo
Ihemelu, Greg Vanney, and Brandon Prideaux.
When I look at those 3 guys, plus the guys we have coming back, we’ve begun
to address that issue right away.”
“Greg first of all (has) leadership. Players are always trying to find out what
their roles are. He leads by
example. You see it everywhere he
goes. He’s a guy who has a good
personality and character. I’m looking
at him to be one of the 2 central defenders or can be a left back. He hits the ball extremely well and he’s a
hell of a player.”
“Brandon is experienced, has played on a championship
team-Leadership. Ugo for me is unbelievable. He’s strong, solid, covers a lot of
area. Right now with him, Greg, Brandon
you may think about 3 in the back to open up different possibilities. It will give us a world of options that we
didn’t have before. The next couple of
weeks we’ll be playing games to see how they fit.”
“One of the things we failed in last year was that we were
an easy target with set pieces. We
didn’t defend it well. Now with Brandon,
Ugo, and Petke they need to step up and take control of the box.”
When asked about the goalkeeping vacancy left by Cannon,
Clavijo was hones in saying he’s not sure if that position is set. The scheduled pre-season matches will do much
to satisfy him. “It’s an area that we
still maybe need to address. I was
straight honest with the goalkeepers. We
have 2 young goalkeepers in Justin Hughes and Bouna Coundoul.” Matt Jordan was presumed to have an edge in
that position, but the MLS veteran was released last week allowing Clavijo to
bring in a perennial starter in Zac Thornton.
In 2006, Colorado was second worst in MLS with 36 goals
scored and had the league’s worst goal differential at -13. Offensively, Clavijo, assistant John Murphy
and the rest of the Rapids staff know they must do better when given the
opportunities. “We didn’t score as many
goals as we wanted to. We created the
chances, but we never really connected enough to allow us to win games
comfortably”, Clavijo fully admits.
Again, the Rapids are counting on a couple of new faces to
fit in with a returning core group that showed good things at times las
season. Returning are forward Nicolas
Hernandez, swingmen Jovan Kirovski and Clint Mathis, and winger Terry Cooke-the
team’s assist leader. Clavijo has added
Panamanian international striker Roberto Brown from the Uruguayan first
division, as well as Yherland McDonald, a Costa Rican who has been playing in Norway
recently.
“We lost Thiago and Roberto is a plyer I’ve been trying to
get for 2 years already. I was able to
connect. I went to Uruguay and talked to
him again and went to many qualifying games including the game against the US
when he scored. Finally, we were able to
come to terms and I’m very pleased with him.”
Speaking of Mathis, Clavijo is expecting a resurgence of
sort for the for former US international.
“He’s at the end of his deal and has a lot of things to prove but a lot
of things to prove to himself fore than anybody else,” Clavijo says. “I told him he’s too good of a player to look
for one play only. He knows that
expectations are high and he needs to perform.”
“For me it’s not even an issue. I know he can perform. The question is ‘do you know what you need to
perform?’ Right now he’s working very
hard so I’m very pleased. We’ve had a
meeting already and he’s motivated. We
all know what he can do when he’s motivated and that’s what we need.”
Another new face to Colorado, but an experienced MLS player,
is Herculez Gomez who was brought over in the Cannon deal. Clavijo has liked what he has seen of Gomez
for the Galaxy and was eager to bring in another speedy veteran up top. “Herculez is something we didn’t have. We’ve had it before with Jeff Cunningham,
with (Jean Phillipe) Peguero. Right now
we have somebody who can get behind defenders.
He has a lot of skills and a lot of speed and he’s a good kid.”
Clavijo has also addressed the future with young draftees
such as Greg Dalby, Nico Colaluca, Nick Labrocca, and Hughes and offers up a
few insights on the younger Rapids hopefuls.
“Colaluca was outstanding with the U-23s. He’s a kid who can play left, right, central,
great speed, he takes people one-on-one.
Some people are afraid to take people on but he will take chances, but
we need somebody else who will break defenders in a different way.”
“Greg Dalby for me is Shalrie Joseph (of the New England
Revoulution). You draft him knowing he
wants to go to Europe but gets back to your team. For me he was the best player in the
combine-Central defender, midfielder, good size, good feet, sees the game
well. It’s going to be hard for some of
these players to get into the roster which is good. It’s a great problem we’ve not had in the
past. I’m very excited this year.”
With all the changes both on and off the pitch for Colorado
in 2007, fans will also be looking forward to the new season and what is going
to be an entirely new chapter in the history of the Rapids beginning April 7.
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