In addition to reading Abbie's piece on Burgundy Wave, read @JasonMa's blog on the same subject http://view-from-the-couch.blogspot.com/2019/01/a-talk-with-gm-padraig-smith-and.html Combined you can really get a feel for what the RFO has worked to get get done for this season and why. Here's thought after reading both - As a season ticket holder and passionate Rapids fan it's great to be able to read about and discuss the team's prospects with others. So thanks Jason for following up Abbie's piece with your thoughts and observations. In reading Abbie's piece again one thing that stands out is how strongly Pádraig believes in the culture Hudson is attempting to instill in the side - which appears to be one of working for each other on both the attack and in defending. No slacking or whining, do the job for your teammates and success will come. Now they've gone out and got the players they think will fit into Hudson's system, let's hope they are correct. And let's hope Hudson has been able to make the adjustments needed to be successful in the MLS. He too had to learn from last season's failure on the pitch. Boy does Pádraig teem to think that Vines is going to be up to the task this season. Also, his thoughts on Wynne playing out of position last season were interesting in that being at left back will suit him unlike what he was doing to do last season at center back. I am wondering why Gashi never comes up in any of the conversations? I state this knowing that of his three seasons with the Rapids only in one did he make a bit of a difference. But he does have talent and seems to want to work for the team. So what's his role going to be this season?
GM and coach thought Danny Wilson, Tommy Smith, Kip Colvey and Deklan Wynne could create a strong defensive depth chart last year. What have GM and coach shown you in the last months that proves they can be trusted to improve on last year's performance, or trust their assessment of talent and roster cohesion? Did we post some clean sheets that I missed? Nope, bad, high-dollar signings like Smith and Wilson last year precluded that we'd fix our roster in one offseason, because of cap flexibility limitations. In terms of my expectations, I dont get excited unless they do fix their roster in one offseason and stick with a philosophy for once, because they have rebuilt it enough times over the last 7 years that we shouldn't keep having to rebuild every year. I acknowledge that with current leadership that wasnt going to happen, which is why my expectations for the season are low. Maybe in your mind, but what about Hudson's? Dude was still running out Wilson at the end of the season, playing Ford at RB, and several other ridiculous roster decisions. Acosta had a great first month here, then significantly petered out in production. Maybe with better supporting cast that changes, but after 2 decades of having my preseason optimism shat on by the RFO and team during the season, any optimism now has to be earned with results on the field.
Agree. On the issue, remember when the people were arguing it was ok to let Gary Smith go because sure he made the playoffs, but not in a high enough seed, and his teams were boring? Or that Oscar Pareja was a bad coach (btw, 0-2 with -5 GD so far for TJ!) yet the team still made the playoffs. Those seem like the glory years from where we were last year. I'm glad they've made some changes and I hope now the team is at least competitive. But the article from Burgundy Wave still leaves me pessimistic. Yes, you want everyone pulling for teammates. But this has been the Rapids' thing for years now under Pablo and Hudson, where it looks like hustle and commitment are seen as necessary but talent as a luxury. Other MLS teams seem to be able to play a team concept without having such a high percentage of their attacking acquisitions bomb out because as strikers/wings they weren't willing to burn all their energy pressing, and stuff like that. Maybe the Rapids are just picking up horrible players...plenty of evidence for that. Other MLS teams aren't picking up their castoffs, and if that's all Boli has left, he's basically looking at retirement. But if you're picking up half-good players, it seems all the more that you need to do what you need to do to get the most out of them instead of trying to keep pounding pegs into the same pre-determined holes.
It's like the RFO has changed their strategy from lower division Europeans to cast-off MLS players that other teams are willing to part with. There's still no access to the young up-and-coming Latin Americans who fuel most of the better squads in this league. It's likely that the 2019 Rapids might not be as embarrassing as they were in 2018, but they will still struggle to make the playoffs. From all accounts, Anthony Hudson still thinks he's a genius, smarter than all the other coaches. I have my doubts how Feilhaber and Kamara will buy into that concept, especially on 34 yo legs. I predict that the Rapids will win a few early games, then the rest of the league will figure out their weaknesses, just like they did last year.
Hope in one hand and shit in the other. See which fills up first. (I was just messing with Jasonma). Of course glass 1/2 full is better.
The Rapids have looked like an MLS team this offseason. The acquisitions seem to be made as part of an actual plan, which we have been demanding since the Houghton era. The players are either MLS veterans with known skills or younger MLS role players with professional skills who have significant indications of developing into MLS starting level talent or raw young players who need to be given the opportunity to play at USL level to see what they can do. All of these groups are a vast improvement over "Who's That?" from "Where did they play?" teams. With this offseason, I've moved from a jaded and indifferent ex-STH to mildly interested. Last year, basic soccer skills were sorely lacking. There's no point in making the entire list of woes again, but significant improvement in fundamentals is needed to escape Wooden Spoon territory. It shouldn't take long to see if there is improvement in this area. Communication was lacking last year. The back line looked like a pickup team in a rec league: three or four guys freelancing and hoping nothing bad happened, while the keeper screamed at them to work together and the coach praised their practice pitch work ethic. That was a disaster. Against that backdrop, Rosenberry is a huge upgrade. It's a start. The midfield was a perpetual fire drill, with nobody holding possession, creating space, putting the ball at any teammate's feet, actually attacking the box, or effectively tracking back on defense. This is where the improvements seem the strongest. For once, I actually think the Rapids may have a MLS midfield. For me, the weakest link is still Hudson. I don't buy Padraig Smith's confidence that Hudson was instilling a system or high expectations during practice. Hudson ditched underperforming and indifferent players. Fine. He also consistently praised practice pitch heroes like Smith and Wynne, who all too often showed woeful lack of skills. Either they were misjudged when they were brought in or they didn't improve through Hudson's coaching, system, and practice. From where I sit, Hudson has a much more talented side this season. The expectations should be higher. Many have commented about the relatively tough second half schedule. The flip side of that is that the first half schedule is petty mellow. If 46 points is the playoff floor, 23 points after 17 matches should be the minimum expectation for Hudson to finish the season. If the relative softness of the first 17 is taken into consideration, the expectation should be closer to 27 or 28 points at the midseason turn. Another 19 or 20 from the tougher second half should not be impossible, allowing the team to snag a playoff spot. The seventh playoff spot in each conference should make the task much easier. Bottom line: if Hudson doesn't get this team into the playoffs, he needs to hit the road. There shouldn't be any debate over that. The 14-team playoffs are barely more than a participation trophy anyway. Kroenke's RFO drove me away as a season ticket holder. If they want my money to see their team again, they need to earn it. Making the playoffs this year is the first step. Winning a playoff round is the second step. Keeping players who show talent is the third step. Upgrading the team next offseason so that the team is an actual contender is the fourth step. Getting rid of the forced automatic renewal of season tickets is the fifth step. Do those five things, and I'm interested again.
It feels like a lot of fans are misinterpreting Smith's comments on this. Smith's comments to me were along the lines of we had certain standards of behavior/professionalism/effort/etc. that needed to be met in practice. Those who met them played, those who didn't, didn't. So when Hudson talks about how well Smith and Wynne did in practice he meant that they were establishing the standards and the style the team wants. Smith freely admitted to me that they never thought McBean was a better player than Boli, but they thought it was important as they were establishing a culture that those who were on board with the culture were the ones who got the playing time. Now I'm not saying I agree. While I understand the logic they used, they also needed to remember that this is a results oriented business, and the results weren't close to being their last year. I get it, its new leadership, a new way of doing things, and they want to put their "Rapids Way" plan into action. But one thing Rapids management continues to do is that they don't understand/care that the fans don't start over at square one with them. They were asking a lot of the fans to back McBean over Boli as we lost over and over in order to establish a long-term plan after a near decade of failure, 2016 excepted. Now if it pays off with a playoff team this year and a really competitive team next year Hudson and Smith get to say "we told you so" and we all have to eat at least some crow. But, as you point out later in your post, if Hudson continues to struggle this year he's got to go and Smith will be on very shaky ground if he doesn't hit a home run with his replacement (or if he keeps him). To Smith's credit he told me that while he believes they made vast improvements behind the scenes he understands that the proof is in the pudding and that's all meaningless if the results don't come with it.
With the additional team the floor is now just under 43 points, or just over 1.25 pts/game. That's the new Bodmer Line.
Any @realsaltlake fans willing to host me for a nice meal and warm bath as I make my trip to Denver?! 😉👍🏻#mlspreseason pic.twitter.com/g7Bei1Ra6w— Benny Feilhaber (@b_feilhaber22) January 20, 2019
It's also what Smith told me just before Christmas - 3 years ago. His message has been consistent and, I believe, genuine and well intended. Yet we've had 1 good season out of three and the team has been remade 4 times. (I'm counting the current pre-season). I understand it's been Smith's show for about half that time, but he was brought in specifically to influence player acquisition. Seems to me the player acquisition has been a wash during the time Smith has been with the Rapids. (Again, we don't know how much he was able to influence acquisition his first two seasons. I know there were more than a handful of heated discussions between Smith, Hinchey, and PM). So, yeah. Smith needs to prove himself this year.
Isn't the whole point of coaching to motivate your most talented players to play their best & in the style you want? I think the team has been improved but not to the extent some seem to think it has and in the end, the decider of who sees the pitch is Hudson and I think he has proven to be way below average when it comes to all areas of coaching.
One thing I learned that I found interesting is that while he recommended Gashi, he did not recommend the long-term contract Hinchey/Bravo gave him. Assuming that's accurate and not just him spinning its a point in his favor. Gashi was obviously quite good the first year he was here and has dropped off since then. Smith joined in early 2015. In that time our major signings have been: Howard - Clearly more than an on-field move, not one I lay at Smith's feet Gashi - Recommended by Smith but not long-term Doyle - Solid but unspectacular. Not a miss but not a great signing either Ramirez - A month (or less) after Smith arrived and nothing like the other players he's brought in, my guess is that this wasn't him St. Ledger - Clearly a Smith move, and not a good one, but not one that cost us greatly either Jones - A good move for what it was Pappa - Eh, not a great move but not one that hurt us long term either Boateng - I'd call this a bust. To be fair that back injury clearly changed him as a player and that's not something that could have been predicted Aigner - Crash and burn. Probably the biggest failure of Smith's tenure Boli - Bust Mason - Bust Price - Solid pickup Smith - Not looking great but not a bust yet Wilson - Bust Castillo - Best signing of last season Acosta - Great move Hudson - Didn't look good in year one Looking at that list I'd say that going into last year Smith had a pretty nondescript track record. No major busts but no major home runs either. He made some poor choices last year, particularly at forward, and Aigner blew up in his face which also hurt. Obviously his choice of Hudson looks questionable right now too. So I look at him going into this season as somebody who needs to have pulled off more good signings than bad ones, and probably needs somebody (Acosta/Rosenberry/Rubio/Mezquida) to be a home run signing. He also needs Hudson to prove his faith in him and if Hudson can't, he needs to be willing to pull the trigger and make a great signing to replace him.
Pappa - Eh, not a great move but not one that hurt us long term either Am I remembering wrong, I thought we basically paid him to play for DC United (1.25 seasons) after they were willing to take him off our hands. Edit- Too lazy to go back and add the quotes.
To me, Feilhaber is the most important offseason pickup. I've always liked his intensity, and his on-the-road Tweet is vintage Feilhaber. He "gets it" on the RSL rivalry and the importance of the Rocky Mountain Cup. He is sending a signal to us that he's all in this season. He doesn't have 23 year old knees any more, but he does bring a brain for the game. Unleash the Benny. I like the Kamara-Mezquida tandem. Their knowledge of each other's game is a real plus. Kamara is a known quantity. He's dangerous, which is a big plus for this punchless mess of a team. I'm good with him wanting the ball because he knows how to find the net. Rosenberry is massive. He's rock solid and will bring respectability to the back line. He will be some heartburn relief for Howard. At least he's one player who won't spend the season ball-watching. I see Acosta becoming more dangerous with better talent on the pitch. I don't know what to expect from Rubio.
Bumping my own post now that Zelalem to Kansas City is official: https://www.sportingkc.com/post/201...ielder-gedion-zelalem-english-club-arsenal-fc
So.... what next? The age old questions. Is it the coach? Is it the players? Is it both? Is the organization just crap? Is it all of the above?