The Curious Case of the Sidnei Tavares Loan

COMMERCE CITY – The Colorado Rapids have terminated the Sidnei Tavares loan from FC Porto B, the club announced Friday morning. The 22-year-old played 300 minutes across five appearances in league play. He had one of the shortest and strangest loan stints in Rapids history.

This does open up a U22 slot as Cole Bassett is the only Rapids to start 2024 with a U22 designation.

Tavares came last summer in a window that had needed fanfare. DP striker Rafael Navarro and Andew Gutman came in in an attempt to address the talent deficit. The Rapids midfield lacked quality on the ball. Tavares came in to try and save the season and Robin Fraser’s job.

Neither of those happened. He integrated too late to contribute in Leagues Cup. His first three starts were that road trip after Leagues Cup that ended the Fraser Era. He got bodied in that first half at LAFC and was subbed off at halftime. He played 90 minutes against Minnesota and RSL and did not do much. Neither did anyone else to be fair.

His only two other appearances were the first 30 minutes vs New England and the first half against Seattle Sounders. Interim Head Coach Chris Little made those substitutions because he was dealing with some sickness. He then was out of the squad till the last road game of the year, where he was an unused sub.

A source described the sickness as cramps. For the first few games that he missed, he was not listed on the availability report. He later was added with the description “illness.” On the record, that illness lasted at last three weeks.

Did he have the worst acclimation to altitude in Rapids history? It wasn’t COVID, otherwise he would have been listed under the health and safety protocol. What causes cramps to last three weeks? We may never no.

In any case, he was not great in the minutes he did play. He did not get better with time and did not appear to be part of the solution, unlike Rafael Navarro. He didn’t record a goal or an assist. The Rapids have completely rebuilt this offseason under new head coach, Chris Armas. Tavares was probably going to start this campaign on the bench.

He played so little and was so irrelevant in games, that my photographer Mark Shaiken doesn’t have a good close up picture of him. The photo at the top of this page is the best one we could find. And it’s of him watching Jordan Morris head the ball. That’s how little he was involved in those two home caps.

Cramps, illness, altitude sickness or whatever did not help him adjust to MLS well enough for him to be a part of the plans for 2024. Surely there’s a good player in there. He spent years in the Leicester City academy and made his Premier League debut in 2021.

Rapids fans should have no ill will or bad feelings toward him. He’s a young kid with good credentials in England and Portugal. He’ll probably go on to be a good creative midfielder. Just not with Colorado in 2024.

Add this one to the list of Pádraig Smith foreign signings that did not work out.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken

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