Time For Some Apologies

Rapids Doom Themselves, Hire Chris Armas

The Rapids have been immediately written in ink at the bottom of the standings for 2024, as nobody believes Armas is capable at coaching at this level

In what world does this look like a resume that will succeed at one of the least supported clubs in MLS?  The only thing he has going for him is that he's likely cheap and desperate.

The idea that Armas is a finalist for Colorado just reiterates that this organization is deeply unserious about being competitive.  The near universal response to this news across MLS social media tonight is sympathy for Rapids fans that might have to put up with their club hiring him.

...Armas would be very poor choices that would set this team back even further from the hole they're already in.  No other team would even consider them for the role

Pretty brutal huh?  That's not a roundup of what fans and columnists said about the Armas hire.  All of that is quoting posts I made about it.

Oops.

So yeah, I owe Chris, team President Padraig Smith, and Sporting Director Fran Taylor apologies.  I'm sorry, I blew it.  What Armas has done this year is nothing short of Coach of the Year worthy.  I didn't see this coming (in my defense, neither did anyone else).

Not only has Armas improved results on the field with the addition of some good players (Mihailovic, Steffen) he's also gotten better performances out of Rapids who were on the roster for the awful season in 2023.  Before his injury Kevin Cabral, who had 8 goals and 6 assists in 3 seasons, was already at 5G/4A and heating up.  There was an outside chance he would be a 4th double-digit scorer for the club this season.  Jonathan LEwis has tied his career high in assists despite only getting 3 league starts.  And Oli Larraz went from not having a contract to being an every game starter.

The Rapids are on pace to score 67 goals this season, which would smash the club record of 62 set in 1998.  That was back when there were 12 teams and the Shootout was still a thing.  Its already our third highest scoring season with 2019's 58 goals in 2nd.  We are on pace for a top 10 worst season defensively (oddly our worst defensive season was ALSO 1998) but right in line with the last couple of seasons which means Armas has greatly improved the offense without making the defense worse.

Most importantly though is the attitude of the locker room.  Last year the team's heads would get down as soon as they fell behind and you knew they weren't coming back.  In total in 2023 the Rapids earned 7 points from games where they trailed at any point.  In 2024, with 7 games still to play, they've earned 19 points.  And that doesn't count the Leagues Cup results.  I didn't hear no bell is an accurate description of the squad.  For whatever we seem to play even better off the back foot.  That mentality is directly from the coaches.

A Rocky Mountain Cup.  3rd place in the Leagues Cup and a CCC spot.  Almost certainly a playoff berth.  This is going to go down as a successful season (assuming we don't Coug It over the next few games and miss the playoffs) and that's largely due to what Chris Armas has done both individually with players and the team as a whole.  Well done coach and once again so coach, Smith, and Taylor, my apologies for being so wrong and blasting you on the hire.