I know a lot of us take exception to our team not being rated by anyone. But lets be honest here, how many times has the club actually deserved to be rated? The lack of respect shown to the team has a fairly big correlation to the lack of success from the team itself. That's why the rare times when we do well we're called a "surprise" in the league. When we do poorly, which is most of the time, we drift somewhere between "auto 3 points for the opponent" and an afterthought that people forget is even in the league. The club has never sustained success long enough to earn the benefit of the doubt from anyone. Such is the state of the club, and the reality is it will probably take more than one good season to earn it.
^This. Exactly this. Post Hudson we were one of the best PPG in the league (I think we finished with something around the 3rd-5th best PPG in the league post Hudson), and as you stated, on pace for the 7th best defense in the league. We also got 4 of our total 9 red cards in those dark Hudsonian days too. Our scoring actually improved Post Hudson as well. Our first 9 games we averaged 1.33 goals per game. Post Hudson we finished with 1.84 gpg, rounding out the entire season to a nice 1.7 gpg. Heck, under Fraser alone we averaged 2.14 goals for and 1.29 against. And 6 of the 7 games Fraser coached last year were against playoff teams. Talk about finishing strong... So obviously the Hudson portion of the season shouldn't count for these "pundits" predictions. But what about players....maybe that's why they rank us so low....Who are the 2019 players that started games that we no longer have? -Johan Blomberg (1 start, 3 games played) -Kofi Opare (3 starts, 3 games played) -Axel Sjoberg (5 starts, 7 games played) -Dillon Serna (6 starts, 14 games played) Still sad about his departure, but it was for the better -Benny Feilhaber (7 starts, 9 games played) His departure to SKC still makes me laugh -Tommy Smith (27 starts, 27 games played) Ok. So we lost fringe talent, depth players, a disgruntled vet who didn't produce at the level he was expected and one season long starter who was overpaid for his position. Who are the new additions? -Younes Namli (DP) -Nicolas Benezet (2g in 5 starts for Toronto when he joined on loan towards the end of the regular season, and started all 4 of their post-season games netting another goal) -Drew Moor (veteran CB) -Auston Trusty (young talented CB with 56 MLS starts already at age 21) -Lalas Abubakar (permanent acquisition) -Braian Galvan (tbd on arrival date) So. You mean to tell me that even with everything we've added compared to what we've lost from our 2019 campaign, that the overall consensus from these talking heads is that we are actually going to finish worse than we did last year...? I just don't get it. I get that we're not a big name club, and that we haven't had a ton of success lately. But man. I just don't get that the overall consensus from these guys is that Inter Miami are going to finish in a higher position in the east than the Rapids finish in the West. Or that the overall consensus puts us at/around where Houston, Montreal, Vancouver, and FC Cinci finish in each team's respective divisions. And by golly, there's simply NO REASON WHATSOEVER for Matt Doyle to think that Nashville FC is going to finish ahead of us....Seriously. He thinks Nashville finishes better than the Rapids, and that Inter Miami makes the playoffs as the 6th seed - but that the Rapids finish 11th in the West I mean, I'm sure I have at least a little bias here, but if you look at the raw numbers and acquisitions, I just can't see a way to get the rankings they came up with.... Sorry. Rant over.
Oops. Howard I presume you’re referring to? Goalkeepers man. They never get enough credit. Even during impassioned rants
There's a difference between not rating a historically mediocre team and mailing in an analysis for the league's website. If they had actually written a preview of the Rapids that actually analyzed the 2019 season and stated why what we've done isn't enough to keep up with the rest of the West (including Nashville?!?!) I'd disagree with then, but I'd understand why they panned us. What they wrote was simply based on a 30 second review of the 2019 standings and a quick look at our transfer activity with no actual thought behind it. That's the issue I have.
Guess who I ran into...??? if u are born in 2000s just forget it 😛🤩😎✌️⚡️ #Energy #KeiVenture pic.twitter.com/izi67kvAkO— KEI KAMARA (@keikamara) February 18, 2020
Just watching the Rapids over the course of the season, it is clear that they developed into a solid team, at the least. For the most part, it seems that predictions are made by looking at what happened last season, whose come and whose gone. But what can't be measured is team chemistry. I know that is a cliché, but that is one of the most challenging things to predict. It's easy to look at the individual talent, but it's hard to know how everyone is going to work together. How well they but into the what the coach is teaching and how well that works for the individual talents of the players.
I think it's likely that the Rapids edge only slightly in the playoffs, maybe one of those last two spots. I could hear an argument for the team finishing just below the red line, but I think anyone putting us as 11th or 12th isn't paying attention.
I think the first 5 or 6 matches will tell an important story, a strong start may not lead to playoff contention but a weak start will make it very difficult at best (see 2019). Winning leads to winning and losing leads to self doubt and inevitably more losing. The phrase 'you make your own luck' may have a lot more to do with psychology than with random odds or chance.
Well one piece we are bound to regress on is leading the league by a wide margin in set-piece goals. Hopefully we just add to our run of play goal tally.
I think what sums the cognitive dissonance best is their predictions for San Jose: San Jose finished 2 points ahead of the rapids, and 4 points out of playoffs. They have only added a CB (and lost a CB) and added a 15 year old homegrown signing. That’s it. So all but Baer and Balboa (who were the highest on the rapids) put them making a lateral shift this year, or in that Jack’s guys prediction, a solid playoff spot. They have done almost nothing to bolster their team, but because they were so hot early, they get a better prediction. Which is odd, because they really petered off at the end of the season when teams figured them out. Plus, their roster is still almost the same as their 21 point 2018 campaign. Sure, the Rapids were abysmal to start the season, but man, we finished really strong, and we added some serious pieces as well.....And we get a worse prediction. I certainly hope that Fraser posts these predictions for the Rapids in the locker room somewhere. It also seems like the team doesn’t mind being an underdog, and is actually taking that as a complement. So this whole thing should add some more fire to the players bellies - which I'm sure are already burning to prove the league wrong this year. Is it too early for week 1 predictions against DC United? Paul Arriola is out with an injured ACL...
And people question my statement that a long road trip to start the season can be a disadvantage because teams are playing catch up all year...
Yes the Rapids have traditionally been experts in digging a large early season hole............And if my memory is correct, when they do, they never dig out to a playoff level. Can anyone really pick the Rapids anywhere but middle of the pack or lower? Lots to prove this year, maybe they are set up like the Pablo 2016 team? R
Even though there's been no official announcement and there's no TV listed on the schedule yet, the season opener in DC does appear on Altitude's schedule on their website. So that confirms what we all were sure of, that we will be on Altitude this season.
But on the other hand Directv so far as I know (or can see in my program guide) has done F... all about getting beIN Sports back -- so don't sign up for them if you want to watch Spain or France's top leagues in addition to the Rapids' broadcasts.