Following 2012, of course, was the 2013 season that could be argued to be the best season Rapids fans ever saw. That team was nearly the best defensively in team history and racked up the most points at Rapids team had ever seen, only making the 5th spot in the playoffs because of a late-season collapse and because that was the season that everyone else in the West decided to be awesome, too. Oscar Pareja made incredible strides after a nearly irredeemable 2012 that year; this story is going to have to play out again if we want any playoff hopes for the burgundy boys this time around.
Essentially forgotten in preseason predictions (for good reason, to be fair), the Rapids did make a hell of a lot of moves to improve things this off-season. We'll see how it goes. Here's our enormous preview of the 2015 season, talking about the big things that could, or couldn't, happen for the Rapids in their 20th anniversary season.
The Coach
Pareja improved by leaps and bounds his second season in charge, and Pablo might have an even better squad at his disposal this year than Oscar had when he led the team to the playoffs two years back. Will the Rapids legend be able to up his coaching game? Reviews from the preseason were mixed, but it's just preseason so we're never going to glean anything from that. We're not going to know if our coach has improved his tactical and man management abilities by only a bit or by a good lot until the real games start.
Personally, I don't expect a shift to great coaching quite as fast as Pareja, simply because (as was the main criticism of Pablo being hired in the first place) there is no prior coaching experience in Pablo's court, and so it may take him another full season of on-the-job training to reach his potential as a coach. With the talent he has available and the new faces in the coaching staff to help him (Claudio Lopez and Brian Mullan) he should have enough support structure to at least improve enough to keep the Rapids somewhere close to contention.
Of course, as it always is, that's a complete guess. What actually will happen is completely up to Chaos Theory.
Who's Out
Gale Agbossumonde (Option Declined) – Agbossumonde was one of the only two players on the Rapids who didn't get a single minute last year (the only was the soon-to-retire Brian Mullan), which was a bad sign since they traded for him. He ended up going to Tampa Bay, where former Rapids second-stringers go to die.
Thomas Piermayr (Option Declined) – Opinions on Piermayr were split last year, with some people thinking he was a worthy specimen at right back and others thinking he wasn't worth the time he got. Unfortunately, he wasn't given a second chance with the Rapids.
Jose Mari (Mutual Consent) – Despite a pretty good 2014 season, all things considered, Jose Mari decided that the United States wasn't the place for him and moved back to his native Spain.
Joe Nasco (Traded) – Some of the worst goalkeeping performances in team history came from Joe Nasco, unfortunately. He was involved in one of those trades that yielded nothing for either team, and we're probably not likely to see him again.
Zat Knight (Mutual Consent) – The Edu of defense.
Who's In
With so many players being jettisoned from the roster, it was only natural that the Rapids would have a very busy off-season of acquisitions as well. And when it came to winning the off-season, on paper the team is absolutely scores better than they were last season in terms of talent. The defensive midfield, the biggest hindrance for the Rapids last year, is now possibly the biggest strength of the team. A new young DP has been added to the mix, and a brand new batch of proven defensive depth is now in the mix as well. If the Rapids are bad this year, it's probably not going to be because of the new talent that was brought in… and they still might not be done, with names like Kevin Doyle still being thrown out now that the Collective Bargaining Agreement has been agreed. Here's all the new names:
Lucas Pittinari – Though Ramirez is going to get the majority of the press, it's Pittinari who may be the most important of the South American signings for the Rapids this season. The defensive midfielder showed well in the preseason and is stepping into a potential starting role in a spot where the Rapids need a lot of upgrades from last season, especially in their new 4-2-3-1.
Axel Sjoberg – The man is 6'7'', but for a man that size he's got a surprising spring in his step and more composure than one would expect. The Rapids made a large move to skip up in the draft and select him, so we'll be expecting big things from the big man.
Dom Badji – It's odd that a 4th round draft pick gets so much time in the preseason, but Badji actually showed well in most of his appearances, almost like an even more raw and slightly less speedy Deshorn Brown. Don't expect him to get many minutes with the Rapids this season (he strikes me as more of a Charlotte target assuming they keep him on the team after his preseason bonanza of appearances), but keep an eye on him as a name for the future.
The Roster
Who To Watch?
Just like last year, I asked Burgundy Wave's contributors for their picks on these categories:
Top Scorer
Obvious answers came out for this one. Three of us expect Gabriel Torres to finally hit his potential this year, while Vicente Sanchez and Deshorn Brown (who led the team in goals the last two seasons) got the other votes. At the very least, we can all seem to agree that a forward will be the team leader, which is a good sign considering the Rapids had a bad tendency to let midfielders lead them in goals for a couple of years.
Most Assists
Why not go with Dillon Powers, really? Like Torres crushed the competition in the most goals category, three of us gave our vote to Powers for the most assists. Marcelo Sarvas and Juan Ramirez (!) got the other votes from us.
Most Likely to Breakout
Marlon Hairston was the favorite here, garnering three votes, while Gabriel Torres grabbed two. Interestingly, Dom Badji also snuck a vote in here after impressing at least one of us in the preseason.
Most Likely to Disappoint
This one was all over the map, just as it was last season. Votes came out for Zac MacMath, Deshorn Brown, Nick Labrocca and Marcelo Sarvas.
Check out the other parts of our Rapids Season Preview:
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Matt Pollard 