The Colorado Rapids delivered their fans the club's first championship last fall, winning the 2010 MLS Cup in dramatic fashion. With that first MLS Cup in the trophy case, the Rapids must now try to live up to the champion status they now hold.
If the Rapids are going to repeat, they're going to do so with all of the key players back in 2011. From the dangerous strike force of Conor Casey and Omar Cummings, to the formidable central midfield tandem of Jeff Larentowicz and Pablo Mastroeni, the Rapids will continue to be a difficult team to play against.
Here is my Fox Soccer preview on a Rapids team that will be hoping to ride the confidence games from winning a title to shake up the top of the Western Conference.
Here are some more thoughts on the 2011 Colorado Rapids:
2011 COLORADO RAPIDS
They'll win because: Omar Cummings continue to terrorize defenses, the defense keeps up its stingy ways and Jeff Larentowicz keeps neutralizing opposing playmakers.
They'll lose because: A lack of depth is exposed by the extra games in the CONCACAF Champions League, and the defense fails to maintain the high level it reached last season.
Player who could break out: Anthony Wallace.
Player who could regress: Marvell Wynne.
Player who needs to improve on 2010: Tyrone Marshall
Newcomer to watch: Sanna Nyassi
Projected Finish: The Rapids are the champions, but they also finished with the seventh-best regular season in 2010 and returns mostly the same team. It's tough to see them breaking though Real Salt Lake or Los Angeles atop the West, but Colorado could certainly surpass Seattle and FC Dallas. More likely, the Rapids will finish around where it did in 2010 (5th in the West), meaning another run through the Eastern Conference is a possibility. That alone gives the Rapids a real chance of making another deep playoff run, but it's tough to see Colorado repeating.
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What do you think of the Rapids' chances this season?
Share your thoughts below.
No depth for the slow middle…The heavy load could rip this team apart. NY, RSL, and LA are now much deeper squads. Seattle seems to be losing depth by the minute though…
Will be fun to see where Nyassi fits in. Lots of flexibility adding him AND Folan.
Bottom line this season though is Pablo. If he can keep up the work rate and stay healthy AGAIN then the team will repeat.
If he starts to look like the old guy we are in trouble because there is no obvious replacement.
Brian Mullan made a noticeable impact at the end of the season last year, adding an outside element to the attack. The Rapids got hot at the end of the season in part because of this addition. It’s conceivable that the Rapids could improve on their record with another 2 or 3 wins this year and should be in the playoffs again.
Nice piece. I like how Ives starts right off by saying that something so frequently denied here cannot be denied. (end of lead paragraph) Appreciate that not in denial but just level-headed take on the team’s 2010 performance.
As discussed in the previous story on this, talk of a repeat seems very naive or premature for any MLS team in general, given the competitive and psychological difficulties of that, but also for this team this year, in particular given the regular season finish last year and the quite similar personnel and CCL play and so on.
But I look forward to watching. 🙂
It is almost worse to finish at the top of the west and play in the west bracket. Just get in as a 9 or 10 and head to the weaker east side.
and the question would be, what the rapids are not going to do this year.
Go Rapids!! Repeat without a question..We only got better adding Nyassi, Marshall, and Folan.
LETS GO RAPIDS!!!!!!!!!!!