Box State Footy is back!

A new format for you lovely subscribers. Thank you for sticking with me and the project. I come bearing a new style/format for the Box State Footy weekly newsletter. One big blog post followed by quick tidbits. Less yapping, more focused tangents, and your stop for Colorado Footy wrapped up in one neat little wrap-up. Lets get it.

Topics

• 🍴 Eating Crow
• 🔒 The Ideal Rapids Defensive Midfielder.
• 🏆 Leagues Cup?
• ⚽ Trevor Amann Spotlight
• ☔ Hailstorm Check-In

🍴I Was Wrong About Chris Armas.

Following the disastrous 2023 campaign, the Rapids hired Chris Armas as the club’s head coach for the 2024 season. An uninspiring hire at the time, a widely held belief by pretty much everyone, the front office of the Colorado Rapids looked quite crazy at the time of this hire. But, to their credit, that little bit of madness has us here today with the Burgundy Boys 4th in the Western Conference; drastically and undeniably better than their previous iteration. The vibes this season compared to last are night and day. I may have some reservations about the way in which the Rapids have been winning games and the lack of a concrete style and identity this season but it’s hard to argue with the box score and the points in the win column. To their credit, the Rapids are securing victories and proving the haters wrong.

Let me make clear that I’m not eating my crow based on the team’s play or their record. I still firmly believe that this Rapids side is not quite the team they’ve been billed as. There’s enough holes in their game and moments this season that have left a cookie trail of doubt. There’s been a bit too much luck this year for me to really feel confident about this team in a playoff series.

However, the fact that we are talking about a potential playoff series in July means the team is on track to reach expectations. Last year around this time, the Rapids were decidedly out with little to no hope of a playoff appearance. This turnaround from zeros to heroes doesn’t happen without some investment into the team. That’s not to say Armas doesn’t have an impact because he’s inspired a lot of the belief this season in the players. He’s a player’s coach and seeing how the team fights and grinds out games is very impressive given where the side were last year. Still, I can’t help but feel we’d be having the same season with Robin Fraser in charge. By no means does that mean I believe Fraser should have kept his job, but I only want to remind you of the bad hand he was dealt. Does Fraser have a similar season if he was afforded those significant improvements to the team?

Robin Fraser’s first game happened August 31st, 2019 on the road against the New York Red Bulls (coincidentally, the same day the Altitude/Comcast dispute started) . His 26th game was on April 17th, 2021 on the road against FC Dallas. Fraser’s first 26 games in charge spanned two years and three seasons that featured a late playoff push ahead of MLS Decision Day 2019, a global pandemic that forced the the league’s hand into an MLS is Back Tournament, the shortened 2020 season thereafter, and the first game back in front of fans since the corona virus outbreak in April of 2021. Through all that, on paper, Robin Fraser’s first 26 games have looked a lot like Armas has so far.

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Fraser’s got one more win and trails in the xGD column. Much of that could be due to the amount of penalties the Rapids have had this year. Both head coaches also found road wins against Real Salt Lake and in doing so captured a Rocky Mountain Cup in the same season. This season is what the 2020 season should have been for Robin Fraser. Unfortunately for him, the quality of the squad diminished with every passing year that eventually culminated with his sacking. Could the same be in store for Chris Armas? Time will tell. But, so far, it’s hard to really differentiate the two.

The one thing, though, that Armas has shown this season more than Fraser ever did in his time in charge was his embedding into the fabric of the Colorado Rapids. Not only an embedding but a complete overhaul of the club and it’s current ethos. When was the last time anyone from the team showed that much pride in capturing the Rocky Mountain Cup? That’s certainly what got me as he’s stuck to his word of delivering for the fans. The powers that be had plenty of time to reflect that passion, but it was Armas who really leaned in to it. When Armas landed in Colorado, the mere effort to immerse within the culture by meeting fans and outlining his goals was refreshing. A lot more refreshing than newly hired KSE figureheads hyping up matchday parades. Ultimately, Armas’ defining factor is his personality and the culture he’s built just by showing up and doing the work. If that ain’t Coloradan I don’t know what is. For the sheer culture change and his evident pride of being the Colorado Rapids head coach, a position with a massive stigma last August, I’m happy to admit I was wrong about Chris Armas. I’m willing to bet on this culture to carry the Rapids into a playoff spot. But I fear that my earlier reservations could be the defining factor between a successful playoff race and an all too familiar one.

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🔒 The Ideal Rapids Defensive Midfielder.

Last year the Rapids most pressing need was a holding midfielder to address the absence of Jack Price. The Rapids signed Lamine Diack who ended up being a bust with minimal minutes; but not without reason. Unfortunately for Diack, the Rapids had their defensive midfielder all along in the form of Cole Bassett. If Bassett wasn’t the most important player coming out of the 2023 season, his performances this year have earned him that title.

When playing as a holding midfielder, Bassett has a total of 2.83 Goals Added above average which is not only a team best but a league best amongst defensive midfielders. Much of that comes from his drives and production in the attack. His late and crashing runs are undoubtedly this team’s true calling card in place of a clear style or tactical structure. Bassett’s work on defense isn’t anything spectacular. He’s mostly helped by Oliver Larraz who’s defensive workload pairs well with Bassett. Their shape together as double pivots has allowed the team to thrive and when paired their defensive work together results in great transition play spearheaded by Bassett. He may not be the plug and play defensive midfielder many might have been hoping for; however, the team has built around him making him the true Rapids holding midfielder.

🏆 Leagues Cup Vibes?

Leagues Cup is here. Yay? I honestly don’t know how you can justify the existence of this tournament. I resonate with the opinion of the lower league football fans that follow this publication. Leagues Cup is a net negative for the league and for the sport in the United States. Supporters groups have already started to boycott the competition and will not be in the stands for the game. This has resulted in smaller crowds and less atmosphere, a criticism cited by the MLS Comish Don Garber. Leagues Cup, a tournament created by MLS, serves no one other than the narrative of MLS teams being less than Liga MX teams. A silly idea and comparison given that Liga MX is embedded in the fabric of Mexican sports culture as much as the NFL is in US’ sports culture. MLS trails Liga MX in history, investment, culture, and reputation. What’s in it for Liga MX? Well, both leagues are trying to carve out a marker for the non-MLS fan who A) doesn’t regularly support their local MLS team and B) may rarely ever get another chance to watch their Liga MX team. A lot of people are passionate enough to fly out and see their favorite teams. My dad even recently asked what my interest was in flying out to see Charlotte take on Cruz Azul this week. No, thanks. However, if you’re inclined to have fun at Leagues Cup games and can look past all the negatives then more power to you! I’ll be hitting up my local USL teams to get a little bit of variety this year.

How do you feel about the competition? I get a feeling this tournament may be scrapped if it loses enough of it’s value.

No official word from Centennial 38 on their plans for the tournament. My guess is business as usual.

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⚽ Trevor Amann’s Production

Player progression in soccer is not linear. Most players don’t grow into the player they’re meant to be even after their prime. The best example of this is Jamie Vardy who’s production exploded en route to Leicester City’s exciting Premier League title win in 2016. A player who has slowly been progressing these past couple of years is Trevor Amann. The Westminster, CO native has seen varied amount of minutes and starts throughout this season. Among strikers in USL, his 1.87 Goals Added above average is 5th best and his 1.29 Goals-xGoals is 4th best. He most recently scored on July 21st, a calm and composed finish in his team’s 5-2 rout over the Oakland Roots. His side, Sacramento Republic, are currently 2nd in the USL Western Conference with Amann as their leading Goalscorer.

☔ Hailstorm Check-In

I posted a nifty little Hailstorm “away day” video on the Box State Footy TikTok. Jared Geisler, friend of the publication, and I had an absolute wonderful time, even through the rain delay, as the Hailstorm would go on to win 4-3 in an exciting seven-goal-thriller of a second half against Central Valley Fuego. Since then, NoCo have played eight games in the USL League One season and have picked up 16 points with a record of 5W-1D-2L. They would be in a much better spot had they not started the season with a gauntlet of road games. I’d be hard pressed not to mention the Hailstorm's best player this season: Bruno Rendon, a man who Eamon Zayed says has MLS potential. He is third in the league for Goals Added above average with 1.57; a large sum of that coming from his Receiving Goals Added rating. Rendon tears apart defenses thanks to NoCo’s direct style of play helped massively by Rendon’s darting runs. I have had an immense amount of FOMO as I start to really dial in on my NoCo fandom. This August I’ll be checking out a lot more of those games live. Maybe we can fill out a bus this time around?

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Thanks for reading!

I promise future iterations will be a lot more concise. There’s just been so much to say and so little time. Now that I have a month’s worth of time to carve out for Box State Footy, prepare to see a lot more content coming your way from this very publication. If you’re interested in creating content with me and Box State Footy please reach out and let me know on my X/Twitter. Right now Box State Footy is a two (and a half?) person crew and I’d love to expand and be able to pump out more content. Anyways, be well and stay safe!