2024 Colorado Rapids Season Preview

PREVIEW – The Colorado Rapids kickoff their 2024 season tomorrow at Portland Timbers. This past offseason might have been the most eventful in club history. Chris Armas got hired as head coach, and gradually won over the Rapids Community. A bunch of old heads from the 2021 team were unceremoniously kicked out. Then KSE spent a lot of money (by their standards) and created a team fans are excited about.

Departures: Jack Price, Diego Rubio, William Yarbrough, Abraham Rodriguez, Steven Beitashour, Braian Galván, Gustavo Vallecilla, Luis Díaz, Danny Wilson, Max Alves, Sam Nichoslon, Aboubacar Keita, Sidnei Tavares, and Wolde Harris.

This past winter was an absolute teardown. Within 24 hours of the season finale, Diego Rubio and Jack Price announced that they would be leaving the club. Negotiations with Price broken down and the departure ended up being mutual. Colorado wanted to get younger and faster up front. With that, the captain and anchor in midfield was gone. So too was their talismanic chance creator.

A bunch of old players were moved on from as well as Armas wanted to get younger. Beitashour retired. Wilson and Nicholson were waived. They’ve since gone back to Scotland. Yarbrough is now with San Jose. The heart of that 2021 team that won the Western Conference is gone, root and stem.

Wolde Harris is the only member of the coaching staff to not be retained for 2024, having mutually parted ways. He mainly worked with the strikers. The attack got stagnant and inept as the season went along last year.

Rapids fans were relieved when the Max Alves controversy no longer became their problem, with him going back to Brazil. Abe Rodriguez having his option declined brings into question their rating of him as a Homegrown Goalkeeper going back to 2020, so say nothing of what that might say about the academy as a whole. Aboubacar Keita’s gone on loan to Ireland seeking playing time and a stepping stone to a big European move. Put Braian Galván in the same group as a young player who didn’t achieve their potential with Colorado, wasn’t going to start, and was better off leaving. He scored a goal the other day for Banfield.

The Rapids have moved on from players who were not a part of the club’s future and brought in upgrades at nearly every position.

Additions: Chris Armas, Zack Steffen, Sam Vines, Djordje Mihailović, Omir Fernandez, Jasper Löffelsend, Lamine Diack, Adam Beaudry, Rémi Cabral, and a bunch of draft picks.

We’ll start wit the new coach. The Armas hire did not go down well locally or nationally. He infamously changed the tactics in the 2018 Easter Conference Final that failed and cost New York Red Bulls an MLS Cup. He then went on to Toronto FC and was an assistant at Leeds United and Manchester United. He didn’t last a year at TFC. Leeds got relegated the year he was there. There was a rumor at Man Utd he wasn’t taken seriously.

Armas’ response is that he’s learned from those experiences and the failures that came with it. He’s brought an energy and positive that is a good chance from the monotone stoicism of Robin Fraser (not that 2023 was all Fraser’s fault). He wants to run a system more in line with what President Pádraig Smith wants. His past players say he’s a good person to work with. He likes young players.

Then there’s the contingency coming back from Europe. Djordje Mihailović is a club record transfer fee (north of $3 million, south of $4 million). Some personal stuff happened in 2023 while he was at AZ Alkmaar. He was being played out of position. He’s back in MLS ready to be the premier chance creator for an underrated team.

Zack Steffen’s knee is good to go. He wants to be an elite shot stopper and help the Rapids build out of the back. If the Rapids do what Houston Dynamo did last year, he might even be a finalist for Goalkeeper of the Year. Sam Vines returns to Colorado after three injury riddled years at Royal Antwerp. He’s happy to be home. The Rapids are happy to have their Vines Back back. Throw in Cole Bassett, who just signed an extension, and the Rapids have a bunch of guys trying to ball to get back to Europe and the USMNT. They are the core of Something To Prove FC.

There’s a handful of other additions to note. Omir Fernandez was a sneaky good free agency signing. He’s reunited with Chris Armas, who was there when he came out of the RBNY academy. Fernandez and Armas have similar overlap in the ways in which they are not full Energy Drink Soccer. Jasper Löffelsend might be the best under the radar signing of the window. He comes over from RSL. He cost little by MLS standards. And he might be the perfect No. 6 to play next to Connor Ronan.

If Löffelsend doesn’t win the job it’s because Lamine Diack acclimates to MLS quickly. The 23-year-old Senegalese midfielder comes from FC Nantes on a short loan with an option to buy. He has officially arrived in Colorado this week after paperwork took some time.

There’s a few fringe additions who might become role players. Adam Beaudry has a bright future but should be the starting goalkeeper for Rapids 2. Rémi Cabral has signed a first team deal but is with Phoenix Rising. If he plays really well and/or there are injuries, he could be recalled. One could say the same thing about Keita.

Draft pick wise, Wayne Frederick is a project and will probably be with Rapids 2. Nate Jones in one of a few young and talented center backs who will compete for first team minutes. Kimani Stewart-Baynes just got called up for the Canada U20s.

Possible Breakout Star: Moïse Bombito

Moïse Bombito got better as 2023 went on but still had some bad moments when under pressure. He’s got the most potential of the young center backs. He’ll eventually win the starting spot next to Andreas Maxsø. Besides the holding midfielder role next to Connor Ronan, there’s the right wing position to consider. Have to think Armas will favor Fernandez in the long term.

The team should be much better talent wise all over the pitch. They have to be better defensively personnel and tactics wise. One of the most important principals for Armas is that his teams not beat themselves. If nothing else, they should concede fewer goals.

The big concern is goal scoring. Navarro is unproven. Everyone is out on Kévin Cabral. Navarro needs to score goals to have his option picked up. If that does not happen, they’re thin at that position. The three attacking midfielders should score goals but they probably can’t overcome lack of production at the No. 9 position.

Season Predictions:

Rapids staff and fans are optimistic the team can be competitive this year. The national media and Colorado sportsbooks, not so much. The Rapids are projected to finish at or near the bottom of MLS. FanDuel us giving Colorado the worst odds in the league to win the MLS Cup at +9500.

The Rapids start off slow due to a tough schedule and a new group settling in. They make a run in the final third of the year to make the playoffs, finishing 8th in the Western Conference. Real Salt Lake keeps the Rocky Mountain Cup. They will win the wildcard match but then not advance in the best-of-three round in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Let us know your prediction in to the comments.

The 2024 Colorado Rapids season is here, Rapids Community. Hope springs eternal. To steal the saying from Sunderland ‘Till I Die, it’s time for a rebirth of this football club and a Renaissance of the Rapids.

Photo Credit: John Babiak

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