Rapid Trades by Chris Brown
Colorado Rapids announced two trades on Wednesday evening as they sent attacker Luis Solignac to Chicago Fire and acquired attacker Sebastien Le Toux from Philadelphia Union.
Luis Solignac will join Chicago Fire for the remainder of 2016. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)
Luis Solignac’s 18 months in Colorado never really panned out as the Rapids would have hoped. The striker scored just three times for the Rapids and notched four assists in 33 appearances, 26 of which were starts.
The low return was troubling but the feeling around Dick’s Sporting Goods Park was that Solignac, still just 25, was improving and could be a part of Colorado’s plans in the future.
Colorado accepted general allocation money in return for Solignac and immediately used that money to sign a new attacker.
By bringing in Sebastien Le Toux from Philadelphia, Colorado has added a player who can make an impact now, instead of the future.
Le Toux has been a journeyman in Major League Soccer since he began his MLS career playing for Seattle Sounders in 2009. He’s most well known from his time, two separate stints, with Philadelphia Union, which bookend time spent Vancouver Whitecaps and New York Red Bulls.
The Frenchman holds several Union records including games played, goals and assists. Over his entire MLS career, which spans eight seasons, Le Toux has scored 56 goals and has 55 assists in 236 appearances. Le Toux was also perfect from the penalty spot for Philadelphia, scoring all 13 of his penalty attempts.
Le Toux brings experience and a proven track record to Colorado.
Rapids Technical Director and VP of Soccer Operations, Paul Bravo commented that “Sebastien’s track record in MLS speaks for itself. He is a proven goal scorer and creator. We look forward to welcoming him to Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.”
This could be an incredibly important move for the Rapids in 2016. Colorado jumped out to a flying start and sat atop the Western Conference and Supporter’s Shield standings for a large chunk of the season.
That success began to wan over the past month as teams began to figure out how to play against Pablo Mastroeni’s team. Though Colorado’s defense has remained stout, the attack has looked short of ideas as teams have closed down the middle of the park and forced the Rapids to attack from the wings. A difficult July saw Colorado drop beneath FC Dallas in the standings as they claimed 6 points from 5 matches, only managing to win against Sporting KC. Colorado finished the month with a whimper after being beaten 5-1 by New York City FC last weekend.
Colorado will hope that Le Toux’s experience and ability to both score and create will help them down the stretch and in the push towards the playoffs. Having an able attacker who can play on the wings adds another dimension to the Rapid attack and will open up the center of the pitch for attackers like Jermaine Jones, Marco Pappa and Kevin Doyle.
Philadelphia were fine letting Le Toux go in exchange for general allocation money as they then brought in attacker Charlie Davies from New England Revolution. The Union also captured US Men’s International Alejandro Bedoya yesterday, and the Union will have a new look attack for the second half of 2016, making the Eastern Conference’s fourth place side one of the most intriguing teams to watch for the remainder of the season.
