Goalkeepers: Matt Pickens, Stew Ceus, *Jimmy Maurer, *Clint Irwin Defenders: Drew Moor, Diego Calderon, Chris Klute, Anthony Wallace, Marvell Wynne, *Kory Kindle Midfielders: Pablo Mastroeni, Hendry Thomas, Nick LaBrocca, Tony Cascio, Brian Mullan, Shane O'Neill, Martin Rivero, Dillon Serna, Nathan Sturgis, Dillon Powers, *Jamie Smith Forwards: Andre Akpan, Deshorn Brown, Kamani Hill, Atiba Harris, *Cesar Romero
* not under contract
Dropped from the last camp roster we had: * = Unsigned Supplemental draftee ^ = Unsigned trialist GK: Joel Helmick^ DF; Marcello Castro*, Brenton Griffiths*, Luke Vercollone^ MF: Davy Armstrong, Jaime Castrillon, Kevin Harbottle, Machael David*, Carlos Diaz^ FW: Edson Buddle, Charles Eloundou, Stefano Souza Pinho*
Buddle, Castrillon, and Eloundou are expected, the first two injured and the latter with the Cameroon Nats.
The Colorado Rapids continued to dismantle any of the remaining value of the MLS Cup-winning side of 2010, shipping Jeff Larentowicz to the Chicago Fire for cash, a draft choice and an international roster spot.
Larentowicz, the consummate professional during his three years in Colorado, thanked the team for the opportunity as he departed for the Windy City.
Not quite time to flip to 2013 yet Yes, being eliminated from the playoffs followed by an international break did make it feel like the season was over, but there are still 2 games left. The first one is tomorrow night in LA against the Under-A-Chivas. Chivas has been outscored 9-1 in their last 3 games so they're reeling more than we are.
Wow, what a busy week! The FO have announced season tickets would remain flat, the field would
be widened, TicketMaster would be fired and Caleb Porter would be hired.
What's that? We have two games in six days against the Colorado Rapids? Oh ... right.
When Stumptown Footy previewed the Colorado Rapids ahead of their first match this year against
the Portland Timbers, the Rapids weren't in great shape.
More of the same. Not really going to review the game because if you saw any league match in July
you saw this game.
My key to the game was the Rapids figuring out how to win. Not yet. Other Observations:
The first Sounders goal we just got beat on. It was a corner kick and Johnson did a good job of
getting his man (Wynne it looks like) caught in traffic so EJ could have a free header.
The Colorado Rapids continued their losing ways on Saturday night, and even a home game at
Dick's Sporting Goods Park could stop the bleeding.
The Seattle Sounders pushed Colorado's losing skid to six matches after Osvaldo Alonso scored a
second-half winner to lead the Sounders to a 2-1 victory.
Tomorrow's match against the Colorado Rapids has certainly snuck up on us. It's the first
competitive match in almost two weeks for the Sounders - a long dry stretch for a team used to
multiple matches a week. And the last few days leading up to the close of the transfer window have
been dominated by speculation about player movement, climaxing in the team's flurry of moves today
that sent Alvaro Fernandez to Chicago and brought Christian Tiffert and Mario Martinez to
Seattle.
The Rapids have started a tradition of getting into hot water and putting playoff hopes in
jeopardy during the month of July. After the weekend's results, Colorado has no where to go but
up.
The Rapids followed a tepid 1-0 loss to the Vancouver Whitecaps at home on July 4 with a dismal
2-1 loss to the Seattle Sounders late Saturday.
SEATTLE, Wash. –Saturday night at CenturyLink Field saw three different players score goals,
but none of those players were the true star of a special evening.
The night beloned to Steve Zakuani.
The earliest hint the London-born midfielder might be back in the 18 for the first time since
June 20 and just the second time since breaking his leg in April of 2011 came via an
early-afternoon tweet from Zakuani: "Wake up on a high, and then I cross my heart and hope to fly,"
it read.
Too many narratives from which to choose this evening, none of these are forced. Quite simple
the play on the field was strong for the majority of the match. The Seattle Sounders managed to
carry their strong play to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rapids. Goals from Eddie Johnson and Alvaro
Fernandez were overshadowed by the appearance of Steve Zakuani.
On a night when the Seattle Sounders were looking for their first league win in nine matches,
the Sounders not only found a way to beat an opponent in league play. They also welcomed back a
player who had been sidelined for far too long.
Goals from Alvaro Fernandez and Eddie Johnson provided the difference in a 2-1 New England
victory at CenturyLink Field on Saturday night, but the story of the night was Steve Zakuani.
Tomorrow's match between the Sounders and Colorado Rapids is ripe with the kind of drama that
catches national attention and it's no surprise that NBC dispatched Arlo White and crew to
broadcast this one.
Sigi has been coy about the availability of Steve Zakuani, who had a tantalizing appearance on
the bench versus Sporting Kansas City but has not appeared on a gameday roster since.
The Portland Timbers came out flat and looked terrible making the Colorado Rapids look like
Manchester United. Colorado took advantage and scored two early goals. Their lead held up as
Portland continued their uninspired play and added another one late. 3-0 loss.
First Half
Portland's road woes continued as they came out flat and uninspired.
The Colorado Rapids have made a concerted effort to bring in a new kind of personnel this
season, revamping their attack with a South American flair under first-year coach Oscar Pareja. The
club is also doing what it can to lock up the incumbent nucleus of the team for the long haul,
though.
I'm French! Why do think I have this outrageous accent!
Before I get started I want to point out that the full list of MLS salaries were released today.
I'll have a full write-up later this weekend but I figured some people might want to take a
look.
Our only look at this year's expansion team, the Montreal Impact, comes tomorrow night at the Dick.
After a disastrous midweek game in DC Colorado is back at home against Sporting KC. Kansas City is
on a 3 game slide after winning their first 7 to start the season. There's a big tailgate for this
one as Kansas City usually brings a good crown. we're doing a BBQ tailgate and the KC fans are
bringing authentic KC BBQ sauce.
Rapids in Colorado punish the unprepared and the undermanned. On Sunday, the Colorado Rapids
went on the road and did the same as their namesake white water, knocking off a nine-man FC Dallas
squad 2-0.
Jaime Castrillon scored in the 61st minute with a header off a Brian Mullan cross and Martin
Rivero netted his first MLS goal with assists from Mullan and Kamani Hill in the 74th minute.
The New England Revolution is all set to take on the Colorado Rapids tonight at Gillette
Stadium. The Revs will be hoping to improve upon a 2-5-0 record, including a three-match losing
streak that spanned the month of April. Colorado, meanwhile, just dominated Chivas by a 4-0
scoreline and will hope that match was the coming-out party they've been waiting for under Oscar
Pareja.
The Colorado Rapids asked the question of whether it was possible on Saturday night to have a
"good" home loss, and the answer appeared to be a definitive maybe.
The Rapids fell at home to the Los Angeles Galaxy 2-1. The loss was the third in a row for the
Rapids and dropped them into the bottom three in the Western Conference with a 3-4-0 record.
Colorado suffered a second straight shutout loss on the road against an opponent it will see
three times this season.
The Rapids fell to 3-3-0 with a 1-0 loss to the Seattle Sounders. Zach Scott scored in 63rd
minuted off of a corner kick to provide the difference.
The result was fitting for the host and reflective of a game where both teams crafted chances,
but both struggled to get the ball in the back of the net.
It wasn't necessarily pretty, but the Seattle Sounders 1-0 win over the Colorado Rapids on
Saturday was exactly what this organization needed. Despite using their fifth different starting
lineup and bringing in a 19th different starter, the Sounders head into their bye week sitting on
10 points through five matches.
Seattle welcomed Colorado Rapids with an unusually warm sunny spring afternoon. Many fans were
ready to roll out the welcome wagon for Brian Mullan, on the condition that Brian Mullan be under
the wagon. It is difficult not to think about these two teams without thinking about the horrendous
tackle on Steve Zakuani last season, and it is Brian Mullan's first trip to Seattle since it
occurred.
Seattle welcomed Colorado Rapids with an unusually warm sunny spring afternoon. Many fans were
ready to roll out the welcome wagon for Brian Mullan, on the condition that Brian Mullan be under
the wagon. It is difficult not to think about these two teams without thinking about the horrendous
tackle on Steve Zakuani last season, and it is Brian Mullan's first trip to Seattle since it
occurred.
Seattle welcomed Colorado Rapids with an unusually warm sunny spring afternoon. Many fans were
ready to roll out the welcome wagon for Brian Mullan, on the condition that Brian Mullan be under
the wagon. It is difficult not to think about these two teams without thinking about the horrendous
tackle on Steve Zakuani last season, and it is Brian Mullan's first trip to Seattle since it
occurred.
There will be many steps along the way for Seattle Sounders fans to follow in Steve Zakuani's
steps and move on from last year's brutal incident and today is a major one of those. But overly
focusing on Brian Mullan will ignore that getting three points against a conference opponent is
more important with the new MLS Cup Playoff format.
The big news this week was the return of Steve Zakuani to the Seattle Sounders' starting lineup.
Zakuani was in the starting lineup exactly 500 days after he had his leg snapped by a reckless
Brian Mullan tackle and didn't look much worse for wear. Aaron and I come away believing he's much
closer to being full strength than we suspected he'd be after he picked up an assist in Sunday's
tie against FC Dallas.
Jozy Altidore with 2 more goals for AZ, this time against Heracles. Giving him 4 in 2 games to
start the season. EAST 46 Sporting Kansas City (31) 44 New York Red Bulls (43) 41 Houston Dynamo
(37) 41 Chicago Fire SC (30) 37 DC United (37) ----- 36 Montreal Impact (39) 30 Columbus Crew (23)
24 Philadelphia Union (24) 23 New England Revolution (27) 20 Toronto FC (27) WEST 47 San Jose
Earthquakes (48) 42 Real Salt Lake (37) 40 Seattle Sounders FC (34) 37 LA Galaxy (44) 37 Vancouver
Whitecaps FC (28) ----- 32 FC Dallas (33) 27 CD Chivas USA (15) 26 Colorado Rapids (32) 21 Portland
Timbers (24) -Sat Aug 18
Seattle Sounders FC 2-0 Vancouver Whitecaps FC - SS goals by Fredy Montero + Eddie Johnson
Venue: CenturyLink Field
Atten: 55,718
Toronto FC 0-1 Sporting Kansas City - SKC goal by Kei Kamara
Venue: BMO Field
Atten: 18,151
Montreal Impact 3-1 San Jose Earthquakes - MI goals by Marco Di Vaio, Lamar Neagle + Patrice
Bernier(PK).
It is GOOD to be back. Both from a two-week break and back to winning ways. One player
especially glad to be back is Goalkeeper Michael Gspurning, in his first game action since early
May. And he didn't disappoint. After an inexplicably undefended through ball, Gspurning returned to
his old, box-dominating ways with 3 saves and loads of punchouts.
Saturday night's game will be remembered for sometime as Steve Zakuani's first game back. What
may be overlooked in our memories is that the Seattle Sounders won. They did so by passing the ball
better then they have for some time. While both goals came (directly and indirectly) out of dead
ball situations, it was the flow of the team that was special.
The Seattle Sounders are starting to look like the best team in Major League Soccer, and three
of the team's top stars helped lead the Sounders to a two-win week as they climbed up the Western
Conference standings.
Fredy Montero, Mauro Rosales and Osvaldo Alonso were all vital in Seattle's Week 9 victories
against the LA Galaxy and Philadelphia Union, and all three earned spots on SBI's MLS Best XI.
Reports & reaction from the Union's dominating win over Toronto. A candid Adu on what he needs to
do. Nowak tells Polish press if the national team needs him, "I'm available." Ocean City clinches
PDL playoff spot, another thumping win for Reading, while Harrisburg fights back for a 4 point
weekend. More news.
On talking to players after a game like that:
"I had a chat with the guys at half time, a chat at full time. Obviously we've got a game Tuesday
so it's a quick turnaround."
If the quick turnaround is a good thing:
"Not if we play the way we played tonight.
Week 11 was a gamble week for my Fantasy club that in the end did not pay off. A low 47 points
on the week just five over the week's average.
I gambled with my midfield yet again with brining in Brian Mullan who had two games on the week
and Dax McCarty. The Mullan gamble didn't work out as he got hurt and only gave out a single
point.
How about that? The Union make their first three-pointer of the year. There were some interesting tactics employed by manager John Hackworth, but I was glad to see that Amobi Okugo’s plan of growing his hair longer to gain a few more inches on corner kicks is working well. It’s probably too early to say that this was a must win for the Union, but after the way last season, the offseason, and the home opener all went, a win was needed to instill a bit of confidence into the team.
Steve Zakuani's 2012 will be remembered not for his play on the field, but for the act of returning to the field of play and his exchange of jersey's with Brian Mullan.
By Tony Edwards - San Jose, CA (Oct 18, 2012) US Soccer Players -- Tony looks at CONCACAF avoiding taking the lead on scheduling for 2013, a landmark event in Stuart Holden's recovery, and Brian Mullan's incredible playoff run ending. Now that the United States has advanced to the final round of World Cup 2014 qualifications (the hex), when can I buy my tickets for US home games?
The teams scored a goal each in a bracing first few minutes of the match. The first came off
another Eddie Johnson header - a skill Seattle's been trying to acquire for years without much luck
until now. And the answer came shortly after when a Brian Mullan cross on the ground was allowed to
roll all the way through the box to be knocked into the goal by Drew Moor at the far post.
The Official Podcast of MLSReserves.com. In this episode Luke and Pedro discuss the meaning behind
Steve Zakuani's embrace of Brian Mullan, why New England is to be feared and who the most
underrated forward in MLS is. Also covered is Eric Wynalda's recent appointment to Interim Head
Coach of Atlanta and whether or not you should see The Amazing Spider-Man.
After Rafa Marquez' latest act of misconduct, the consensus question seems to be not if MLS'
Disciplinary Committee will suspend the New York Red Bulls Designated Player, but how for long?
Marquez' much-publicized, off-ball, NFL-style tackle and kick to San Jose Earthquakes winger
Shea Salinas resulted in Salinas breaking his clavicle, and he is set to undergo surgery and miss
the next 6-to-8 weeks, according to the Earthquakes.
