There are lol's and there are LOL's. That was LOL twice; when I first read it and then when I thought about it. You know, it wouldn't be so funny if weren't probably true.
I personally think Badji should be honored by the fans, at least, as Golden Boot winner. That would put the Rapids in very rare company, indeed, and be a "Most Rapids" end to a Most Rapids season. I'm sure it has happened before, but I haven't (yet) been able to identify any other MLS team that has traded its leading scorer mid-year, with that player still leading the team at the end of the season. Paging Jason . . .
Anthony Hudson 'embarrassed' by record as Colorado Rapids coach https://t.co/zTnnSTTedY pic.twitter.com/3G8Y01wkWB— Stuff Sport (@NZStuffSport) October 29, 2018
Why does this only seem to ever apply to the Rapids, other teams can improve greatly in single window... Plus it also means most of the 13 they brought in were not the players they needed. "I don't think people quite understand how big it is to really rebuild a team and change a team, and how long it takes and how tough it is, the restraints. It takes time and that's probably been one of the biggest things, the speed of changing things in terms of bringing in players that suit the way you want to play."
Colorado Rapids total points 2017-2018: 65 LAFC total points 2018 (expansion team): 57 So somehow it takes the Rapids "a long time" to turn a team around but it takes LAFC one season to almost match our two season point total and finish 3rd in the West. I know the "explanation" for this has been that the Rapids were stuck with bad contracts while LAFC got to start with a clean slate but literally every player on this roster other than arguably Howard was signed or re-signed either with Smith advising the club on what players to sign or with Smith as GM. Any hole we were in was of their own doing.
Don't forget that ATL 2017 had 55 points and in 2018 had 69 points. 2017-2018 Rapids Coaches: Pablo Mastroeni, Steve Cook, Anthony Hudson 2017-2018 ATL Coach: Tata Martino 2018 LAFC Coach: Bob Bradley Rapids "Stars" 2017-2018: Howard. Gashi( big ? right there lately...). Aigner (lol). ATL Stars: Almiron, Martinez, Villalba, Gressel, Barco, Nagbe LAFC Stars: Vela, Rossi, Moutinho, Nguyen, Diomande, Ciman (before being release to go home to Belgium) Rapids biggest base salaries (https://www.denverpost.com/2018/05/10/colorado-rapids-player-salaries-2018/): Howard - 2mil Gashi - 1.5mil Boli - 775k Tommy Smith - 600k Danny Wilson - 500k Jack Price - 400k LAFC biggest base salaries (https://www.denverpost.com/2018/05/10/lafc-player-salaries-2018/): Vela - 4.5mil Rossi - 1mil Diomande - 850k Feilhaber - 625k Nguyen - 500k ATL biggest base salaries ( https://www.denverpost.com/2018/05/10/atlanta-united-player-salaries-2018/ ): Alimron -1.9mil Barco - 1.4mil Martinez - 1.3mil Villalba - 660k Guzan - 640k Pirez - 650k Nagbe - 605k (Side note, Gressel who I think is one of the better wing backs in the league, is only getting paid 95k...maybe we can sign him to the Rapids since he's paid so cheaply LOL!!!!) It's amazing what results you can get when you go out and spend money on good coaches and talented players.....You guys think Kroenke is gonna pry open the wallet a little for the Smith and Hudson Co? Ha! I crack myself up sometimes
Thanks @TheWarmBurger for putting this together. My thoughts on a couple of parts of your post... It's really getting old watching Rapids teams that can't put the ball in the net. Even in 2016 when we had a good record we were awful offensively, except when Jones,Gashi, and Doyle were on the field together, which was hardly ever. Not since the days of C&C have the Rapids passed the eye test. As you and @JasonMa has pointed out, we're mid-table in terms of salary. The problem isn't that KSE won't spend, it's that the money that has been spent hasn't produced much. Given that we hired a new manager and bought a bunch of players, I expected that we'd be decent this season. But too many of those players delivered very little and we were back in the Wooden Spoon race for 2018. I know it's not easy to put in a new team but other teams have done it.
The problem is outside of Howard, the guys we give big money too seldom meet the coaches standards for actually getting any game time let alone start. Guys who meet the coaches standards make USL talent look elite...