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SBI MLS Season Preview: Colorado Rapids

DeshornBrownColoradoRapids1-SeattleSounders (ColoradoRapids)

By DAN KARELL

The Colorado Rapids finished the 2013 Major League Soccer season with plenty of positive momentum.

Then, head coach Oscar Pareja left for his old stomping grounds at FC Dallas and the question has become, now what?

Nearly two months since Pareja departed, the Rapids still have not named a head coach, with recently-retired club legend Pablo Mastroeni currently taking the reigns as an interim head coach. Luckily for the Rapids, they don’t kick off their season until March 15, but still the unknown remains hovering over the team.

What’s intriguing is that whoever takes the Rapids job is inheriting a team that is primed for another playoff run in a deep Western Conference. Youngsters such as Shane O’Neill, Deshorn Brown, Chris Klute, Clint Irwin, and Rookie of the Year winner Dillon Powers lead the team with plenty of help from veterans such as Drew Moor, Edson Buddle, Marvell Wynne, and the late addition of Designated Player forward Gabriel Torres.

One worry for Rapids fans is the loss of Hendry Thomas, who was asking for a new contract with a Designated Player-level salary. However, that could open up the door for Homegrown player Dillon Serna to move into the starting lineup or O’Neill can be moved forward into his more natural defensive midfield position.

Whoever takes charge of the Rapids, this is one season that will be interesting to watch.

COLORADO RAPIDS SEASON PREVIEW

2013 FINISH: 14-11-9, 51 points (Fifth in Western Conference)

KEY ACQUISITIONS: Marvin Chavez, Marc Burch, Marlon Hairston, Grant Van De Casteele, Jared Watts

KEY LOSSES: Jaime Castrillon, Atiba Harris, Hendry Thomas, Tony Cascio (loan to Dynamo), Anthony Wallace, Stewart Ceus, Diego Calderon, Oscar Pareja

NEWCOMER TO WATCH: Marvin Chavez. The 30-year-old midfielder is by no means a lock to make the Honduras squad for the World Cup, and he’ll want to prove his credentials with some strong early season performances for the Rapids

PRESSURE IS ON: Gabriel Torres. After being signed as a Designated Player following his tremendous Gold Cup Torres showed flashes of his potential in the final eight games of the season, scoring three goals. This year, with a full offseason behind him, Torres will be expected to lead the Rapids’ attack and live up to the Designated Player status.

OUTLOOK

In addition to the question of who will take this team forward, another question remains? Was last season’s success a product of Oscar Pareja?

With Pareja returning to Dallas, the pressure now turns to players such as Dillon Powers, Deshorn Brown, Clint Irwin, and Chris Klute, who all enjoyed breakout seasons but need to avoid that sophomore slump.

Even without a head coach, the Rapids have had a busy preseason traveling around the Southwest U.S., though they weren’t nearly as active in the free agent or transfer market.

The club brought in veteran midfielder Marvin Chavez, defender Marc Burch, and goalkeeper Joe Nasco in addition to taking four players in the recent MLS Draft. Those signings will have to replace Atiba Harris, Hendry Thomas, Diego Calderon, Jaime Castrillon, Anthony Wallace, and Tony Cascio, who all departed this offseason.

In goal, the team is set with Irwin, who had a standout year after taking over for Matt Pickens in the first game of the season and never losing his starting place.

Following a three-week stint with the U.S. Men’s National Team in January, Shane O’Neill is back to build on an impressive first season as a starter, playing alongside Drew Moor, Marvell Wynne, and Klute. A strong showing in the first month of the season might even sway U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann to give the 20-year-old a look in the USMNT’s final friendly match in April before the rosters are announced.

Dillon Powers is thankfully back on the field after missing nearly four months with concussion symptoms. The Notre Dame product proved to be a terrific two-way player for the team last season but he may be asked to fill in more as a defensive midfielder this season. Former Schalke 04 winger Vicente Sanchez will be relied on from set pieces and to deliver balls into the box.

Competition for starting spots is fierce, and one name to remember heading into 2014 is Dillon Serna. The young Homegrown Player saw action in just one match last year (a late appearance in the regular season finale), but he has turned heads in preseason and looks poised for a breakout season.

It will be interesting to see what formation is used, but Deshorn Brown found success last season down the left wing and in the middle as a forward, scoring ten goals and four assists. Whether he can play alongside Torres for a whole season, or along with Edson Buddle, is a good problem for a new manager to figure out.

The team’s fortunes will certainly be rewarded if Torres can find his international form at the club level. Torres had a tremendous 2013 for Panama, scoring seven goals in all competitions, but there’s still the unknown of whether he can adjust to MLS.

Despite the cloudy future over who will manage the club, there’s still a great chance for the Rapids to prove that last year wasn’t just a one-off season. At the same time, there’s every likelihood that not having a coach until a few days before the season could set the team back.

PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP

football formations

Comments

  1. The Pareja situation has been a medio-disaster, and in unfortunately typical fashion, the Rapids front office has hardly handled it well in terms of finding his replacement. Mastroeni is of course a very popular figure around the team and with the fans but it seems the club is just playing everything to their own advantage now: if he & the team succeed, they got that without having to spend money in their typical cheap-o fashion; if they don’t succeed, the club has a built-in scapegoat in him as an inexperienced coach, and few will think to blame the club for putting him in that position in the first place and for not doing a proper search and so forth.

    Not very optimistic about this season, despite all the great young players, but will happy if I’m proven overly skeptical…

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  2. Chavez May not be a lock for WC squad, but I think most would be shocked if he wasn’t chosen. Though I doubt he’ll play much for than as a second half sub.

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  3. Missed the loss of Rivero and the addition (replacement of) Mari. Easily the biggest move by the Rapids this offseason!

    A lot of like for like changes. I dont think the team will be any better unless the younger players like Armstrong or Serna step up. Chavez & Mari should be a slight upgrade over Harris (& Castrillon) & Rivero.

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  4. Colorado snuck into the playoffs last year in spite of being no more than an average team. I guess average is okay for the playoffs when 10 of 19 teams advance. They did a good job of stealing points when other teams were not looking, but they are easily the 6th or 7th best team in the West. With more losses in talent and coaching than gains, it is hard to see Colorado improving upon their position last year. I expect San Jose to score more than their ridiculously low 35 goals last year and take the 5th spot away from Colorado. The Rapids should never have been in the playoffs last year and it was proven with their terrible loss on the road to Seattle, who was handled quite easily by Portland, who was also handled quite easily by Real Salt Lake.

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    • We slid backwards a bit at the end its true, but I think that showed a lack of depth at certain positions more than anything else. What we saw was how vital Dillon Powers is to any success the Rapids are going to have, without him to switch from defense to offense the team fell apart. The loss of Thomas is really concerning, especially since Mari doesn’t look to be nearly as physical as Thomas and I’m worried if he’ll work as well with Moor and O’Neill in the center, but I think we can hold onto that 5th spot if the youngsters improve as they should.

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    • “Colorado snuck into the playoffs last year in spite of being no more than an average team…”

      Being no more than average gets you 51 pts in the tough conference.

      OK.

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      • Only if you don’t look at the objective facts. But I remember you seemed to be on a mission last season as well to convince folks that the Rapids weren’t as good as their record…

    • Colorado got into the playoffs by getting points vs Seattle, Vancouver, Dallas, RSL and others. San Jose almost snuck in as the “6th or 7th” best team but came up short. I have my doubts about the Rapids but not too worried about San Jose who look like a clear 8th place team in the West.

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  5. They had a little bit of bad luck to end their season on the road. I look for them to move a bit further with their youth this year. Not all of Seattle, Portland, RSL and LA are going to make the playoffs, and there will be some more room than folks are giving the Rapids to advance.

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