Conor Casey and Pablo Mastroeni will be called to lead again in 2010. (Getty Images)

We’re moving on in our look at each Major League Soccer roster to see where all the clubs are at in their pre-season. So far we’ve looked at Philadelphia, Chicago and Chivas USA. Today we stay out west and look at Gary Smith’s Colorado Rapids.

Last season had some ups and downs for the Rapids. Offensively at times they looked like they could not be stopped with Conor Casey and Omar Cummings leading the charge but injuries got in the way of post season glory for this bunch.

The winter months have given Smith and his club some time to make some moves and so far they’ve been pretty active. I still see this club making more moves before the season kicks off next month. But lets see how they are doing at each position right now. Continue Reading…

With stars like Conor Casey and Pablo Mastroeni, the Rapids should have done better in 2009. (Getty Images)

Consistent play was always an issue in 2008 for the Colorado Rapids, and it turned out 2009 wasn’t much different. The Rapids looked like a team that could contend in early on in 2009 but the ladder part of the season tore this group apart as injuries were racked up and the offensive production that was one of the best in the league at times turned into a pumpkin.

Gary Smith took over late last season and did actually get his club started in the right path in 2009. Conor Casey and Omar Cummings turned into one of the league’s best duos as they each racked up the goals while Cummings also provided the assists. The play out of the midfield was actually more impressive as Mehdi Ballouchy actually looked like he had a decent touch for once and Colin Clark started to actually produce like we all expect him to.

But injuries took over this club and when that happen any sort of consistent play this club would produce would go out the window as expected. Their depth showed it was a big weakness and in return the guys that were producing well turned out to not be able to produce when it mattered most. The ladder part of the season Casey could only find the back of the net from the PK spot and Cummings went dry from the start of September till the end of the year.

Rapids fans are left with a lot of what ifs on the season after a promising summer that saw so much productivity out of Casey and Cummings. In the final six weeks of the season the Rapids completely came apart. Some people like Ives even called out everything about the team’s current state of affairs like it was going down as fast as a sinking ship.

What Went Right In 2009:
When Casey and Cummings were on it was pretty cool to watch. The two would light up pretty much any club that stood in their way. The midfield play then was also fun to watch as it had such a good nucleus of talent.

What Went Wrong In 2009:
It seems as the more shares of Arsenal that owner Stan Kroenke buys the worse things get for this bunch in Colorado. As mentioned above the last few weeks of the year really did them in for good on the season. Injuries took a big toll on the club mostly because they are build to use the wings and when guys like Colin Clark went down for the year so did the production of this group.

What’s Next:
For this bunch it is all about getting healthy and correcting what went wrong late in the year. Sad part is I don’t see this bunch getting any better over the offseason with the way things currently are in Denver. Finding a Designated player in the offseason may help but building some depth will probably go a longer way in repairing this club on the field. Off the field this bunch needs a make over. A couple years ago things seemed so promising as they moved into a new stadium but now it seems like this group has gone down the deep dark path that teams like FC Dallas are in. They need to repair things within their fanbase in a big way.

We had plenty of goals scored in week number 19 in Major League Soccer. A few PKs, own goals and a lot of nice one touch shots. The best in some folks eyes will probably be the midfield bomb by KC’s Claudio Lopez though. I would be shocked to see another goal pass that one up for goal of the week.

Here is the order of goals: Jacob Peterson, Mehdi Ballouchy, Ryan Johnson, Claudio Lopez, Ali Gerba, Jason Garey, Jeff Cunningham, and Yura Movsisyan.

Happy Monday to all here as we are a hours away from the international summer transfer window opening back up for all clubs to trade parts, find new and exciting and whatever else those clubs do with the transfer window.

But before an influx of new talent comes into Major League Soccer I wanted to spend a little time looking back at the homegrown stuff here in the States. More importantly the homegrown talent that comes out of the college ranks and what not through the league’s SuperDraft.

I am mainly looking at old drafts and thought it was worth a mention to take a look back at the last few drafts to see not only how clubs did but the players that have moved on to bigger and better things through the league. Also to talk about the players who were picked high and ended up as duds (there are more than you’d think).

For the most part the MLS SuperDraft finds us about 10 good players and about 30 or so not-so-good players. Some last in the league, others don’t make it, and some head for Europe before the first kick of their rookie season. I think the draft will continue to go on in the future but with fewer rounds before long. Once the homegrown talent from youth academies kick in we will mainly see college players go through this process. And most of those won’t come with a high profile either in my best estimate.

I’m only taking us as far back as the 2005 MLS SuperDraft. I feel like in this now-expansion era of MLS soccer, that’s a solid starting point for discussions like these. Not to mention most of those players by now are either hits or misses.

As always feel free to pipe in your own thoughts about these past drafts below.

Continue Reading…

Hope everyone is enjoying their Monday here. If you’ve been watching some Euro 2008, I’m sure you have been enjoying the day. Very entertaining game between Holland and Italy. Kind of odd to see Italy get beat 3-0 like that, but kudos to the Dutch for their play.

Anyways, I thought today would be a good day to bring on a new feature here on WVHooligan.com. Its all about player, coaches, fans, and team stock. Who’s up and who’s down in the world of Major League Soccer. It may involve some players you know little about and it may involve some club stars that we all love and hate.

Let’s get down to it, five up and five down: Continue Reading…