DENVER - The Colorado Rapids have had an offseason of worthy attention given to their new home, but when the whistle blows at their state-of-the-art soccer specific stadium Saturday, the Rapids will be sporting a new look between the lines.
With 12 new players wearing the burgundy and blue, the Rapids have seen a nearly 50 percent turnover on their roster since their playoff loss to FC Dallas last October.
"Big turnover, but I think we are more of a team right now," head coach Fernando Clavijo said Tuesday, following an Opening Week luncheon for season ticket holders and the local soccer community. "We have some experience in the back I thought we needed. Last year defensively we struggled a little bit. We added some different quality of players in Greg Vanney and Brandon Prideaux, and we brought some speed in Ugo Ihemelu, so I think we upgraded ourselves tremendously in the back."
Last year's defense tied for the worst in MLS, so it's hard to question the Rapids' focus on the back when they looked to improve for 2007.
Vanney and Prideaux are both eight-year MLS veterans, with Vanney making the playoffs every season he's played, including six with L.A. and the last two with Dallas, and Prideaux taking five trips to the postseason, one with Kansas City and the last four with D.C.
The 23-year-old Ihemelu comes to Colorado after two years in L.A., and is emblematic of the Rapids' faster look for 2007.
"People are going to see probably the fastest guy in the MLS on the defense, which is Ugo," returning defender Mike Petke said of the revamped back line. "A lot of times when a player will get behind him and I'll go over to cover, halfway there he's already made up 10 yards and is in front of him, and I never had to go anyway. It's amazing to play with someone like that. And Greg Vanney, with all his experience around the world, and Brandon Prideaux - it's going to be a new look, but it's going to be a new result as well."
Ihemelu adds a welcome dynamic in the field for a team trying to change their playoff pattern of 10 years without an MLS Cup appearance, but he came to the Rapids at a significant cost. He and striker Herculez Gomez came from L.A. in a trade that sent goaltender Joe Cannon to the Galaxy.
"Sure, losing Joe, he's one of the best 'keepers in the past five years in the league, but when somebody like that moves out it gives somebody else a chance to step in there and maybe take that role," midfielder Kyle Beckerman said. "We got a lot for him. We upgraded in a lot of positions."
The need for an upgrade on the defense was as clear to Petke as anyone, and as one of the few remaining defenders from the 2006 campaign, he's got a good perspective on the need for the Rapids to take the next step.
"We had very good personnel last year on the defense," Petke said. "We had the best goalie in the league. We had a player that played on Real Madrid who played next to me. So I don't think it was a knock on individuals, but as a whole, we didn't get it done at all."
The challenge for the preseason has been to create a cohesive unit with so many new faces in the fold, but by all accounts the chemistry is there and the players are clicking on the field as they get to know each other's game.
"You need to give time to the young players and the new players coming in to have a sense of group, of chemistry," Clavijo said. "We did that throughout the preseason. We allowed them to grow as a team and as a group."
The players shared Clavijo's sense of the team dynamics, a subtle but critical element in finding success together.
"I played with Brandon Prideaux in D.C. for two years, so that's not a big thing there, but just the little things - playing off each other - that we were able to do last year because we knew each other, and having to learn to do that again, that takes some getting used to," Petke said. "But it's gone smoothly. We might struggle at times, but in the end, as a whole, it's going to be a good product."
Apparently the Rapids will have to wait until the end to learn who will fill Cannon's shoes in the net, either last year's backup goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul or the newly acquired veteran Zach Thornton.
"It is a good war right now," Clavijo said of the competition. "We have two quality goalkeepers right now and an outstanding young man in Justin Hughes coming up. But it's a good race. I think they're probably going to know game time Saturday."
Clavijo likes the balance of Thornton's experience and Coundoul's promise, and hinted that he might be tempted to divide their time a bit more than he would normally, perhaps giving Coundoul the starting role, but turning to Thornton when the occasion calls for it.
"You're going to see a combination of things," Clavijo said. "You may see some games that we use a specific goalkeeper because we need to play outside the box, where we need somebody who has a lot more experience and can manage a game better. It can depend on the opponent, and it may depend on our needs."
No one is counting the competition as closed, but Coundoul's two years studying at the feet of Cannon should prove useful in preparing him to take on the added responsibility.
"I'm ready for the challenge," Coundoul said. "I'm more mature now. I have a little more experience, and I feel comfortable playing with the 'A' team, since I played five games last year. The coach believes in me and my teammates believe in me, and having [Thornton], who's been in the league for years, is just going to make me better, because Zach is one of the top goalies in the league and he's got tons of experience. If I'm competing against him, that's going to make me a better goalkeeper."
The Rapids will need as good a goalkeeper as they can get to stand in Cannon's footsteps, but with a formidable new core of defenders mixing in with younger players poised to make an impact, they have reason to feel confident in having met their biggest offseason needs and making themselves better as a team.
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
