COMMERCE CITY, Colo. — The Colorado Rapids’ two newest signings, Macoumba Kandji and Brian Mullan, present quite a study in contrast.
Thursday was their first time training with their new club. Mullan, at just 5-foot-8 and 150 pounds, was all hustle and bustle and terrier-like in a hard-fought scrimmage. Kandji, with his sleek 6-foot-4 frame, was all grace with greyhound-like speed.
Oh, and the tall forward has a pretty nice pair of blue-and-white boots, too.
Mullan, who was born in New York but moved to Colorado at the age of four, said he was having a hard time adjusting to the Rocky Mountains altitude, but he was grateful he didn’t have to just wake up and sweat like he has done so for so many years in Houston.
He said he liked head coach Gary Smith’s direct and clear approach to coaching.
The former Dynamo forward slipped straight into the first team on the right side while Kandji played in the second XI and scored a nice goal off a pinpoint cross from Quincy Amarikwa, one of his rivals for a starting/bench position.
Smith described Kandji as "very sharp."
It seems likely that Mullan will start tomorrow night against New England, while Kandji will see the bench as he waits to relieve either Omar Cummings or Conor Casey.
[inline_node:318587]Either way, Smith has said both will be involved on Saturday night.
Jamie Smith was lining up on the other flank for the first XI with Wells Thompson relegated to the second XI. Gary Smith said the arrival of Mullan may allow different opportunities for Thompson, who has until now exclusively played on one of the flanks for the Rapids.
Smith said Thompson, who has several family members in town for the game Saturday night, could even do a job for the team at fullback. But the former New Englander said his most natural position is in central midfield.
The players also practiced some two-on-two drills. One of the most interesting duels was between Claudio Lopez on one side and Davy Armstrong on the other. When López was scoring for Argentina in a World Cup quarterfinal in 1998 against Holland, Armstrong was 6 years old.
López has not been used in either of the last two home games from the bench. Increasingly, especially with the signings of Kandji and Mullan, López looks likely to fit into the role of impact player off the bench to try and restore the team if it finds itself down on the road. The Argentine playmaker did play in the second half against New York last weekend.
Julien Baudet sat out training and will not start on Saturday in central defense. Marvell Wynne is looking likely to take his place. Wynne, ever-present at the back all season before injuring his hamstring against Houston at the end of August, has missed the last two games.
At the end of practice, a small group of players were seated in a circle on the training pitch. Everyone else had retreated to the locker room, but Amarikwa, Andre Akpan, Armstrong, Ross LaBaeux and Kosuke Kimura were discussing all things soccer and absorbing the crazy trade activity of recent days.
The arrival of Kandji clearly puts extra pressure on Amarikwa and Akpan to get any playing time upfront.
“You can’t control what the front office does,” Akpan told MLSsoccer.com on Thursday. “All you can do is work hard and try and keep yourself in coach’s head.”
