SB Nation Dallas: All Posts by Chris White

Jaime Castrillon Receiving U.S. Residency

2013-05-23T12:00:03Z

Colombian midfielder Jaime Castrillon's nose for goal has been missed this season for the Colorado Rapids, but he is reportedly near return after being cleared for training. That's not the best part that I gleaned from this post on ColoradoRapids.com, though -- Jaime is getting U.S. Residency!

That's pretty good news, and it'll help keep the team from being absolutely deadlocked when it comes to international slots in the future. He joins Jamie Smith as a green card holder on the team, which means that he won't take up a slot any more, counting as an American player for the intents and purposes of MLS roster rules.

Having a guy who has proven he can score goals on the team without taking a slot up isn't going to hurt matters either, of course. Castrillon scored a team-leading eight goals last year, and his presence certainly couldn't hurt the at-times anemic offense we've seen this season.

With Chivas & Orlando On The Docket, It's The Perfect Week For A Healthier Rapids Squad

2013-05-22T18:02:27Z

For the first time this season, we're going to see two Colorado Rapids games fewer than a week apart when they play Chivas USA and Orlando City SC next Saturday and Tuesday. Fortunately, the squad has started to recover from Injury Hell 2013™ and may have a nearly full-health squad by the time the game on Tuesday against Orlando comes around.

Most of the injuries that they've been suffering recently have been minor knocks and not two-month death-blows, but it's still nice to hear that they're nearly there. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if, other than a few exceptions, all but a couple players were available to pick and choose for Oscar Pareja between the two games.

German Sferra let us know earlier on twitter that the only player not doing any work on the field was Diego Calderon. Edson Buddle returns from suspension against Chivas USA, so the striker corps are essentially at 100% right now. (Charles Eloundou totally doesn't count.) There's been no update on Jaime Castrillon, but I wouldn't be surprised if, assuming he's well enough to get on the field at all, we see him for a couple of minutes against the Lions in the Open Cup. (Note: Oscar Pareja saying he'll be learning his touch again for one or two weeks makes that seem a lot more unlikely. Damn.)

Dillon Powers and Brian Mullan will both be back from a week off, as well.

Shane O'Neill being out with suspension might not be a problem either, since Chris Bianchi confirmed that German Mera was at practice as well. Already on a red-hot pace, this should be the time when the Rapids show MLS what they're really made of. Getting two wins this week with the ability to pick and choose their deep squad would help matters out immensely.

Colorado Rapids vs. Chivas USA - Return Of The Goats

2013-05-22T15:46:14Z

It's game No. 2 between the Rapids and Chivas USA, this time at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Jose Luis Sanchez Sola, more commonly known as El Chelis, is somewhat a mystery of a coach to me. The most I ever paid attention to Chivas USA was when Brad Guzan played for them, but was quickly sold for a profit for the league to Aston Villa. Then a few years later season ticket holder numbers came out for 2010. The number was about 250. The Goats regularly sell half the season tickets of the next closest team in the league.

But something changed when I watched the Colorado Rapids play in Las Vegas in the pre-season. Chivas won and the fans stormed the field. I joked that this was the greatest victory in the history of the Chivas franchise but was corrected by a friend who said that the fans are mobbing the coach. So when I did research and found out his only accomplishment was getting a team promoted to the Mexican first division. I was doubly intrigued. After watching some local news pieces about him I understood why.

Just like Phillip Seymour Hoffmans character in the movie the master, he is a masterful public speaker. But it might be all he can do. Chelis regularly leaves the field before the half-time whistle with a disgusted look on his face. He probably uses that time to get his speech polished or his voice warmed up for the yelling he does at halftime. During the last Rapids-Chivas match up the announcers said that all of the goals Chivas scored had come in the second half, or after El Chelis had a talk to his team. Is it that he is a great motivator? Or are his players scared of him? The Rapids won the first match between the two sides on a missed penalty by Jose Correa and a penalty make by DeShorn Brown.

So why the cult like following? Dynamic public speakers don't come along very often. Steve Jobs press conferences were legendary. After George W, anybody sounds good but then Congressman Obama's speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention started his monumental rise to the White House. Say what you will about Obama but you have to admit that he is a great orator. Maybe a better job for Chelis is to be a freelance public speaker or a military general. Which if Carlos Slim buys the Chivas brand could transfer Chelis within his corporation to give motivational speeches or make him his private military leader. That guy has his own private military! Or he could go the movie the master route and start his own religion. It has happened before. I say this because he rarely stays anywhere longer than two years in a managerial position. After this weekend Chivas USA visits Dicks Sporting Goods again August 12th. So we get to see this enigma of a person twice this year. The Rapids are adding extra seats for the game this weekend which might be to see Chelis. But with a result this weekend the Rapids make the month of May undefeated. So maybe the cult of Chelis is growing here in Colorado but I doubt it. Am I in the cult of El Chelis? No, but I'm watching from a distance.

Colorado Rapids To Face Orlando City SC In US Open Cup Third Round

2013-05-22T05:05:23Z

A chance for a rare home game in the US Open Cup eluded the Rapids when the Ocala Stampede failed to beat Orlando City SC in the second round, but it did clinch Colorado's opponent for the third round as the Lions. OCSC took down the Stampede 2-1 to advance to the third round.

Colorado will head to Florida for the second year in a row, having gone into Tampa Bay to knock out the NASL's Tampa Bay Rowdies last season by a score of 3-1. They'll play in front of a likely very spirited and large crowd (knowing how we usually handle minor events here, probably as large as anything that the Rapids would have drawn, actually) at the Florida Citrus Bowl, but there's no reason that the deep and talented Rapids shouldn't be taking a berth in the fourth round away from Florida.

Then again, Steward Ceus will probably be starting, so all bets are off.

The game will be next Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. MT.

Manchester City, Yankees Teaming Up For New York City FC? It's A Stich In The Side Of American Growth

2013-05-21T17:00:04Z

MLS decided to announce on Tuesday that they would be adding a second New York team to the league in 2015, imaginatively called New York City FC.

Yeah, sure, good for them, yeehaw, we all saw it coming. I'm pretty sure that 100% of us knew that NY2 was destined to be the 20th franchise in Major League Soccer. It's the way that they went about adding them that gets in my craw. I don't particularly like the New York Cosmos, but at least making them NY2 would have made some sense historically. Another link to America's soccer past, taking us into America's soccer future, if you will.

But that's not the route they went with. Instead, they allowed the New York Yankees and Manchester City to co-own a team, probably because they were able to pay the several million dollar expansion fee that Don Garber was asking for, and might well have only put in place because he knew that a team like Orlando City or Minnesota wouldn't ever be able to afford it. That's all baseless speculation, though.

Here's what we do know: NYCFC is going to be spending money. Three more DP slots opening in the city of New York, available to two of the biggest cash-splashing team owners in the entire world. I'm not complaining that it's City's team, either. Had Man United, Real Madrid, Chelsea or any other big spending European team taken control, I would feel the same way.

I just feel like this is a pretty clear indication that MLS just doesn't care about its original intentions any more. Certainly, MLS was originally formed to provide a league in a country that hadn't had one in many years, but there were other reasons as well. MLS was supposed to help build the US Men's National Team by providing a growing league to help the young stars of the home country grow in. It was supposed to build a country of soccer fans by providing a steadily improving product with the parity that is trademarked by American sports.

How, exactly, does NYCFC help with any of that? Especially when it comes to helping America's national team out, there's absolutely nothing that NYCFC will bring to the table. Do you think that all the cash that will be thrown around will be spent on American players? Please. Will they use their influence and send young American stars over to Manchester to play with the best in the world? Somehow I doubt that. Will their money be poured into their academy and scouting for the draft so they can make sure they can teach up the best of the best? I'm not going to bet the farm on it.

I'd assume they're going to turn into another version of the Red Bulls, using as many loopholes as they can to get the best foreign talent and as few Americans as possible. They'll do that for the fame, for the fanbase, for the money, but not for the country.

Now, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe NYCFC is going to be a boon to MLS, following all the rules the league has set out for them -- while not getting any new ones added a'la LA a few years ago -- and helping to grow the American product. Or maybe they'll buy nothing but big names from across the sea, cater to nobody but bandwagon American City fans, push out the franchise that had already been there for 18 years, and be perfect villains for a league that really didn't need any more forced narratives.

From what I've seen, there are not all that many people -- outside of people in NY who don't follow the Red Bulls and people who don't work for MLS -- who support this. Most of them have been American City fans, and I wager that if it was NYC United, they would be on the other side very quickly. Nearly every fan that I've seen who isn't a New Yorker or City fan has already expressed hatred for this team. I've never seen people turn against a team that doesn't even exist yet like they have against NYCFC, and that's not what I'm calling a good thing. I have to assume that those people all see the same things that I do.

The Daily Wave: Pickens Could Be Trade Bait, But For Who?

2013-05-20T14:00:04Z

Here's something that totally hasn't been brought up a bunch since we learned that Matt Pickens was nearly back into training with the Rapids: what on earth do we do when he's healthy and ready to compete for a starting spot?

Of course, there's always a chance that Pickens is able to earn his starting spot back right off the bat, but something makes me doubt that's going to happen with the flaming pace that Irwin has had all season. One of them is probably going to have to leave by the end of

If you ask me, I pick Irwin every day of the week. Irwin might already be just as good a 'keeper as Pickens is, and perhaps might be even better since he's not made quite as many of those trademark softies that Pickens has been known to let in every few games. He looks like he's a 30-year-old veteran but he's only 23, which means he might have 15 or more years of top goalkeeping ahead of him, compared to the 31-year-old Pickens.

I love Matt Pickens as much as anyone on the team, but Clint has convinced me all the way at this point. Pickens also makes a rather absurd amount of money for a potentially back-up goalkeeper, so there's a good chance the team will want to off-load the very expensive option compared to the guy currently making rookie minimum.

Here's the thing, though: I don't know what teams would want Pickens if they were planning on trading him within Major League Soccer. There's not all that many teams that are currently in a goalkeeping crisis in this league. Really, there's only two teams that I can think of that might want him: the LA Galaxy and the Philadelphia Union.

In LA's case, and Matt Doyle actually brought this up yesterday with a #TradeForPickens hashtag, they have a starter in Carlo Cudicini but not one that seems to be paying many dividends. LA has plugged and played several goalkeepers -- Mike Magee totally counts as well -- the past few seasons, but they might not refuse the stability between the sticks that Pickens would provide for a few seasons if he was traded over there.

Philly is a team that is still being patient with Zack MacMath, who they sunk a first-round pick into in the 2011 draft and have been using as their everyday starter since 2012. MacMath has grown in past years, but Philly's biggest period of success in their short history came in the 2011 season when experienced goalkeeper Faryd Mondragon came in and helped lead them to the playoffs. They may feel that Pickens could help in the same way as MacMath continues to learn his trade.

I think that just about every other team in the league either has an already capable young starter or a veteran that probably wouldn't be displaced by Pickens. So, if the Rapids were to send him out within the league, I would guess it would be one of those two squads. Who would you want in return from those teams?

Colorado Rapids vs. San Jose Earthquakes - Man Of The Match Vote

2013-05-19T18:39:46Z

Who do you think was the Man of the Match against the San Jose Earthquakes? Vote in the poll below or let us know in the comments if you have someone not on my list. Personally, I have three guys in mind:

Clint Irwin - He absolutely should have done better on the goal, but it's hard to know if he saw the ball right off of Martin Chavez's foot. Past that though, he had another very strong performance in goal and made a couple of saves to keep San Jose's four-headed forward monster from scoring anything else during the run of play.

Nathan Sturgis - Omar Cummings who? Since coming to the Rapids in that trade, Sturgis has done nothing but impress. For the second straight game, he has a legitimate man of the match shout because of great work in the midfield and, this time around, his first Rapids goal.

Marvell Wynne - Surprise candidate? Well, nobody on the Rapids was more involved with the ball than Wynne was in his return to right back. Good passing, solid defensive work down the right and no worries with the ball at his feet make him perhaps a dark horse for MotM.

Poll

Man of the match?

Colorado Rapids 1 San Jose Earthquakes 1 - As Expected

2013-05-19T06:45:51Z

Well, if you weren't expecting that sort of game in San Jose, I don't know what to tell you. I predicted a crap-ass 1-1 draw before the match, and that's pretty much exactly what I got.

As per usual, San Jose entered their match looking to hold the Rapids at bay via physical play and hard defending, and it worked for most of the match. There's a reason that both teams only finished about 300 passes all match and possession was just about evenly split down the middle. Colorado started with a slightly weakened squad, with Brian Mullan and Dillon Powers both missing for the first time this season. (Edson Buddle was out as well, due to suspension.)

It didn't seem to matter that the Rapids were fielding a slightly lesser squad than usual, because they came out firing at all cylinders right out of the gate. San Jose's hard-nosed tactics didn't seem to phase them, they were attacking right from the outset.

Martin Rivero finally got his first assist of the season in the 26th minute, with the first goal of the match being swatted into the net by Nathan Sturgis on a corner kick. Sturgis' first goal of the season was a great one, tapped in with his foot on a leaping play. Colorado held that lead for a good while, going into the second half with the lead and holding it very well.

As expected, San Jose got a goal late on with a free kick that never should have been. Shane O'Neill getting a yellow card on the foul was absolutely ridiculous, and there was an argument that it was never a foul in the first place. Either way, a free kick was given right in front of the box and Martin Chavez, who MLS mysteriously decided to reduce the suspension of this week, put in a free kick that Clint Irwin most likely should have covered a bit better.

Later on, Shane went knee to knee in front of the box, and that was the end of his game.

Referee Ricardo Salazar pulled a straight red (surprisingly, since Shane was on a yellow and you would have expected him to get his second yellow in that case with the rather tame foul that was committed) and sent O'Neill off, but it didn't end up affecting the final result. 1-1 was your final, and I'm sure that most Rapids fans will tell you they're plenty happy to escape out of the meat grinder that is San Jose with a point and no major injuries in the end.