The full All Star Roster has just been announced and the Rapid’s very own Jeff Larentowicz has made the cut. The Ginga’ Ninja has been rock solid at defensive mid for the Rapids this season.  Larentowicz has helped the Rapids maintain an enviable defensive record this season by breaking up attacks in front of the back four. His game isn’t about finesse but of crunching tackles and simple distribution.

While these All Star games are meaningless, they are fun to watch.  These teams make me day dream of the day when the salary cap is lifted and teams can purchase rosters such as this one. The team looks like the American version of Chelsea. Despite the friendly nature of this match, I’m sure the players are excited about testing their abilities against Manchester United, one of the elite sides in Europe. This match is a few steps up from past All Star matches featuring Celtic or Fulham.

Here is the full All Star Roster:

Goalkeepers (2): Donovan Ricketts (LA Galaxy), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

Defenders (7): Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Jamison Olave (Real Salt Lake), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Wilman Conde (Chicago Fire), Kevin Alston (New England Revolution)

Midfielders (9): Dwayne De Rosario (Toronto FC), Marco Pappa (Chicago Fire), Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (Columbus Crew), Sebastien Le Toux (Philadelphia Union), David Ferreira (FC Dallas), Brad Davis (Houston Dynamo), Shalrie Joseph (New England Revolution), Jeff Larentowicz (Colorado Rapids)

Forwards (5): Edson Buddle (LA Galaxy), Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy), Juan Pablo Angel (New York Red Bulls), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo), Jaime Moreno (D.C. United)

I have no real arguments with the list. It would’ve been nice to see a few rookies like Michael Stephens, Danny Mwanga, or Andy Najar selected. I feel those players are more deserving than Brian Ching or Brad Davis at the moment.

The midfield has an international feel to it. On the bright side, it’s good to see that MLS is attracting talented international players. The down side, it’s a reminder that the US isn’t producing enough creative playmakers.

Only two DP’s made the All Star team this year, Landon Donovan and Juan Pablo Angel. These two players are model DPs in my opinion. Both have the skill and production rate to warrant their high salaries, and both are invested in the growth and development of MLS.

Of the other DPs, Beckham is out this season with an Achilles injury. Theirry Henry, Blaise Nkufo, Mista, and Branko Boskovic have just arrived to their new clubs. Freddie Ljungberg and Julian de Guzman are the only two DPs in real contention for an All Star spot that failed to make the cut.

Per the CBA, the league must pick 9 more All Star players. These players will receive the All Star bonus but won’t dress on game day.

Here are my picks for the final 9 non-active All Star players:

Bobby Convey, Michael Stephens, Andy Najar, Conor Casey, Drew Moor, Matt Pickens, Alvaro Saborio, Jimmy Nielson, and Brek Shea.

Share your thoughts on the All Star roster.

The Rapids lost 1-0 to the LA Galaxy on Wednesday night.  The Rapids suffered their second loss in a row and their first home loss of the season.  The Rapids managed to outplay the highly regarded LA squad for about 60 minutes but failed to convert. The Galaxy had their fair share of possession and chances on goal, but the early goal on the road combined with the elevation, forced the LA club to play more conservatively in the second half.

This is the second time the Rapids out played their opponent and failed to come away with any points. Coach Smith believes there are plenty of positives to take away from this match and hopes his players will believe in their quality.

“I think we’ve seen a group for seven games now that have kept the ball well. Good possession, have a nice shape, we’ve evolved a little bit, but we’ve certainly got enough strength and enough quality to be reckoned with. Sadly we’ve lost two games on the spin, and you know our stock will go down somewhat, but as long as those guys keep the belief in that changing room, that they are a good team, which they are, I do believe we’ll get enough points to reach the achievements.”

“If we continue to play like that I have no fear that we will achieve something we haven’t’ done for the past 3 or 4 years. The challenge is obviously to continue to play like that, and be a tad more clinical in front of goal.”

The sentiment was echoed by Drew Moor in the changing room. He thought the group played extremely well but failed in that final third.  Drew thinks it is only a matter of time before the goals start pouring in.

“Obviously we need to score goals. We have some fantastic attacking players, some great goal scorers.  The goals will come, I have no doubt they will come. They’ve come from other sources lately, but they will start coming and we need to be patient.”

The Rapids will have a few days off before they resume training.  Their next match is on Saturday May 15, at DC United.

Player Ratings:

Pickens: 7, best game of the season so far. Looked solid and had some big saves.

Earls: 8, excellent on both sides of the ball, a real revelation this season.

Baudet: 7, not a perfect game but a fantastic performance by the big man.  Kept Buddle off the score sheet.

Moor: 6, much better when he moved into the middle, looked a little uncomfortable on the right.

Wynne: 6, earned man of the match, but needed to do more offensively in the second half.

Larentowicz: 7, moved the ball well for the Rapids and took control of the midfield.

Mastroeni: 6, not his most dominating performance, but helped control the midfield.

Ballouchy: 5, ineffective as an attacking midfielder but great at keeping possession.

Thompson: 5, invisible for most of the first half, mainly because the Rapids failed to use the left side of the field. Substituted at the half.

Cummings: 7, electric going forward and created plenty of opportunities. Drops a point for failing to put the ball on frame.

Casey: 6, won some important physical battles but wasn’t available to convert chances.

Subs:

Clark: 7, made an impact off the bench. Was able to get outside the defenders and deliver crosses.

Lopez: 6, first few touches were poor, but provided some very dangerous deliveries at the death of the match.

The fifth week is in the books and the league looks like it is divided into three groups.

The top teams are Los Angeles, New York, and Columbus. I don’t know if these teams will stay the elite come October but, for now, these are the top performers in the league.

The second group consists of teams working their way into the top 3. Kansas, Colorado, and Seattle have the talent to finish at the top of their respective conferences. In the first 5 weeks, they’ve been less consistent than the three teams above them. While Colorado is moving up, both Kansas and Seattle have staggered a bit and move down the rankings.

The third group, and the largest group, is composed of everyone else. Each team has a few issues to resolve before they can start moving towards the top of table.

Houston and New England are missing key players due to injury. Their combined injury list is comprised of All Star caliber players: Shalrie Joseph, Taylor Twellman, Matt Reis, Geoff Cameron, and Brian Ching. Accordingly, both teams continue their dissent down the rankings.

The Chicago Fire, DC United, Toronto FC, and Chivas USA are going through the natural struggles associated with change. All four lost key players and brought in new coaches. Chicago and Chivas seem to be adapting a little bit more quickly than Toronto and DC, and are slowly moving up the rankings.

While DC has the talent to turn their season around, Toronto is a one man show at the moment. De Rosario is the only difference maker. The club needs DP de Guzman to prove his worth and the front office needs to look at bringing in some quality players. Even though Toronto earned another victory, I still think they are the worst team in the league. DC, probably the better team on paper, keeps the bottom spot and will stay there until they earn a win.

San Jose and Dallas are underachieving at the moment. San Jose had a promising preseason and some penciled them in as real contenders. Although they’ve put in some solid performances, they still aren’t living up to their promise. Dallas was on a tear at the end of last season. Most believed Dallas would carry their form into this season, but their lack of offseason acquisitions foretold their early struggles in the first 5 games. San Jose isn’t punished for their failure to win on the road, but Dallas drops a few spots after earning another tie at home.

The one team that I can’t figure out is Real Salt Lake. Although their surprisingly bad start to the season isn’t unprecedented, both Columbus and Houston struggled after winning their MLS Cup, RSL aren’t getting played off the park by anyone. It seems like they are just missing something at the moment. RSL stays 8th, and in the top half, despite another loss. The fact that they’ve come up short against the top teams in the league works in their favor.

Finally, the Union is suffering because they are an expansion team. Their inconsistent and, at times, inept performances will continue until the summer time. Hopefully Nowak has some veteran acquisitions in mind. Philly moves down to round out the bottom 3 for week 5.

MLS Power Rankings after Week 5:

1. - (1) Los Angeles Galaxy: Still undefeated.

2. - (2) New York Red Bulls: Another win, but still unconvincing.

3. ↑ (4) Columbus Crew: Beat RSL, still undefeated

4. ↑ (6) Colorado Rapids: Pablo and Mehdi scored . . . weird.

5. ↓ (3) Kansas City: Kei Kamara with the blooper of the year.

6. ↓ (5) Seattle: Result that makes you go hmmm

7. - (7) Houston: Attacking players are dropping like flies.

8. - (8) RSL: MLS Cup hangover.

9. - (9) San Jose: Out classed by Chivas.

10. - (10) NE Revolution: Lose at home without Joseph.

11. ↑ (13) Chicago: Finally turning things around.

12. ↑ (14) Chivas USA: Kljestan scores, Chivas win.

13. ↓ (11) FC Dallas: Dallas can’t get it together.

14. ↓ (12) Phil. Union: Orozco with the requisite F-up of the week.

15. - (15) Toronto FC: Win at home, but Seattle made it easy.

16. - (16) DC United: Bye week to sulk in their misery.

A record breaking weekend of MLS action in the books. There were a total of eight matches played on Saturday, the most in MLS history. The biggest winners of the weekend were the New England Revolution and the Philadelphia Union.  The Revs came back from a 1-0 deficit to smash Toronto 4-1, thanks to a hat trick by rookie Schilawski.  The Union recorded their first home victory in franchise history in front of 34,000 fans.  The Union defeated DC United 3-2 thanks to a hat trick by Sebastian LeToux.

The LA Galaxy take the top spot in the rankings this week. They are undefeated in three matches and have yet to concede a goal.  Kansas moved to 2nd after posting another win at home against the Colorado Rapids.  Kansas travels to Seattle next week and hosts LA the week after, so we’ll see how long they can hold on to that 2nd spot. NY drops a spot after their frustrating 2-0 loss to Chivas.

Chivas stays in 12th despite their first win of the season.  Similarly, the Rapids hold on to the 8th spot after dropping a tough match at Kansas. They’ll plummet down the rankings if they get anything but a victory when they host Toronto next week. Columbus stays 4th after a 2-2 draw at Dallas.  Toronto and DC United remain at the bottom of the pack.  The good news is that United finally scored some goals and Toronto . . . didn’t lose by 5.

The big movers are the Philadelphia Union, San Jose Earthquakes, and the New England Revolution.  All posted big wins this weekend.  Struggling champs, Real Salt Lake, drop a few notches despite earning a tie at Seattle. Seattle, Dallas, and Houston both drop a few spots after struggling at home this weekend. Finally, the Chicago Fire, now winless in 3 matches, drop to 14th.

MLS Power Rankings after Week 3:

1.     ↑ (5) Los Angeles Galaxy: Buddle 5, opposing teams 0.

2.     ↑ (3) Kansas City: Home field advantage gets KC another W.

3.     ↓ (2) New York Red Bulls: Unlucky, and can’t connect up top.

4.     - (4) Columbus Crew: 2nd half surge and almost had a road win.

5.     ↓ (1) RSL: Champs fought back to earn a tie at Seattle.

6.     ↑ (11) NE Revolution: Rookie hat trick, Nicol is the Superdraft king.

7.      ↓ (7) Seattle: Home woes continue, at least Zakuani scored.

8.      - (8) Colorado Rapids: Attack is MIA.

9.      ↓ (6) Houston: No Ching and now no Landin, not looking good.

10.   ↑ (13) San Jose: Alvarez and Opara punished the Fire.

11.   ↑ (14) Philadelphia Union: LeToux hat-trick, 34,000 in the stands.

12.    - (12) Chivas USA: First win with a little help from NY’s keeper.

13.   ↓ (10) FC Dallas: Squeak out tie at home thanks to Avila.

14.   ↓ (9) Chicago: Pappa with a blast but not enough, still winless.

15.   - (15) Toronto FC:  Preki is feeling the heat, 4-1 loss to Revs.

16.   - (16) DC United: Moreno up top + Castillo on the bench = goals, but not Win.

Rapids traded a second round draft pick for San Jose forward Quincy Amarikwa. Here is the press release.

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (Wednesday, April 7, 2010) - The Colorado Rapids have acquired forward Quincy Amarikwa in a trade with the San Jose Earthquakes, the club announced today.

In exchange, Colorado send their natural second round 2012 Major League Soccer SuperDraft pick to San Jose.

In other roster moves, the Rapids placed midfielder Ciaran O’Brien (left hip sprain) and forward Ross Schunk (torn anterior cruciate ligament in right knee) on Injured Reserve.

Amarikwa comes to Colorado having scored one goal and adding two assists in 25 appearances with San Jose. A quick player with an ability to unbalance defenses, the second-year forward played seven minutes in the Earthquakes’ 2010 season opener against Real Salt Lake.

Quincy Amarikwa - Forward

Height: 5-9
Weight: 180
Date of Birth: October 29, 1987
Hometown: Bakersfield, CA
College: UC Davis
Last Club: San Jose Earthquakes
Roster Status: Senior

Transaction
MLS

Colorado Rapids - Acquired forward Quincy Amarikwa from the San Jose Earthquakes in exchange Colorado’s natural second round 2012 Major League Soccer SuperDraft pick. Placed midfielder Ciaran O’Brien and forward Ross Schunk on Injured Reserve.

I wonder how this move will affect Andre Akpan?

Only five matches were played this weekend.  Columbus, Kansas, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Jose, and Toronto had a bye week.  The LA Galaxy, Houston Dynamo, and NY Red Bulls all secured victories over Chivas, Real Salt Lake, and Seattle Sounders respectively.  The Chicago Fire and the Colorado Rapids settled for a 2-2 tie.

Salt Lake hold on to the spot by a hair despite a disappointing 2-1 loss at Houston.  New England jumped up four spots after their 2-0 victory over an ineffective DC United.  The second biggest movers, up three spots, are Houston and New York. Both notched big victories over very good opponents. Because LA and Houston moved up the charts, Seattle, Colorado, and Chicago dropped a few spots.  Similarly, Kansas and Columbus dropped a spot to make way for New York. Chivas, San Jose, Philadelphia, and Toronto all dropped a spot.  Dallas holds on to the tenth spot. While DC United spends another week at the bottom.

MLS Power Rankings after Week 2:

1.     - (1) RSL: Bad day for Jamison Olave.

2.     ↑ (5) New York Red Bulls: Win at Seattle shows this team is for real.

3.     ↓ (2) Kansas City: Bye week; host Colorado on Saturday.

4.     ↓ (3) Columbus Crew: Bye week, at Dallas on Saturday

5.     ↑ (7) Los Angeles Galaxy: Edson Buddle could have a career year.

6.     ↑ (9) Houston: Victory marred by Ching injury.

7.     ↓ (4) Seattle: Played well but need more from their attackers.

8.     ↓ (6) Colorado Rapids: Tied Chicago but let the lead slip twice.

9.     ↓ (8) Chicago: Got their act together in 2nd half to tie Colorado.

10.   - (10) FC Dallas: Bye week, host Columbus on Saturday.

11.   ↑ (15) New England Revolution: Mansally scores a brace to down DC.

12.   ↓ (11) Chivas USA: Struggling to score and defense isn’t much better.

13.   ↓ (12) San Jose: Bye week, at Chicago Fire on Saturday.

14.   ↓ (13) Philadelphia Union: Bye week, host DC United.

15.   ↓ (14) Toronto FC:  Bye week, at New England on Saturday.

16.   - (16) DC United: Two games, negative six goal differential.

MLS announced today that teams are allowed a second DP slot and the option of purchasing a third. An official announcement should be made later today.

Here are the basics of the new rule:

• MLS confirmed that these new rules will be effective immediately.
• The Third DP costs $250,000.
• That money used to purchase the 3rd DP slot is evenly shared as allocation money with all the other MLS clubs that do not have three DPs.
• DP player takes up $335,000 of a team’s salary budget (13% of the teams salary budget)
• This is a reduction from the old rule which charged $415,000
• Allocation money can be used to bring salary cap hit down to $185,000
• DP player takes up $167,500 if signed mid-season.
• Old DP rule expired at the end of the 2009 season
• New DP rules doesn’t expire
• DP slots cannot be traded and no team can acquire a 4th slot or more.
• DP slots can be used to sign existing MLS players.
• If a DP is transferred to a club in another country, the MLS team will recoup the money spent on the DP before the league transfer split kicks in.

What do you think about this new rule?

FC Denver and the Green Army are selling $14 tickets on the terrace for the Rapids home opener against the Chicago Fire on Saturday, April 3 at 2pm.  The Rapids started the season on a high note, defeating Chivas USA on the road. The Fire, led by three time World Cup veteran Brian Mcbride, is looking for their first win of the season after falling to NY in the season opener.

Contact us at: dvalenzuela13@gmail.com if you are interested in tickets. Please contact us by Wednesday.

FC Denver is providing tickets at a low price because we want all the soccer fans in Denver to join us for a memorable afternoon of soccer.  Here is what people have said about the Supporters Terrace:

“The Rapids’ Supporters Terrace will be a perfect opportunity for us to take our fan experience to a new level,” said Rapids Managing Director Jeff Plush. “We believe that through our supporters groups and those most dedicated Rapids fans, the Supporters Terrace will create that truly authentic soccer experience at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.”

The new Supporters Terrace will allow each of the Rapids’ various supporters groups and other rabid fans a place to call their own in the stadium. Flags, banners, instruments, singing and other passionate support of the team at home games will all be encouraged, making the Supporters Terrance the place to be for Colorado’s most enthusiastic soccer fans. Special vending options will also only be available for Terrace fans.

“The Rapids have proved with the creation of the Rapids Supporters Terrace that their main focus is building an atmosphere that all supporters can be proud of,” said Mark Bodmer, Founder of Rapids Supporters Club Class VI. “The Supporters Terrace will allow Rapids fans to now become an influencing twelfth man. This move speaks loudly and shows the Rapids’ commitment to soccer fans.”

“What makes this such a big announcement is that the Rapids are involving the fans in the decision-making process,” added Patrick Quinn, president of the Centennial Firm Rapids Supporters Club. “The organization is showing that they are supportive of us and want to help us create an environment where we as supporters can grow and be successful.”

“The Bobbies are thrilled to join the other Rapids Supporters Groups in the newly-commissioned Supporters Terrace at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park,” said Jon Forget, President of the newly formed Bulldog Rapids Supporters Group, also known as The Bobbies. “The Rapids organization has put their best foot forward to help improve the gameday atmosphere at the stadium, and our group is looking forward to joining the other Rapids Supporters Groups in making the Terrace the epicenter of an elevated atmosphere at the park.”

I hope everyone can make it out to the big match.

Matchday 1 has come and gone.  It was a great weekend for teams out west, 4 wins 2 ties and 2 losses. The East didn’t fair quite as well with only 3 wins and 5 losses.  Kansas and RSL picked up big wins at the expense of DC and San Jose.  Columbus, LA, Colorado, Seattle, and NY started the season off on the right foot. Houston and Dallas were the only teams to tie. Chicago were a little unlucky not to earn a tie. Toronto, Philadelphia, New England, and Chivas have some work to do.

Here are the Green Army’s first power rankings of the season:

MLS Power Rankings after Week 1

1.       RSL: Champs crushed San Jose, Morales is back.

2.       Kansas City: New and improved Wizards.

3.       Columbus Crew: Goal and assist from Schelotto.

4.       Seattle: Zakuani, Montero, and Ljungberg . . . enough said

5.       New York Red Bulls: Lindpere new comer of the year?

6.       Colorado Rapids: Big Wynne on the road.

7.       Los Angeles Galaxy: Sloppy but New England looked worse.

8.       Chicago: Unlucky, but they’ll bounce back.

9.       Houston: Missing Holden . . . maybe.

10.   FC Dallas: Happy with a tie and 8,000 in attendance . . . sigh.

11.   Chivas USA: They have talent, but need more time

12.   San Jose: Lost 3-0 at home, same old Earthquakes

13.   Philadelphia Union: Working class, bordering on no class.

14.   Toronto FC:  Things are different but results are the same.

15.   New England Revolution: No Joseph, no goals. Schilawski is good.

16.   DC United: Just plain ugly.

Share your thoughts on matchday 1.

The morning session looked like it consisted mainly of the players making the trip to LA on Friday. The rest of the squad was scheduled to participate in the reserve scrimmage that was canceled due to the weather.  There was a ton of media out at training today.  The television news crews were out as were several newspaper journalists.  Nick Thomas, former writer of the blog WeWantRapidman, was out reporting for his new gig with MLSsoccer.com.  Brian Jennings from Soccer365 was also out there getting in some comments from players.  So there should be plenty of Rapids stories popping up in the next few days.

Training Observations:

• Jeff Larentowicz trained with the first team in the morning but was scheduled to get a few minutes with the reserves this afternoon. The word is that he is ready to play but it still isn’t clear if he will start.
• Colin Clark should make the trip to LA and play some part in the match.
• Scott Palguta is recovering from his Achilles tendinitis but probably won’t make the trip to LA. He was scheduled to play 60 minutes in the reserve match.
• Jaime Smith and Julien Baudet are shaking off a few knocks they took over the weekend but should be available on Friday.
• A few of the players had already gone back inside by the time they opened up training to the media but this is who I recall being out there : Earls, Moor, Kimura, Balluchy, LaBrocca, Pickens, Pablo, Cummings, Casey, and Larentowicz

Notes:

• The Rapids need to have their roster set by 3pm tomorrow
• Pat Noonan was waived
• MLSsoccer.com is supposed to launch tomorrow afternoon. (Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed)
• The word is that coach Smith is looking at a few players that have or might get waived from their MLS teams in the next couple of days. Busch? Elliot? Van den Bergh? DiRaimondo? Talley?
• The Rapids kick off the season at Chivas USA this Friday, March 26, at the Home Depot Center. Game starts at 8:30pm.

Final Thoughts:

Everyone is excited and anxious to get the season started.  Its been a tough preseason and the guys are ready to start playing some games.