NFL
By Keith Richards
As of June 23, 2024, the Colorado Rapids, under the new leadership of Coach Chris Armas, are 4th place in the Western Conference of MLS with 31 points. This achievement, following a 4-1 victory over CF Montreal, marks a successful start to the season for the team. But what would elevate this success to a total triumph for Armas and the Colorado Rapids?
After a challenging 2023 season, where the Colorado Rapids encountered numerous obstacles, the team’s fans were hopeful for a more competitive performance. The club has indeed demonstrated remarkable resilience, emerging as a strong contender. But is this display of competitiveness enough to categorize them as a success?
Success by Comparison
After their success on Saturday night against Montreal, Colorado has now played 20 matches. Through 20 matches, this is what success currently looks like for the Burgundy Boys:
- 9-4-7
- 4th place in the Western Conference
- 31 points
- 38 goals for, 32 goals against (+6 goal difference)
- 5-2-2 at home
For many, those figures would be just okay. Not really a big success. That said, you must compare those figures against through 20 matches of the 2023 season. Here’s what the Rapids looked like at this point in 2023 through 20 matches:
- 2-8-10
- 14 points
- 14 goals for, 29 goals against (-15 goal difference)
- 0-4-4 at home
So, objectively speaking, the 2024 Season has been a success for the Colorado Rapids compared to 2023. When comparing the two seasons against each other directly, this is what success looks like:
- 17 points better
- 24 goals scored better (they only scored 26 all of 2023)
- Five home wins better
It doesn’t just end with team success either. The individual success of players this season through 20 games easily eclipses any individual success of players in 2023 through 20 games. Here’s what individual player success looks like through 20 matches in 2024:
- Djordje Mihailovic – 17 goal contributions (nine goals, eight assists)
- Rafael Navarro – 14 goal contributions (11 goals, three assists)
- Cole Bassett – Nine goal contributions, surpassing his total last season (six goals, three assists)
- Moise Bombito – A stellar season that can’t always be quantified but he is currently with the Canadian Senior Men’s Football Team at Copa America and was clocked at 23.16 MPH this season (#WeStandWithBombi)
- Kevin Cabral – Six goal contributions (three goals, three assists)
- Omir Fernandez – Four-goal contributions (one goal, three assists)
- Calvin Harris – Six goal contributions (four goals, two assists)
In 2023, Colorado had three players with more than six goal contributions through 34 matches: Connor Ronan (12), Cole Bassett (7), and Diego Rubio (7). Through 20 matches in 2024, they have five players at that mark and likely will have at least six; Omir Fernandez will almost certainly get two more goal contributions.
So, long story short, if the season ended today, 2024 would be a success for the Colorado Rapids. However, the Rapids still have 14 matches to play and are still hungry.
More Success Can Be Achieved
After their win on Saturday, I asked Head Coach Chris Armas what continues to push this 2024 Colorado Rapids squad to greater heights. Armas stated, “The biggest strength of this team is the togetherness that we have. The team first mentality and culture. Everything becomes possible. This is what makes my job a lot of fun. I have an attentive audience in that locker room. An incredible group of young men.”
That being said, Armas and the Burgundy Boys are not complacent. Coach Armas always says that there is still work to be done. In the 14 matches they have remaining, the Colorado Rapids can reach a level of success many (including myself) did not believe would be possible this season.
As I stated earlier, the Colorado Rapids currently sit fourth in the Western Conference with 31 points. They sit six points behind three teams at 37 points: LAFC, LA Galaxy, and Real Salt Lake. Of their 14 remaining matches, the Rapids play these teams a combined four times (the Galaxy twice and LAFC and RSL once each). There is an opportunity for the Colorado Rapids to shock the MLS.
Now, before the soccer communities come crashing down on me with claims of being biased and overzealous, I will readily admit that the four remaining matches against the top teams in the West will be brutal. I’m purely speaking in hypotheticals here. Joyous, hopeful hypotheticals, but hypotheticals, nonetheless.
And though they are hypotheticals, it’s not all that far-fetched. The Rapids hold a record of 2-0-1 against LAFC and Real Salt Lake this season (a win at home against LAFC and a win and loss on the road to Real Salt Lake). Were it not for an epic collapse in their second match against Salt Lake, that record would be 3-0-0.
So, speaking in hypotheticals, let’s say the Rapids split the series against LAFC, split with the Galaxy, and secure the Rocky Mountain Cup on July 20th. That would make their season record against the three teams 4-0-3 and give them 12 of 21 possible points in those matches. From there, the three teams play each other several more times this season. Who knows what could happen?
Outside of that scenario, the bulk of the Rapids’ schedule’s toughest part is over. That’s not to say that the schedule becomes “easy,” but it’s certainly not harder than it has been to this point. So, I ask again, what would make 2024 a total success for Chris Armas and the Colorado Rapids?
What Total Success in 2024 Could Be
For the 2024 Season to be a total success for the Colorado Rapids, they must make the playoffs. Heading into this season, most media pundits believed it to be a fantasy that the Colorado Rapids could make the playoffs. Personally, I believed this team would be a top-six team and host a playoff match. I stand by that statement, but I will take it a bit further.
I still believe the Rapids will host a playoff match, but I now believe they will do so as a top-three seed in the Western Conference. I so desperately do not want to jinx the team, but I feel the team has earned the right to this belief at this point in the season. If they can continue to be as fortunate as they have been injury-wise and continue to play at the same level, the impossible can become possible. Something To Prove FC still has more they want to prove, and I think they will.
