BY ADAM SERRANO
The 2010 season may be only be a few days dead, but the 2011 season has already kicked off with
the Expansion Draft.
The Vancouver Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers added ten players to their initial MLS rosters
on Wednesday as their clubs began to take shape for the 2011 season.
By JOSE M. ROMERO
A day that began with 10 expansion draft picks for the expansion Portland Timbers and Vancouver
Whitecaps ended with seven of those 20 players traded to already established MLS clubs, Portland's
promise of international signings and a conference call saboteur.
Teitur Thordarson and the Vancouver Whitecaps were very busy on Wednesday.
Trying to keep up here because a lot has happened today since the expansion draft:
Portland Timbers traded:
- Dax McCarty and allocation money to D.C. United for Rodney Wallace and a 4th round pick.
The improbable matchup of the Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas for the 2010 MLS Cup has reduced
most prognasticators to muttering gibberish about the tactical differences on the field, the 4-4-2
versus the 4-5-1.
Yes, the Hoops will have one more person in midfield than the Rapids. Yes, the midfield total
includes likely league MVP David Ferreira.
Dax McCarty's tenure as a Portland Timber lasted all of a few hours.
Just three hours after selecting McCarty with the first pick in the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft,
Portland shipped McCarty and allocation money to D.C. United for Rodney Wallace and a fourth-round
pick in the 2011 MLS Draft.
After the announcement of three youth players being signed by FC Dallas the club also announced
the trade of defender Anthony Wallace to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for a natural fourth round
2011 SuperDraft pick and a conditional 2012 SuperDraft selection.
Wallace was drafted in the first round by Dallas in 2007.
After the announcement of three youth players being signed by FC Dallas the club also announced
the trade of defender Anthony Wallace to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for a natural fourth round
2011 SuperDraft pick and a conditional 2012 SuperDraft selection.
Wallace was drafted in the first round by Dallas in 2007.
By TRAVIS CLARK
Freddy Adu's professional playing future is once again up in the air, and his next club
destination is unknown.
What is clear is that he won't be joining Swiss club Sion. After a short trial this week, the
team decided that it would pass on the chance to add the 21-year-old.
by Brian MechanickThanks for joining us for the 3rd and final part of our Olympic preview. Part 1 is here and Part 2
is here, giving us a full 18-man U-23 squad:
Goalkeepers: (2012 age in parentheses) Sean Johnson (23)
Chicago Fire, Bill Hamid
(21)
DC UnitedDefenders: Ike Opara (23)
San Jose Earthquakes, Gale Agbossoumonde (20)
SC
Braga, Kyle Davies (23)
FC Dallas, Anthony Wallace (23)
Colorado Rapids, Kofi
Sarkodie (21)
U.
New York found a little too much space in the first half and did just enough in the second to
cut down the Colorado Rapids 3-1 on Saturday afternoon in Patterson, New Jersey.
The Red Bulls dominated all but about 10 minutes of the first half in building a 2-0 lead. Both
goals were impressive as the team with three Designated Players Juan Pablo Angel, Thierry Henry and
Rafa Marquez looked like a squad that was coming together as the playoffs approach.
Colorado's starters will have to wait until Thursday to find out what the team will look like
after Tuesday's trade of midfielder Mehdi Ballouchy for forward Macoumba Kandji.
The starters are scheduled to take the day off from practice on Wednesday, which gives the team
a couple of days to figure out where Kandji fits and who will be called on to create from the
midfield in front of Saturday's 7 p.
Quincy Amarikwa readies to fire the fourth goal of the night against the Philadelphia Union on
Wednesday night. The Rapids rolled past the Union 4-1. (Photograph by Jessica
Taves/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)
Colorado had it all on Wednesday night, an aggressive attack (two goals in the first 15 minutes
and four for the game), a stifling defense (the lone Philly goal came on a misplay in the 90th
minute), and a winning streak that is pointing to the playoffs (four straight wins at home).
Quite a nail-biter on Saturday night as the Rapids lost the game, but won the series. This game was
almost the reverse of the first leg in Colorado. Columbus was clearly the dominate team in the
first half, having multiple opportunities to score but only putting one away to even the series.
The goal came off a pinball series in the box when Colorado couldn't clear it.
Well...the expansion draft is over...and the short story is we're saying goodbye to Dax McCarty
and Atiba Harris. Both players have performed admirably while in Dallas, and we wish them the
best of luck with Portland and Vancouver (respectively).
Here are the results of the draft: (in order of when they were taken)
Portland Timbers:
Dax McCarty (FC Dallas)
Eric Brunner (Columbus)
Adam Moffat (Columbus)
Anthony Wallace (Colorado)
David Horst (RSL)
Robbie Findley (RSL)
Peter Lowry (Chicago)
Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas)
Jordan Graye (DC)
Arturo Alvarez (San Jose)
Vancouver Whitecaps:
Sanna Nyassi (Seattle)
Atiba Harris (FC Dallas)
Nate Sturgis (Seattle)
Shea Salinas (Philadelphia)
Alan Gordon (Chivas)
O'Brian White (Toronto)
Alejandro Moreno (Philadelphia)
Joe Cannon (San Jose)
Jonathan Leathers (Kansas City)
John Thorrinton (Chicago)
So Dallas fans are obviously going to be upset at the loss of our beloved Ginger Ninja, Dax
McCarty, but I hesitate to write it off as a total loss.
A busy day at Toyota Park continued with the announcement that Krzysztof Krol and Collins John
were being released. Krol's departure was expected given that his loan one year loan agreement
expires in December and he has expressed interest in pursuing options in Europe. The "mutual
decision" to part ways with John came as a bit of a surprise since his intial signing included an
18 month contract with options for the second half of 2011 and more expensive options in 2012 and
2013.
VANCOUVER, BC The Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps started dealing after taking the
first step toward building their inaugural rosters in Major League Soccer's expansion draft on
Wednesday. Both teams pulled off several trades, including Portland's deal with D.C. United that
sent top expansion draft pick Dax McCarty east in exchange for defender/midfielder [.
VANCOUVER, BC The Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps started dealing after taking the
first step toward building their inaugural rosters in Major League Soccer's expansion draft on
Wednesday. Both teams pulled off several trades, including Portland's deal with D.C. United that
sent top expansion draft pick Dax McCarty east in exchange for defender/midfielder [.
With the 2010 MLS Draft just days away it is becoming increasingly clear that FC Dallas will be
one of the key controllers of the action at Saturday's draft.
FC Dallas currently holds the No. 5 and No. 6 picks in the draft, and with a roster that is
already one of the youngest in MLS, Dallas is poised to be the target of teams interested in moving
up in the draft.
With the 2010 MLS Draft just days away it is becoming increasingly clear that FC Dallas will be
one of the key controllers of the action at Saturday's draft.
FC Dallas currently holds the No. 5 and No. 6 picks in the draft, and with a roster that is
already one of the youngest in MLS, Dallas is poised to be the target of teams interested in moving
up in the draft.
The Rapids have just announced a trade with Dallas for Anthony Wallace. In return Dallas gets our
natural 4th round draft pick next year and a conditional pick in 2012. Wallace has played in 15
games in 4 seasons for Dallas.
Yeah, the phrase "rearranging the deck chairs" comes to mind on this one.
By TRAVIS CLARK
Fredy Adu's professional playing future is once again up in the air, and his next club
destination is unknown.
What is clear is that he won't be joining Swiss club Sion. After a short trial this week, the
team decided that it would pass on the chance to add the 21-year-old.
Which players will graduate from Generation Adidas status and have to be protected in the expansion
draft come November? I wrote a detailed post last year about how many minutes it takes for 1st and
2nd year players to graduate; it's been updated with the final 2009 stats and can be found
here.
Class of 2006
Really surprised when he was given a 5th year.
On Saturday the Red Bulls clearly showed they were better than the Rapids. With the exception of
about 10 minutes on either side of the half NY dominated the game and won by a deserved 3-1
scoreline. The Red Bulls were the better team in every section of the field and while a bit of
individual brilliance from Omar Cummings gave the Rapids a bit of hope, NY took that away quickly.
Befitting a rivalry, a header at the death gave Real Salt Lake a share of the points with the
Colorado Rapids in the first Rocky Mountain Cup game of the season.
The late goal offset a record-setting night for Conor Casey and dashed dreams for the Rapids of
taking three points on the road.
Casey set a Rapids record for career goals, breaking a tie with Paul Bravo as he scored his 40th
goal for Colorado, in the nervy, rivalry affair at Rio Tinto Stadium on Saturday night.
An offensive explosion from Jeff Larentowitcz (Larentowicz?!) made the difference as Colorado
tied FC Dallas and inched closer to the playoffs on Saturday.
The Ginger Ninja was the offensive spark for a team that started hot, fell asleep, and then
dominated for long stretches in the second half in Frisco, Texas.
An offensive explosion from Jeff Larentowitcz (Larentowicz?!) made the difference as Colorado
tied FC Dallas and inched closer to the playoffs on Saturday.
The Ginger Ninja was the offensive spark for a team that started hot, fell asleep, and then
dominated for long stretches in the second half in Frisco, Texas.
So I go away for a week and a half with the Rapids on the verge of clinching a playoff spot and I
come back to Gary Smith overlooking the worst team in the MLS en route to a home loss and then
pulling out a huge point in Dallas against the hottest team in MLS. Yep, same old Rapids.
This week we're in LA for our penultimate game of the regular season, and maybe of our whole
season.
Last game of the season and FaKe SaLt LaKe is in town again. The difference this year is that both
teams have already clinched a playoff spot and are now just playing for seeding and the Rocky
Mountain Cup. FSL can win the Supporter's shield with a win and LA failing to win or a draw and LA
losing.
I really don't want to talk much about this game. Needless to say it was great for 90 minutes
before it turned into a 3 minute meltdown by Matt Pickens and Brian Mullan. The Rapids were clearly
the better team on the night, even the FSL fans admit it, but the soccer gods are apparently
against us as a Pickens blunder, a bad double bounce, and a Mullan foul conspired to deny us the
win and the Rocky Mountain Cup.
By TRAVIS CLARK
A Pablo Mastroeni goal was all that a domintant Colorado could muster, but the Rapids held on
for the shutout and took a 1-0 advantage as the MLS playoffs opened Thursday night.
One year after losing on the road against a Western Conference team, Columbus opened up strong,
taking the attacking initiative from the kickoff.
Colorado controlled long stretches against Columbus and got a 0ne-goal win for it.
The Thursday night victory marked the first time the Rapids had been in the playoffs since 2006,
and the first home playoff win since 2004. It was also the night that Dick's Sporting Goods Park
(opened in 2007) finally got to host a playoff game.
Colorado controlled long stretches against Columbus and got a 0ne-goal win for it.
The Thursday night victory marked the first time the Rapids had been in the playoffs since 2006,
and the first home playoff win since 2004. It was also the night that Dick's Sporting Goods Park
(opened in 2007) finally got to host a playoff game.
Well here we are. The Rapids are hosting the Eastern Conference Final! Yeah, i didn't expect to be
here either. San Jose comes to town tomorrow night with a trip to Toronto and MLS Cup 2010 on the
line. Game time is 7:30pm at the Dick and the Class VI/Pid Army tailgate starts at 4:30pm. If
you're a Rapids fan and you're in Colorado, be there.
BY ADAM SERRANO
TORONTO - Anthony Wallace sits on the cusp of the MLS Cup and the only thing standing in the way
is his old club, FC Dallas.
The former U.S. Youth International spent three and a half years with Dallas after being drafted
with the 9th pick, but struggled to earn significant playing time with FCD.
Less than 24 hours after winning the 2010 MLS Cup, the Colorado Rapids shipped two defenders to
Seattle for midfielder Peter Vagenas.
The team also announced its list of 11 protected players for the 2010 MLS Expansion Draft, which
takes place Wednesday at noon to help stock the rosters of the expansion Portland Timbers and
Vancouver Whitecaps.
Not even 24 hours after crowning its champion, MLS was back to business by requiring its clubs
to list its protected players for the expansion draft. The expansion draft is just one of several
drafts taking place this offseason for MLS, and the unprotected list for this draft has some
interesting names.
Editor's note: Refresh your page during the draft. We are updating the picks as they are
announced.
Shea Salinas was picked by Vancouver in the fourth round of the MLS Expansion Draft. Chris Seitz
was protected after Salinas was picked. Alejandro Moreno was picked by Vancouver in the seventh
round.
Know any good left backs? Because the Colorado Rapids suddenly need one.
A team strength two days ago became a vacuum as the Portland Timbers picked up Colorado left
back Anthony Wallace in the MLS expansion draft on Wednesday.
The selection of Wallace came after Monday's decision to ship fellow left back Danny Earls,
along with center back Julien Baudet, to Seattle Sounders for midfielder Peter Vagenas.
Know any good left backs? Because the Colorado Rapids suddenly need one.
A team strength two days ago became a vacuum as the Portland Timbers picked up Colorado left
back Anthony Wallace in the MLS expansion draft on Wednesday.
The selection of Wallace came after Monday's decision to ship fellow left back Danny Earls,
along with center back Julien Baudet, to Seattle Sounders for midfielder Peter Vagenas.
As expected in today's expansion draft the Rapids lost Anthony Wallace as he was selected by
Portland. What wasn't expected is what happened next. The Rapids sent allocation money to Portland
and got Wallace back. Great move by the club. We're not exactly known for going out and spending
allocation money to sign big international players, so this is just as good of a use of the money.
