The Colorado Rapids haven’t tinkered much with their MLS Cup-winning squad, adding a couple of young guns in Sanna Nyassi and Joseph Nane and picking up veteran Tyrone Marshall in the offseason.
The truth is, they haven’t really needed to change much. Head coach Gary Smith has been adamant about keeping the core of his championship team together while making some incremental changes here and there.
<a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/road-trip-first-kick"><img src="//league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/2011_road_trip_adidas_logo.png" alt="" width="180"></a><p>Join MLSsoccer.com’s <strong>Jackie Pickering</strong> and <strong>Nick Firchau</strong> as they travel from LA to Vancouver, checking in on all the West Coast teams, meeting with fans, and stopping into adidas HQ in Portland to pick up the game ball for First Kick on March 15 at Qwest Field.</p><p><img src="//league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/pickering-small.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90"><img src="//league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/firchau-small-mug.jpg" alt="" width="90" height="90"></p><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/road-trip-first-kick"><strong>Follow the Road Trip here</strong></a><br> |
But Smith and his staff know there still needs to be a little more competition at one particular spot: left back. And they may have found a player to boost that competition.
Martin John, a 22-year-old currently with Cardiff City in the English Championship, is very much on Smith’s radar as the Rapids boss seeks to strengthen the position currently occupied by Anthony Wallace.
Wallace was competing with Danny Earls for the left back spot last season before making it his own, but he remains a work in progress. Earls was traded to Seattle the day after MLS Cup but has since been waived by the Sounders.
John is London-born but has lived in Italy and Canada and attended the University of Buffalo, where he starred for the Buffalo Bulls from 2007-08. Smith, whose father is a scout at Cardiff City, has been looking at John since last summer.
“We had just signed Anthony and we had Danny,” Smith said of last summer, when they started to look at John. “I think, in terms of additional depth, this is an individual I would hope would be able to challenge for a spot. Physically and athletically, he fits what we are after.”
The Rapids have permission from Cardiff to talk to the player, but should they reach terms with him, he would not be available until after the end of the English season in late May.
In other squad news, it looks increasingly likely that Caleb Folan will join the club soon. The Hull City striker has agreed terms on both sides of the deal, multiple sources at the Rapids and Hull have said. The Republic of Ireland international impressed while on preseason trial with the Rapids in Arizona and made it clear to MLSsoccer.com that he wanted to move to MLS.
The Rapids play the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday and the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday before opening their 2011 season proper with a home game against the Portland Timbers on March 19.
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