Eight Thoughts on Colorado Rapids Media Day 2025

COMMERCE CITY – The 2025 Colorado Rapids Media Day took place Friday afternoon. The club had availability with head coach Chris Armas and players. They also unveiled new Homegrown signing Sam Bassett. You can watch the full pressers here and here. Here’s Burgundy Wave’s key takeaways:

Sam Bassett is not just a younger Cole:

We’ll start with the new face this preseason. Sam Bassett, 20-months younger than older brother Cole, signed this week as a Homegrown after playing four years with the DU Pioneers. You can read more about that here and here.

Having led the academy for more than a decade, Brian Crookham was emphatic with his opening statement:

“We did not sign Cole Bassett’s brother. We signed a Homegrown player in Sam Bassett who has earned the right to be a Homegrown player here. He has his own strengths. He became one of the best attacking players in college soccer.”

Both Bassett’s hinted that they both see themselves as box-to-box midfielders under Armas. Cole’s probably the more regista of the two. He found a wonderful role in the double pivot last year, starting sequences then being that late runner into the box. Sam wants to be further up the field, providing hockey assists and unlocking defenses.

“I love playing the final pass, second balls. Anything around the goal, I’m pretty creative. I do like to run just as much as he does. Hopefully we’ll be able to pay together if he’ll hold for me (in the double pivot),” Sam said.

A few others notes: This is the first time they’ll actually be on the same team. Less than two years apart, they were never on the same AYSO team. They were always one step away in the Rapids Academy as well. They intend to both wear the name “Bassett” on their jerseys. The kit man has told them per MLS rules they will not be forced to be “C. Bassett” and “S. Bassett.”

They’ll be living together. Cole won’t be charging rent as a way to pay it forward. He lived at home his first few years with the first team and the parents didn’t charge him rent.

The stars and team overall is healthy, USMNT news and all:

Cole sustained a quad injury and also had a calf issue that kept him out the last month of the season. Djordje Mihailović suffered an ankle injury on Decision Day. He missed the first playoff game and limped through pay in the second. Both had busy rehabs this winter.

“Quad’s doing good. Calf’s doing good. Lots of rehab the last few months. I’m thinking I’ll be 100% come Monday,” Bassett said.

“Thinking maybe a week or two I should be good for full training,” Mihailović added.

The team is otherwise healthy. There were no other big knocks to end the year. Their No. 12 pick Efetobo Aror tore his MCL this past college season. He’s expected to rehab in market and be available later this year.

Bassett confirmed he was on the reserve roster for the USMNT January camp. Mihailović would have been called up if not for the ankle injury. Goalkeepers Zack Steffen and Adam Beaudry are in their respective camps though and feeling well.

The 3-4-3 from the playoff game will be back:

Chris Armas threw some poop on the wall in that final home game against LA Galaxy, rolling out a 3-4-3, and it stuck. It was the tightest they’d played the eventual MLS Cup winners all year. They said after the game, there was something there.

“We’re onto something good. We’re thinking of tweaking. We’re not looking to totally change what we do. We’ll play in possession in a very narrow 4-2-3-1. We’ll look to build upon that,” Armas told Burgundy Wave.

“We want to get better structurally defensively. We’re going to try a few things in preseason. We defend in different structures.”

Make no mistake, Colorado will still be a front foot pressing team. They want to attack. They’re going to score a bunch and concede a bunch. The 4-2-3-1 was really good last year. But they didn’t have a well-drilled Plan B. The 3-4-3 is a viable Plan B they will play with in preseason.

Internal expectations have been raised:

Last year was wonderful in so many ways. Reclaiming the Rocky Mountain Cup. Getting a home playoff game. Finishing third in Leagues Cup. Still, other than their rivalry trophy, they didn’t win anything tangible in 2024. Simply qualifying for stuff will not be good enough for Armas and company this year.

“What I will say about 2025 is we want to build on last year. We think we have a strong foundation that’s built on real things. Things that are built on real things. We like our team,” Armas said. “In the most honest way that we know how to work, it’s not enough, the taste of the playoffs.”

“What I’m looking for in this season and season’s to come is maintaining that type of level (of performance), putting those kinds of numbers up. That assist record is pretty cool. I think I’m going to go for it,” Mihailović said when asked about setting the club record for goal contributions.

“We’re not sneaking up on anyone in 2025. We’re going to be hunted a little bit more. This can be challenging. However, we’re in a better place. We’re going to be better at who we are. It’s going to be a different challenge,” Armas added.

Conca Champions: LAFC demons and a measuring stick

Armas said it Media Day last year and he said it again: If there’s a trophy to be won, Colorado Rapids are going to go for it. Conca Champions could not have been any harder to start than playing LAFC.

The Pids won the first competitive game agains them last year at home. Then lost in the regular season and Leagues Cup semifinal. BMO Stadium is a house of horrors for Colorado. It’s a tough test but it won’t make or break their season. Unlike Rapids teams of the past (looking at you, 2018 Anthony Hudson), they’re embracing the challenge and it being a measuring stick.

“That’s all I’ve thought about. Playing LAFC. I like that match up. We played then that first game (on Easter Weekend) at home, had a good result. We go against them, get through them, play Columbus Crew. We have to prove we can get past those types of teams to show we’re a top team in the West,” said Mihalović.

“To win MLS Cup, you have to get through those kinds of teams. That’s the next step for this team. They beat us in ways that we don’t think we should get beat, 3-0, 4-0. We’re not thinking about LAFC at the moment. We’ve got five, six games in preseason,” added Bassett.

They think they got younger a better.

Colorado were the youngest team in the conference last year and fourth youngest in the entire league. With Lalas Abubakar and Jonathan Lewis gone, they’ve gotten even younger. They had one of the biggest hauls in MLS SuperDraft history, taking nine players.

“We doubled down on our drive to youth this offseason. We had a massive draft. The corner stone of this class is Sam Bassett. We had the youngest team in the Western Conference last year. We’re younger and more talented coming out of the offseason,” said Crookham.

Armas hinted that they will stay young with any recruitment. Speaking of transfers . . .

Armas comments on the transfer window:

“We have targets. We want to improve. We’ll only improve by adding the right players. Now that we’re in tweaking mode. If we find it, we’ll add it. We like our roster,” Armas said.

The Rapids manager went on to say the main focus this offseason was the backline. They feel they’ve addressed that for the most part with the Cincinnati trade. There’s fewer holes now so there’s not as much urgency. They still need a winger and a defensive midfielder.

Everyone still has their sense of humor:

I’ll end on a sentimental note. The vibes were high all day. Each individual had a funny little moment of humanity.

Armas brought on Djodje’s fishing. Djordje went on to say he just tries to catch one fish. That’s the goal. It’s usually a trout. And it’s rarely anything worth eating.

Cole and Sam had some back and forth. When asked about a cross bar challenge, Cole said Sam would win and he’s ok with that given he led the league in posts hit that created the ‘Post Bassett’ meme. Sam got asked a question in Spanish after Cole gave an answer in Spanish. They both think Sam would win in a fitness test. “I’m a veteran now, I let the young guys run,” Bassett the Elder said.

Also, Sam hasn’t met RapidMan, which is grounds for the club terminating his contract as far as this editor is concerned.

Armas got asked about the national team and joked that Poch wanted to know how his knees were doing despite being retired. He said he could fill in for Tyler Adams.

Photo Credit: Matt Pollard

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