Tag Archives: Colorado Rapids

Chris Armas Named New Manager of MLS’ Colorado Rapids

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Chris Armas is Rapids-ly headed to The Centennial State.

The Colorado Rapids have hired the 51-year-old Puerto Rican professional soccer coach and former player to be their next manager, according to ESPN.

Chris Armas Armas replaces Robin Fraser, who was dismissed in September with the Rapids languishing at the bottom of the Western Conference.

Chris Little, who was also a finalist, took over on an interim basis, leading the club to a 2-4-2 mark.

That wasn’t enough to move the Rapids off the bottom of the table, as Colorado finished the season with 27 points and a record of 5-17-12.

Sources tell ESPN that Charlotte FC assistant Pa Modou Ka was also a finalist, as were two unnamed foreign managers.

Armas had the most managerial experience of any of the confirmed candidates.

Starting in 2015, he served as an assistant with the New York Red Bulls under Jesse Marsch, and took over as manager following Marsch’s departure midway through the 2018 campaign, leading the Red Bulls to that year’s Supporters Shield.

Armas struggled thereafter, however. He was let go by the Red Bulls midway through the 2020 season, and lasted less than a year as manager of Toronto FC as the team failed to produce results in 2021.

Armas later served as an assistant at Manchester United under Ralf Rangnick, and had a short stint with Leeds United where he was briefly reunited with Marsch.

As a player, Armas spent time in MLS with the LA Galaxy and Chicago Fire, the latter of which he won an MLS Cup with in 1998.

Armas also made 66 appearances with the U.S. men’s national team.

Tab Ramos Named New England Revolution Assistant Coach

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It’s a revolutionary time for Tab Ramos.

The 56-year-old Uruguayan American former soccer player, former Houston Dynamo FC and U.S. U-20 national team manager has signed with the New England Revolution  as an assistant coach, according to ESPN.

Tab RamosRamos will assist current interim manager Clint Peay until the end of the season.

The former U.S. international joins a coaching staff that has experienced significant upheaval in the last six weeks. Back in late July, then-manager and sporting director Bruce Arena was placed on administrative leave pending an MLS investigation into allegations of “insensitive and inappropriate remarks.”

While the precise results of the investigation haven’t been made public, Arena resigned from both positions on September 9, with the league stating that Arena must petition Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber in order to work in the league again.

Richie Williams was initially named interim manager, and recorded a 1-1-4 record in all competitions, but was relieved of his duties on September 12 amid reports of player complaints at the lack of transparency surrounding the investigation into Arena, and Williams reported role in facilitating it.

Peay, who had previously been the manager of the Revolution’s second team, was tasked with leading the first team through the end of this season, with former Revolution II assistant until the end of the season.

Revolution II assistant Marcelo Santos was also promoted to the first team. Peay’s first game in charge came last weekend, with the Revs falling on the road to the Colorado Rapids, 2-1.

Ramos’ presence is intended to provide Peay with an additional layer of MLS knowledge. Ramos managed the Dynamo from January of 2020 through November of 2021.

He oversaw two seasons in which Houston failed to make the postseason, compiling a regular season record of 10-26-21.

Ramos went on to manage USL Championship side Hartford Athletic from September of 2022 through July of 2023, with a record of 5-13-4 over two seasons.

Ramos had considerably more success managing the U.S. U-20 national team, a post he held from 2011-19. From 2015-19 he led the U-20s to three consecutive quarterfinal finishes at the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

His spell with the U-20s also saw him serve as an assistant coach to the full national team under Jurgen Klinsmann as well as hold he youth technical director for the U.S. Soccer Federation.

As a player, Ramos spent time with clubs in Spain, Mexico and the U.S. and was the first signing in the history of MLS when he joined what was then known as the MetroStars, the forerunner of the New York Red Bulls.

At international level, Ramos made 81 appearances for the U.S., scoring eight goals. He was on the U.S. roster for the 1990, 1994, and 1998 FIFA World Cups.

Watford’s Cucho Hernandez to be Transferred to MLS’ Columbus Crew

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Cucho Hernandez is headed to the U.S.

The Columbus Crew has reached an agreement for the transfer of the 23-year-old Colombian professional footballer from Watford, according to ESPN.

Cucho HernandezColumbus will pay a club-record fee of just more than $10 million, the source said, confirming multiple reports.

Hernandez will initially occupy a Young Designated Player slot for the Crew and be under contract through the 2025 season.

In 25 Premier League appearances during his lone season in England, Hernandez scored five goals and registered two assists. Watford was relegated to the English Championship after finishing in 19th place last season.

Prior to his time at Watford, Hernandez played three seasons on loan in Spain’s LaLiga: one with Huesca after helping the club earn promotion, then a season with each Mallorca (2019-20) and Getafe (2020-21). He scored 11 goals over those three seasons after a 17-goal campaign in Spain’s second division.

Hernandez has two appearances with the Colombian national team, including the most recent in a friendly against Saudi Arabia earlier this month.

He is expected to be available to play for Columbus, which traded U.S. international Gyasi Zardes to the Colorado Rapids earlier this season, after the Major League Soccer transfer window opens July 7.

The Crew (4-5-4, 16 points) are in 11th place in MLS’ Eastern Conference and have exceeded two goals scored just three times in 2022 and only once since March 12.

Sebastian Blanco “Ready” to Play in Saturday’s MLS Cup Final Against New York City FC

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Sebastian Blanco is ready to play…

The 33-year-old Argentine footballer, who suffered a reported hamstring injury in the MLS conference semifinal win over the Colorado Rapids on Thanksgiving Day that threatened to keep him out of the remainder of the MLS Cup playoffs, says he’s “ready” to take part in Saturday’s MLS Cup final against New York City FC.

Sebastian BlancoBlanco was an unused substitute in the Portland Timbers‘ Western Conference final win over Real Salt Lake five days ago.

Dating back to August 29, Blanco has appeared in 15 of Portland’s 17 contests. Of those 15 games, the Timbers won 12 of them, with the 33-year-old attacker registering eight goals and five assists in that span.

His importance to Giovanni Savarese’s side can’t be understated, so it will come as a great relief to the Rose City that its No. 10 took part in full training on Thursday.

“I am ready. I’m OK, I feel good,” Blanco told members of the media during a news conference on Thursday. “I prepared myself for this game. I trained with my team today completely. Now we still need to have a conversation with [Savarese] … He will decide, but everything’s good.”

For the two months before his injury in Colorado, Blanco’s form gave Portland hope of a deep playoff run. And those expectations were heightened once the playoffs began, when he marked a dominating performance in a Round 1 win over Minnesota United with a brace.

But the Timbers had to scrap for their win over the Rapids, needing a 90th-minute winner from center-back Larrys Mabiala to advance out of the conference semifinals. An early goal from Felipe Mora ensured they were never too uncomfortable last Saturday against RSL, allowing Blanco to remain on the bench to continue rehabilitation toward a recovery that he refers to as nearly miraculous.

“After Colorado I was almost out, so we talk about the almost miracle to arrive to this game,” he said. “So to be part of this game is important to me. No matter what happens on Saturday, if I can play or not, it’s important to be a part and we need to support our team however I need to support.”

Despite the twice-capped Argentina international’s importance to Portland’s run to MLS Cup, NYCFC manager Ronny Deila insisted that his team is focused on containing all 11 of their opponents on the field come Saturday, not just Blanco.

“We’ve been talking a lot … here in MLS about specific players, and Blanco is … really good, of course, but they have top players plus a couple on the bench as well who can cause any team problems,” Deila said. “So it’s not about one guy, it’s about stopping them as a team.”