The Rapids, and the rest of MLS, resume matches this coming Saturday. The 2 week World Cup break allowed teams to rest players, regroup, and bring in some trialists. The Rapids are no exception. Plenty of new faces have come through the Rapids training in the last two weeks, including trialists, academy players, and a few college players on summer break.

Training Observations:

• Kosuke Kimura is training and moving well. No word yet if he will be available for this weekend.
• Forward Ross Schunk is progressing well from his knee injury. He started running straight lines this week.
• Oscar Murillo is no longer with the group. From what I understand, his loan is over and the Rapids didn’t pick up his option. He is back with his club team in Colombia.
• Jamie Smith was moving well and it looks like his injury problems are behind him. Jamie could break into the starting 11 against Houston.
• I’m starting to wonder if Claudio Lopez has anything left in the tank. He hasn’t shown drastic improvement in the last few weeks. But then again, I don’t see him train every day.
• Andre Akpan is on loan with Real Maryland in the USL Division 2. He will return to the Rapids on July 3. Akpan needed more playing time and this was an opportunity to get him some minutes.
• Danish defender Ulrich Lindquist (spelling?) is on trial with the Rapids. Looked solid, trained primarily with the first team.
• Julian Baudet is struggling with a hamstring injury, but looked very agile when he dipped and ducked reporter’s questions on France’s early exit from the World Cup. In the end, Baudet answered every question.
• Scott Palguta should get the start alongside Drew Moor this weekend.
• Ciaran O’brien was not at training.

Notes:

• Apparently the players are having a good laugh at the expense of Baudet and the French team. On the flip side, none of the players have said anything to Coach Smith about the US v. England match. A wise decision.
• The Colorado Rapids visit the Houston Dynamo on Saturday June 26 at 6:30pm.
• The US Men’s National Team faces Ghana in the round of the 16 on Saturday June 26 at 12:30pm.

Coach Smith on Jamie Smith, adding a defender, and the trialist:

On Jaime Smith starting against Houston:

“It will be pretty close, I mean the Columbus free kick, the cross for Conor, there have been some creative moments that have earned us points, in fact four points. He’s looking fit, he’s looking strong, and he’s looking healthy. He’s one of four guys, and that includes Omar, who are fighting for those outside slots. The important thing now is that the form players get the chance and when games aren’t going quite as well as we might like, we’ve not only got fresh legs, we’ve got fresh quality legs coming on, and that’s a big improvement on even last year.”

Adding a defender:

“We’ve certainly looked at a couple of other bodies. If you look at our defensive record, which is the second best in the league at the moment, we’ve only conceded nine goals, which is a fabulous tally. A testament not only to Matt [Pickens] and the back four, but a lot of hard work in front of them. I’m pleased with what I’m seeing with the guys we’ve got, but I’m also very mindful we are thin on the ground with defenders. We’ll probably need to add one. It will be important when that window opens, that we are close to maybe adding a character that can continue our improvement and certainly in depth.”

On the Danish trialist:

“We have a guy with us at the moment Ulrich Lindquist (spelling?) who is from Denmark, who has done ever so well. Whether or not we can come to any sort of terms, or whether or not the guy actually wants to come here, or indeed that in the end of the period of with us I want to keep him. We need to add a defender somewhere along the way now. Hopefully that is sooner rather than later.”

The group is feeling confident after the win against Seattle. After a tough lose on Wednesday, the Rapids were happy to get back to winning ways. They have 16 points at the moment (5-3-1), enough to put them in a 3 way tie for 3rd. Plus, the Rapids have a few games in hand. At the moment, the Rapids are on a good pace and looking to improve as the season progresses. Not much to report on today, but here are few things of note.

Training Observations:

• Julian Baudet, Ciaran O’Brien, and Jamie Smith participated in full training and the fitness session.

• A few players practiced freekicks. Mehdi Ballouchy and Jeff Larentowicz were the most impressive among them.

• Kimura was not at training and there is no set date for his return.

• Ciaran O’Brien is likely going on loan, but he doesn’t know when or where. He says he’s been healthy for a month and is waiting to get off the injury reserve list.

Notes:

• The Rapids host the Columbus Crew on Saturday June 5.

Final Thoughts:

I noticed that both Jaime Smith and Claudio Lopez were training at full stride with the group.  Both have struggled with fitness issues, Jaime had a hamstring injury and Claudio joined the group late. As of right now, both think they are ready to play but have to wait on Coach Smith and the staff to see if they get that chance.

Nevertheless, watching them train made me ask myself, “do the Rapids finally have depth in their attack?” Although there is a great deal of improvement in that particular area, my answer at the moment is “no”.  We have plenty of bodies but we don’t know enough about certain players to really say we have depth.

Here are the players available: Wells Thompson, Conor Casey, Omar Cummings, Mehdi Ballouchy, Colin Clark, Jamie Smith, Claudio Lopez, Andre Akpan, and Quincy Amarikwa.

This season; Conor Casey, Omar Cummings, Mehdi Ballouchy, Wells Thompson, and Colin Clark have shown they are quality MLS players. The jury is still out on Jamie Smith, Claudio Lopez, Quincy Amarikwa, and Andre Akpan.

As of right now, the Rapids only have one quality attacking sub coming off the bench in Colin Clark. Quincy Amarikwa has contributed but, to some extent, has shown his limitations. Akpan has yet to feature in a league match and it might still be a little too early for the young striker to contribute.   That leaves Jaime Smith and Claudio Lopez holding the key to the Rapids depth.

I think we can reassess the Rapids depth when both Claudio and Jamie start playing significant minutes.  Both have impressive resumes and are highly regarded, but neither has had the opportunity to impress on the field.    When Jaime and Claudio are fit the Rapids would have cover for Mehdi (attacking center mid) and Omar (right wing) in the attack.

Until then, my answer to the depth question is “no”. That being said, their recent progress at training shows promise and we should have the opportunity to assess them soon.

Share your thoughts on the Rapids current depth in attack? What areas do you think the Rapids are solid and where would you like to see Coach Smith bring in new players or possibly a DP?