Colorado Rapids: At least they are giving it a go

The Colorado Rapids scored 36 goals in 34 games, the lowest total in MLS. At least this offseason, by trading for Diego Rubio, Kei Kamara and Nicolas Mezquida they are trying to solve their most prominent problem.

We’ve all been there. When you everyone but the people in charge can see the needs of the team you support. As an Arsenal fan, I have experienced this deadening pain for more than a decade. Even now, they still haven’t signed a half-decent centre-back.

In team building, addressing needs and improving the weaknesses of the starting XI and squad is one of the key aspects of managing a successful offseason. Obviously, selling players, shuffling contracts, dealing with agents, coaches and making plans for the coming year are all important tasks to be completed.

But many of the decisions that are made tend to work towards one goal: fixing the problems that undermined the team the previous year.

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And yet, there are plenty of examples of when clubs do not solve their issues — not only do they not solve them, but they seemingly do not even attempt to solve them, whether it be out of negligence or a denial of the problem in the first place. So, at least this offseason, the Colorado Rapids are throwing resources at their most obvious shortcoming last season.

In a year in which MLS exploded with high-scoring teams — six scored 60 or more goals on the season, which is just short of two goals per game — the Rapids seemingly missed the memo. In the 34-game regular season, they scored just 36 goals. That is an absolutely pitiful amount. To put that ineptness into perspective, no other team in MLS scored fewer than 40 and the next lowest amount in the Western Conference was 49, shared by Minnesota United and the lowly San Jose Earthquakes.

For the Rapids, identifying the problem was not difficult. And so this, offseason, they have made a concerted effort to try and solve their goalscoring problems.

Kei Kamara was traded for via FC Cincinnati, who selected him in the Expansion Draft, the veteran attacker topping the Vancouver Whitecaps scoring charts with 14 goals. Diego Rubio arrived from Sporting Kansas City, a natural goal-poacher who notched an impressive eight goals in 761 minutes of action — no other player in MLS scored at a faster goal-to-minute ratio, excluding anomalies caused by small sample sizes. Even the addition of Nicolas Mezquida, also from Vancouver, at least adds another attacking body who has experience of scoring goals in MLS.

The Rapids’ top goalscorer last season was Dominique Badji with seven goals. Kamara doubled that tally on his own and Rubio certainly brings a goalscoring pedigree that Colorado severely lacked last year. Whether these players are actually good enough to solve the Rapids’ goalscoring problems remains to be seen. It certainly is not guaranteed.

But give Colorado credit for having a go. At least they were humble enough to admit their problems, understand what they needed to do, and then make the necessary moves to supply their squad with players who can change the outlook. Whether it works is uncertain, but the Colorado Rapids cannot be blamed for trying.