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2018 Colorado Rapids Season Preview: Three Big Questions

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Editorial (February 18, 2018) – The Colorado Rapids begin their 2018 CONCACAF Champions League campaign tomorrow. They are also less than two weeks away from kicking off their 2018 MLS Regular Season.

2018 Colorado Rapids Season Preview: Three Big Questions

The Rapids fell off a cliff in 2017 after 2016 when they nearly won the Supporter’s Shield. They missed the playoffs and finished second to last in the Western Conference. The offense couldn’t muster much and the back line regressed from years past. Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni was sacked and the front office admitted they needed to make serious changes in 2018.

In the last few months, they’ve done just that. They’ve made a number of staffing changes, highlighted by new Head Coach Anthony Hudson. The club has added other technical staff to add value elsewhere. Hudson will be looking to play a 5-3-2. The Rapids have added depth at wing back and created a competition at center back. They’ve also brought in starting caliber foreign talent in the form of Jack Price, Edgar Castillo, and Tommy Smith. They haven’t added much help at striker, but they’ve done everything else.

Can the offense step up?

Even when the Rapids nearly hosted MLS Cup in 2016, their weakness was offense. A team doesn’t need to score a lot if they don’t concede a lot, but the offense needs to improve for the team to improve. Forward is the one position they haven’t really added help at this off-season.

They’ve got Dominique Badji, who’s a workman like MLS player. Stefan Aigner and Shkelzen Gashi are healthy and fit and have had a proper MLS off-season. All three will be capable in various roles and with varying style of play. That said, none of them are an MVP caliber forward. They aren’t going to be David Villa single handedly winning games and winning the Golden Boot. Is the current squad enough? Are the Rapids still chasing a stud No. 9? We’ll have to wait and see.

What does the back line look like?

Colorado is in position to have one of the best full back (wing backs, really) in MLS this year. Edgar Castillo has been a fringe USMNT player and starter in Liga MX for almost a decade. One of the great debates in Rapids Twitter the last few years has been ‘Is Marlon Hairston a right back or mid?’ As a wing back, he’ll get the best of both worlds.

Center back is the big question for this season. Just two years ago, 6’7″ center back Axel Sjoberg was a Defender of the Year candidate. This past year, rookie Homegrown Kortne Ford broke in with much fanfare for supporters. Now the club has added foreign center backs Tommy Smith and Danny Wilson. Ford and Sjoberg are both good in the air but aren’t that fast. With a five man back line, center backs normally need to be quick on their feet. That could mean Eric Miller or Jared Watts make it into the lineup.

The Rapids could be looking at their two starters from last season on the bench, one of who is a rookie who needs minutes to develop and the other in his prime under a new contract.

Can the team adjust to a completely new system?

As I wrote about when Hudson got hired, the biggest challenges for the organization were going to be the players adjusting to the new system and Hudson getting adjusted to the new league. Most American players aren’t as tactically familiar with a 5-3-2. There are five new players who are new to the league and MLS has a significant learning curve for European players. Tommy Smith (a former player under Hudson with New Zealand) might be the only player on this squad with noteworthy experience playing in a 5-3-2.

At the same time, Hudson is coaching in a new league, in a country he hasn’t coached in since he was with Real Maryland back in 2010. In short, there’s a bunch of new parts, a bunch of parts in different positions, and all in a new machine.

The entire organization has been working hard this pre-season. If the locker room can gel in the next few months, they’ll be in good shape when it’s time for a playoff push. If not, 2018 could be a acclimation/rebuilding year for the Colorado Rapids.

Prediction: I’ve been on the record before on this. I think the 2018 Colorado Rapids make the playoffs. They’re stronger defensively and up the middle. There is value in zigging tactically when everyone else zags. Hudson’s 5-3-2 checks that box. This team is upgraded and changed enough to be a playoff team on paper. I say they fulfill that potential.

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