It really doesn't matter to me that Hudson took a pragmatic approach to the tournament. What I'm actually upset about is the complete lack of quality up top. Our ball movement has looked great, but without a top class forward to finish chances this is going to be a really frustrating year. Without that component all we have done is gone from a terrible team to a mediocre one. I agree with you. For all the praise and hype Toronto gets lavished on them, I really wasn't impressed with them in either game. They won because they were able to capitalize on two incredibly dumb defensive mistakes we made...mistakes a Liga MX team in mid-season form is unlikely to make. Beyond that they didn't show a whole lot that demonstrates they are significantly better then a team like us thats a total rebuild project. They need to be a lot better than that if they want to go deep in the tournament.
I don't actually recall this, at least not specifically referring to the CCL. All I remember was hearing him say that he would take every competition seriously...which is essentially an obligatory thing every new coach has said from time immemorial. He did actually travel to the away leg...so I guess that does put him ahead of folks like Sigi Schmid or Gary Smith.
I felt like two things were different from last year. First, the pressure for the full game was better and pressure up top was much improved. Badji committed some pointless fouls but I think part of that was actually applying some aggression. In the past he's struck me as being pretty half hearted in his attempts to pressure the ball. McBean was good on pressure. Second, they seem to transition into the attack much quicker. Some of that was just the fact that they forced turnovers, but I didn't feel like there was an undo amount of passing across the back. The flip side of getting into the attack quicker was that there were quite a few more unforced turnovers - that's the trade off I think, but I'd rather work through the kinks of that trade off then trying to be a possession team that has no ability to penetrate the opponents half. The team needs forwards. No shock there. I've never been under the illusion that that's all the team needed though. We haven't had credible forwards since Casey and Cummings. Short of finding the forwards we need, I'm not convinced that they haven't done anything.
Zero MLS quality strikers is also a disturbing fact. Pre-competition bluster from a new coach and post exit 'that was just preseason' minimization is fairly typical coach-speak, in NZ probably anything somewhat good was considered fantabulous, he will need to recalibrate for MLS/Colorado. Under-promise and over deliver would be fine with me ala Gary Smith, 2010 vintage.
Hudson's HALF the man Sigi is! (Am I still allowed to make fat Sigi jokes? I feel like I earned it after living in Seattle for a decade.)
Previous editions of the Rapids would be in full panic mode right now, willing to trade any of their better players for some other team's magic bean castoffs. Bravo always seemed to laboring under the delusion that his squad was only one or two pieces away from a championship run. But now there's no question that this team will be lucky to even sniff the playoffs this season. So I guess reality is an improvement of sorts. So what has happened? A decent quality defensive teams that can't score has been torn apart and replaced with one that has the exact same issue. This team has developed a reputation for boring defensive soccer. Tell me, if you were a quality double digit forward with a good future, would you really want to play here? Even second round draft choices don't seem interested. Maybe they can find some more washed-up nobodies floating around the lower divisions of Europe. But the only way that the strikers that the Rapids desperately need are going to sign here is they are offered more money than other places. And the only way that's going to happen is if Kroenke is willing to take out the wallet out of his pants and splash some cash. Fat chance of that, huh? So welcome to another season of bunker ball. I feel a bit sorry for Hudson since he seems like a sincere guy and one of the better coaches that has passed through here. But no coach is much better than the material he has to work with and the cupboard is pretty bare out at Dick's. JasonMa, the eternal optimist, will find something to be positive to post about, but I'll never understand why you folks pay real money for such sad, hopeless soccer.
No seriously, you're still buying the tickets and listening to the empty promises. Evening reposting them. KSE is laughing at you. It's not going to change until people stop giving them money. It's sad to me that a team like Columbus is seriously trying to put a good product on the field even while their owner is planning on moving to Austin. And the Rapids roll out this crap year after year and you folks still buy it. So JasonMa, the question is--why do you continue to care about this team when its owner doesn't give a shit?
Listening, yes. Buying the promises, no. And anyone reading my stuff knows that. The only money KSE got from me directly last year was for the Conor Casey bobblehead. C38 got my ticket money (and they have a contract to buy tickets from KSE, so KSE was getting paid if I bought tickets or not), and the mini-donut guy got my food money (again, he's got a contract). I didn't buy anything from the team shop all season. Wait, I lied. I did buy the pride scarf. Other than that though. How is that different from any other year I've followed the Rapids for the last 20? Why would that change my loyalties now?
I know it's very early, but is there strong evidence that Hudson will have the Rapids in bunker mode frequently? We all have our breaking point. Ours happened by September when we stopped attending matches and ended up eating some of our tickets that wouldn't sell. This meant we didn't renew either. Having said the above, I really think Pádraig got/gets there needed to be a lot of changes beyond Pablo. He and Hudson seem to have a long term plan.He's done a decent job with the obvious and massive exception of striker. I'll continue to follow remotely, but most likely not attend unless I see evidence that they are a playoff caliber side.
There seems to be a healthy dose of well justified pessimism around here. Like you guys I have passed on my season tickets this year and I'm taking a wait and see attitude about all the professed changes. That said; I am more impressed with the professionalism of this management team than I have ever been with any of their predecessors (an admittedly low bar). Hopefully when all the new pieces are on the field, and they've had some time to gel, goals (for the Rapids) will come.
Not really any evidence. But in order to play Hudson's scheme to work, you gotta have some guys who can score. Teams will know the Rapids can't generate goals and they'll start throwing the whole team up the field. Old Man Howard is going to bombarded. Once the Rapids get toasted a couple times, I'm sure we'll see a more defensive setup. For a team without an offense, the bunker is the only possibility of getting any kind of result at all. Like most people, I hated Pablo ball but at least he knew what he had to work with and adapted to it. My breaking point was several season ago. I come by here every year about this time to see if it's worth buying some tickets. Doesn't look good this season either so I'm gone. Long term plan? I've heard that before. What this team needs is a committed owner who is willing to poor in some cash to buy some better players. Hudson may be a wonderful coach but he has even worse offensive talent to work with than Pablo. Badji comes from a long line of MLS forwards who are big and can fly like the wind but have the scoring touch of a fence post. Joe Mason? Look him up on Wikipedia. He's been averaging a solid 4 or 5 goals a season his whole career. Maybe he'll have a breakout year and get 7. Gashi? The guy spends more time in the shop than a Land Rover. McBean should be playing in the USL. This is one sad, sad crew of strikers. So good luck folks. To you it may look like a new era but to me it's pretty much rearranging the deck chairs. Prove me wrong. I'd really like that. I'd probably even show up at some games. But the future doesn't look bright. Not at all.
What this team needs is a committed owner who's willing to spend the cash on buying better technical staff to identify better players. KSE has spent the money in the last few years, they just haven't spent it well.
Do you have a figure on how much KSE has spent out-of-pocket to buy players? It seems like mostly they've spent TAM, GAM, or whatever else the league provides. When they had some players that other teams wanted, I know they generated some money through selling them. I would assume that Tim Howard doesn't count because his salary, as you say, is paid by the shirt sponsor. (It does bother me that his status keeps him playing past his prime and keeps a better keeper on the bench.)
No, he did not. Nope, not at all worse. From the looks of things it's a bit better so far this year, just not by much, including new and upgraded defense. As you pointed out, the team is still missing an impact striker. They didn't have that last year either. The problem is any improvements may not be enough to keep pace with league improvements. Whether or not Hudson is a wonderful coach remains to be seen… Based on what he can do with this new roster.
Thanks for posting this. I didn't find them that discouraging. People here questioning spending money on going to games, but I don't know, I still finding watching games entertaining, and it's nice to see a game in stadium. The team my sh*t, but it's our sh*t team nonetheless. If we are poor or boring, I will, of course, go less, and watch less on TV, but that's KSE's problem.
No, but you could look at the salaries of Doyle, Torres, Gashi, and Ramirez, plus add on for transfer fees. Howard, as you said, cost KSE nothing but they should get some points for finding a sponsor to let them spend significantly as well. I firmly believe the Rapids and MLS won't work if it depends on owners throwing money at players that the teams themselves can't reasonably pay for. Teams don't have to operate in the black but they can't lose money hand over fist just to put players on the field. That way lies the corpses of Leeds United and Rangers, among others. We have signed 5 DPs since 2013. Arguably all of them have been busts on the field for the amount they're being paid (Howard at least makes up for it for what he did off the field and he and Gashi have time to turn it around). That's not KSE failing to spend money, that's KSE failing to spend money smartly.