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Colorado Rapids preview Posted: Thursday April 10, 2003 3:25 PMUpdated: Thursday April 10, 2003 5:18 PM
SCOUTING REPORT So shallow was the depth on Colorado's roster last season that when an injury sidelined Scottish striker John Spencer, one of the best midfielders in league history had to step in. Chris Henderson, a flank flyer par excellence, responded with a career-best 11 goals, but neither he nor Coach Tim Hankinson wishes to repeat the exercise. The specter of former Nigerian international Daniel Amokachi, signed and quickly dumped in preseason, seemed to haunt the Rapids all of 2002. "I'd rather have forwards competing for forward spots instead of midfielders," says Hankinson. Competition for spots is the objective in Denver and not just up front, where burly Liberian Zizi Roberts has been signed as a discovery player to joust with Chris Carrieri, draft picks Casey Schmidt and Alex Blake and Spencer for playing time. A formula of three -- or more -- players for two spots has been implemented. French midfielder Gilles Grimandi joins U.S. international Pablo Mastroeni in central midfield with Project-40 man Kyle Beckerman also in the hunt. Veteran defender Robin Fraser has Jeff Stewart, who played a lot at right back as a rookie last year, and Stephen Herdsman as rivals in the middle. "In my first two years in Tampa [1998-99] and my first and second year at Colorado [2001-02], we had very little realistic competition for each position," says Hankinson. "We had a solid 11, but there wasn't enough to challenge guys on a day-to-day basis. I think we're at the point where at most of our positions guys are going to challenge each other for playing minutes." Grimandi and Mastroeni will share attacking and defensive duties. "Grimandi is one of our most experienced players," says Hankinson. "His game is so simple he makes everyone else's game simple. Therefore integrating him is not going to be a problem." Mastroeni, usually restricted to lugging water for the departed Carlos Valderrama last year, is eager to relive some of the frolicking forays of his youth with Henderson and Mark Chung running the outside rails. "He'll be a great partner in midfield," says Mastroeni of the 32-year-old Grimandi, who spent five years at Arsenal and six at Monaco. A good tackler and accurate passer, Grimandi has the skills suited to MLS. "It will add another variable to my game and make it more dynamic, to go forward and support the attack once Chungie and Chris Henderson have the ball," adds Mastroeni. Henderson, Chung and Carrieri each scored 11 goals last season. Spencer, who set a team record with 35 points (14 goals, 7 assists) in 2001, played only 16 games and scored five goals. Roberts' struggles in preseason brought forth the specter of Amokachi. Both had been pursued to add bulk. "In some situations you need a box player who can wrestle with defenders and try to break up their shape," says Hankinson. "Zizi has the ability to do that and so does Casey Schmidt. We've given ourselves more choices to fit more circumstances."
AT A GLANCE
Pivotal: Pablo Mastroeni. Has his 2002 World Cup
experience and plenty of midfield support to draw from, so this
season he should blossom into one of the league's top two-way
players.
RosterAvg. Age: 25.3 (6th youngest in MLS). Capped players: 6
(10th in MLS). * Countries for which players have been capped (through March 25) are in parentheses. Ridge Mahoney is senior editor for Soccer America.
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