Rapid Progress: An Early Season Look at the Colorado Rapids

Rapid Progress: An Early Season Look at the Colorado Rapids by Chris Brown

The Colorado Rapids are eight games into the 2016 MLS season and sit in second place in the Supporter Shield standings, second place in the Western Conference and have the second best goal differential in MLS.

Go ahead and reread that first sentence. No, really, I’ll wait…

Second Place! Okay, I know, the season is still young, but if you compare 2016’s version of the Rapids to 2015’s you’ll understand the surprise, disbelief and excitement Rapids fans are feeling right now.

Colorado has had plenty to celebrate early in the 2016 season. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)

Last year Colorado finished dead last in the Western Conference. The Rapids didn’t score a goal until the 5^th game of the season and over the course of 2015 only managed 33 goals in 34 MLS games. That’s quite a turn around. Of course it’s not exactly Leicester City, but it is remarkable in its own right.

On top of a dreadful 2015 campaign Colorado had a turbulent offseason with many comings and goings. MLS All-Stars Drew Moor and Klint Irwin, the foundation of a solid defense, the only thing Colorado had going for it last season, departed for Toronto. The Rapids signed Marco Pappa and Michael Azira from Seattle, but let’s be clear, neither player is a Sebastian Giovinco or an excitement sparking retiree from the Premier League. They signed Shkelzen Gashi who sparkled for FC Basel, but was an entirely unproven entity playing in MLS. Optimism in the Mile High city wasn’t exactly running rampant. Colorado announced the signing of Jermaine Jones two days before the regular season started. Bringing in Jones was Colorado’s marquee signing in the offseason, but the 34 year old midfielder was set to miss the first 6 games due to a suspension picked up while playing with New England in the 2015 playoffs.

Thus, an heavily reworked roster under a coach with a poor track record came into the season with plenty to prove, but with low expectations from a jaded fan base. If you had to name a goal for the Rapids to aspire to this year it would have been make the playoffs, and even that seemed like it could be asking too much. Maybe just don’t finish last is what more supporters were crossing their fingers for.

But here we are, 7 to 9 games into the season, depending on which club you support, and Colorado is soaring. What may be even more impressive than the turnaround from last year’s form is the path Colorado had to travel to get to this point.

When the regular season schedule was released you could hear the audible groans of Rapids fans echo around Denver. LA Galaxy, Toronto FC, Sporting KC, New York Red Bulls and Seattle Sounders in the first 8 games. All five of those teams made the playoffs last year and New York are the defending Supporter’s Shield Champions. Expectations were low when faced with such a daunting schedule, if Colorado found a way to scrape out a win and maybe a few draws, most fans would have been pleased. Instead Colorado beat LA, Toronto, KC, New York and Seattle. All of them.

Of course critics can find reasons why the Rapids were a bit lucky in everyone of those games. LA always seems to struggle playing at altitude and they were without Giovanni Dos Santos that evening. Toronto picked up a red card 12 minutes into the match and the Rapids narrowly won. Sporting KC was resting most of their stars, the Red Bulls match was played in the snow and Seattle was without talisman Clint Dempsey.

All of those critiques are true, but as the cliché goes, you can only play the teams that are put in front of you.

What’s even more impressive is that Colorado has jumped out to such a positive start while dealing with a lot of injuries. Designated player and striker Kevin Doyle missed time with an injury to his shin, Marco Pappa is currently sidelined with a MCL sprain and the Colorado back four is a mess due to injuries to Marlon Hairston, Sean St.Ledger, Jared Watts and Marc Burch. Coach Masteroni always sets his teams up to be defensively sound and it’s a credit to the Rapid coaching staff that the defense has held together through all the injuries.

Another reason there’s optimism about this team is that they’re going to improve at their weakest position when Tim Howard joins the team in July. Current Rapids number one Zac MacMath has struggled early this season. Questionable decision making and a lack of confidence has seen the young keeper give up a game tying goal against D.C. United and a terrible judgment call gifted Joao Plata and Real Salt Lake three points when the Rapids visited Rio Tinto earlier this month. Tim Howard may be past his prime and at the tail end of his career, but it’s still more than likely that Howard will be the best keeper playing in MLS when he arrives from Merseyside in July. By the time Howard arrives in Denver there’s a good chance that Coach Masteroni will have a healthy back line again and with Howard marshaling the defense, Colorado could be complete from top to bottom.

Right now Pablo Masteroni and the Rapids front office have to be satisfied with the offseason moves they made. Shkelzen Gashi and Marco Pappa have each scored a game winning goal, Michael Azira has been the most consistent player for the Burgundy and White and Jermaine Jones has looked sharp, provided leadership and has already scored two goals and notched an assist in just two games.

Defensive midfield Michael Azira has been Colorado’s most consistent player this season. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)

Credit is also due to Assistant Coach John Spencer. Colorado brought Spencer in this season to help kick start the Rapid attack and the evidence suggests he’s done an excellent job. During Colorado’s first few games of the season the Rapid’s lacked an offensive identity, it seemed like the main strategy was get the ball to the dangerous players and go from there. Shkelzen Gashi and Marco Pappa were both given a lot of freedom and saw a lot of the ball but since then the Rapid attack has evolved. Now when Colorado wins possession of the ball you can see a clear strategy. The full back on the opposite side of possession immediately gets as wide as possible and occupies space on the flank, the wingers push up and Sam Cronin, Michael Azira and whoever is playing in the number 10 role link everything together. The result has seen Colorado take advantage of space and has opened up space for the wing players to have an impact. Gashi, Pappa and Badji have had success on the wings and it takes the emphasis off the striker, whether Kevin Doyle or Luis Solignac, to make runs into the box. Kevin Doyle isn’t a striker who wants to be running at a defense with the ball at his feet. He’s much more effective when he can sit on the center back’s back shoulder and make runs in behind.

Though Jermaine Jones has only played two games, the way he’s been deployed has been fascinating to watch. Jones, who is naturally a defensive midfielder, has played in the number 10 role in both games to great effect. He brings a sense of calm and strength to midfield and his sharp passing is driving Colorado forward. Putting Jones so high up the pitch also allows the Rapids to begin pressing the ball as soon as they lose it and Jones has made critical tackles that have snuffed out counter attacks in the games against New York and Seattle. When you consider the way that Pablo Mastroeni sets his teams up and wants them to play, Jones is perfect for Colorado in his new role.

Jermaine Jones has two goals and an assist in his first two games for Colorado. (Photo Credit: Corbin Elliott)

Walking through the tailgate at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park last weekend, talking with Rapid supporters, the mood was cautiously optimistic. Supporters know that at some point the Rapids will have a slump, the MLS season is too long not to have one, but there’s sense that Colorado has a solid foundation in place to make this team competitive from game to game.

The playoffs still seem like a fair goal for a franchise that hasn’t been since 2013, and if the Rapids can keep players healthy, especially offensive players, that’s a real possibility. Right now Colorado sits on 16 points, nearly half of the 37 points they scored last season. The ghosts of 2015 are fading with each win but the Rapids face another stern test this coming weekend away to Didier Drogba and Montreal Impact.