Friday, January 30, 2009

Rapids Building for the Future

In a very positive move for the club, the Rapids have this morning signed 4 of the team's most promising young players to multi-year contracts.

With the combination of veteran players such as Pablo Mastroeni re-signing for the club, and now today's news of several of the Rapids' key young stars comitting to the Rapids for the next several years, the future is looking very bright for Gary Smith's squad.
Wondering who the players are? Look for a full press release in the near future on ColoradoRapids.com, once all the contract details are finalized.

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7 comments:

ColoradoRapidsFan.com said...

Is it possible we can use our new partnership with Real Maryland FC to develop this talent? It would be great to see the Rapids setup a multi-tier development process like the EPL has.

Unknown said...

We have a lot of young players on the roster, so who? I say Clark, LaBrocca, Peterson, and ...... Dalby!

Mark said...

I'm happy with 3 out of 4 of these signings. Kimura is the odd man out for me. Please, Kosuke, prove me wrong this year.

JonForget said...

If we are sending any players to Maryland it will certainly not be Clark, Labrocca, Harvey, or Kimura. They are all starters or getting time with the first team, and would not stand to benefit from playing in a lower american league. However, some of our younger untested talent may benefit from the relationship with the Maryland team. Oh yeah, Kimura is a great player and a great right back! If anyone deserves questioning, it is the suspect play of Ihemelu. Being fast isn't everything in Football, you have to understand the game and use your head.

JonForget said...

Kimura is smart hard working defenseman that has the ability to attack as well as defend. As a Rapids fan I love to see him push forwards with a bit of confidence and contribute to the attack.

ColoradoRapidsFan.com said...

Just got the press release

COMMERCE CITY, COLO. (Friday, January 30, 2009) – The Colorado Rapids announced today that the team has signed midfielders Colin Clark and Nick LaBrocca and defenders Jordan Harvey and Kosuke Kimura to new four-year contracts. Per league and team policy, financial terms were not disclosed.

JonForget, you are right we certainly wouldn't send the likes of Clark and LaBrocca to Maryland FC. My thought was the young talent they've talked about in the youth Rapids system, or perhaps some of our late round draft picks who might not yet be ready for the pace of play. Get them playing regular competitive footy in a professional league.

Unknown said...

These are good choices, these guys are proven starters, they all have aspects of their game to work on. IMO, Kimura in particular needs to work on his positioning and decision making on air balls, and not have to rely so much on his speed. Harvey showed good improvement last year getting forward and contributing to the attack, hopefully the improvement will continue. Clark needs to work on teamwork, field vision, and do a better job of possesion. LaBrocca ... I'd like to see him pull the trigger a little more often.