Colorado Rapids 2025

After a chaotic Decision Day, the Rapids season has come to an end. Their 2-1 win would have been enough to see them through to the playoffs thanks to a St. Louis and Real Salt Lake 2-2 draw, but a last minute LAFC equalizer quickly snatched all playoff hopes away from the team and 2025 will be without playoff soccer at DSGP. Take a look back at where it all went wrong for the Burgundy Boys this season in this Box State Footy Season Recap.

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Admittedly, I have been checked out of the 2025 season since the Djordje Mihailovic trade. Unlike most seasons, I had quite an optimistic outlook for this team back in February 20251. The roster build in the off-season had at least been more productive than previous years. Kevin Cabral was still under contract which will always have a special place on the list of all-time front office blunders. Aside from that, I thought the business done in the off season, while not stellar by any means, was still a step forward. Whatever absence on the depth chart left behind by players like Jonathan Lewis and Lalas Abubakar was filled in by the more promising Theodore Ku-DiPietro and Chido Awaziem.

The off-season business was savvy2, slightly upgraded depth at their positions, and brought possible long-term pickups that could adapt quickly into the system and assume starter positions. Before these signings, it sure looked like the front office was ready to run it back without any splash in the market. Maybe it was wishful thinking on my part but I still believe these were real genuine pieces to build upon. I couldn’t discredit those initial feelings when discussing a slightly promising roster build knowing it couldn’t be quite as massive as the 2024 season.

The first games of the season highlighted a strong and hard nosed team that was lacking dynamic attacking flair3 but featured plenty of game rising moments. For as much as I resented the Rapids inclusion in this year’s CONCACAF Champions Cup, they still had one of their better showings in their competition history. The team earned a second ever CCC win in the Padraig Smith era following a 2-1 victory at home against LAFC. It wasn’t enough to see them through to the next round, but as far as showings go the Rapids didn’t completely embarrass themselves4. The subsequent 0-0 road draw against St. Louis leaned more towards positive given the larger context of the competition strain. Their 1-0 second leg road loss to LAFC quickly dispelled their CCC hopes allowing them to pivot fully towards league play.

In the Rapids first seven league games, the team had a record of 3W-2D-2L. Each of their draws and losses were split away and at home. Their first real punch in the mouth was a 3-0 loss at home against Portland with their second loss suffered on the road against a surging Vancouver side. The first is not entirely excusable but that one was without Zack Steffen5. Their two draws showed the team’s variability in terms of game state. The 0-0 road draw against STL featured the team’s defensive rigor and ability to grind out a result with the fixture congestion6. The closing match of that competition grind, and the second draw within this spell, came at home against FC Dallas; a wild and unsuspecting 3-3 draw that showcased the team’s attacking ability. This was also our first taste of the team’s instability seeing as they conceded three unanswered. With this being their fourth game in about fifteen days, you could find a little bit of a contextual “pass” here.

Their wins in this stretch were quite ensuring. A 1-0 road win against an even more hard-nosed Austin, a 2-1 road win against inferior competition in San Jose and a strong 2-0 win at home against Charlotte showed they could compete with formidable Eastern Conference sides7.

As far as starts go, with the prior CCC showing, this was far from a bad start and this ended up being the best spell of seven games the entire season. Colorado accumulated 11 points in this first spell of games and it’s here where I had figured the team had an “okay-to-good” floor. Still had some polishing to do, but on pace for a good follow up season; a rarity.

Our next spell of games: a big 3-2 statement win at home vs San Diego highlighted more of that “okay-to-good” floor out of a new look 4-2-2-2. The tactical change and win itself was a good indicator of that steady floor; that’s really all you need in the West. After this match, the cracks would start to form.

The following 2-2 road draw against Houston was the first real sore spot for the side. An earned a point on the road is strong, yes, but the team conceded an equalizer late in the 96th minute. This was the first eyebrow raise in a running theme of conceding goals five minutes before the end of halves. Their follow up match at home against Seattle featured that same defensive trope and the team’s strongest reply didn’t come off an elaborate and dynamic attacking style play; it came from a Mihailovic free kick goal. After these two draws, the Rapids would go on a three game losing streak against a wide mix of teams. A dreadful 2-1 road loss against DC United (which for me was the start of my panicking), a shocking 2-0 home loss to San Jose that exposed the Rapids lack of control in matches, and a 2-0 road loss to San Diego in which more than half of their xG came from the penalty spot. These games should have told you everything you needed to know about the defense and the play on the field for Colorado. All this is to say that the “okay-to-good” floor fell off rather quickly in these matches. Their 1-0 win against RSL left a lot more to be desired but it bounced this team back into a little bit more of that “okay” region and was the official start of the short lived Nico Hansen Era.

To begin the next spell of games, a rotated Pids side featuring Ian Murphy, Theodore Ku-DiPietro, Sam Bassett, Darren Yapi and Nico Hansen filled in admirably well to earn all three at home against an inferior opponent in St Louis City. This rotational bump would not last long. Following the RSL and STL home wins8, the team took massive steps back with another three game losing streak starting first on the road against Portland and two subsequent scoreless home L’s against San Jose and Orlando City. The side were without Cole Bassett for much of this stretch. He did feature for 26 minutes against Orlando City but ended up missing the 2-0 bounce back home win against LA Galaxy and the very disappointing road draw against New England which saw the team concede three unanswered after going up 3-0. To follow up this road collapse, the team lost 2-1 at home against Sporting Kansas City in a match that was the lowest point in the Hansen era following an initial blunder that took the steam out of the team in a massive 4th of July game. This would be his last home start. 7 points within this seven game spell.

Our next seven span of games starts midweek on the road against LAFC in a match that was penciled in as a loss before the match even started. It was officially penned in after a harsh 6’ minute Jackson Travis red card. That match ended in a 3-0 loss. The team quickly found a bounce back game at home against Vancouver Whitecaps in a strong 3-0 home win; their last shutout victory of the season with a hattrick of Mihailovic assists to boot.

Colorado would be tested midweek again in a thrilling 3-3 match up on the road at Seattle which saw the team score three unanswered after themselves initially conceding three unanswered. This would be Chido Awaziem’s last game in Burgundy. The following road loss against Philadelphia was expected but the idea of this team being able to compete with top Eastern Conference teams quickly flamed out.

Before continuing with the rest of the three games in this spell, the team played out their Leagues Cup campaign. Ahead of their second match against Tijuana, Djordje Mihailovic would miss the match due to “Personal Reasons” and the play on the field in that match suffered heavily.

Then, the biggest shakeup of the season happened:

Mihailovic was traded and my enthusiasm for this team quickly collapsed. The front office managed to intrigue me enough to stick around with the signings of Alexis Manyoma, Rob Holding, Noah Cobb on loan, and the presumed Mihailovic replacement Paxten Aaronsen.

The Last Act of the Colorado Rapids 2025 MLS Season

Editor’s Note: This preview was written before the Djordje Mihailovic’s trade news on August 4th. I’ve edited out the Mihailovic parts of the article but will touch on his absence and what it means f…

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Despite the incoming signings, it was at this point where the team’s floor, in my eyes, had officially fallen out. They were no longer the “okay-to-good” team in the West I had presumed them to be and even less so without Djordje. With 9 games left, and before much knowledge of the incoming signings and the Djordje trade itself, I wrote out a piece that was initially meant to double down on my “The Rapids are ‘okay-to-good’” claim due in part to the play of Mihailovic9, Bassett’s return from injury, and with inbound signings who could provide that shakeup needed for a big playoff push.

The Mihailovic trade changed the entire vibe of the article and the season as a whole. The Rapids would have been fine heading in to the last stretch before the trade. Following Mihailovic’s exit, the Rapids were worse but it was yet to be apparent how much so.

BSF Newsletter - Rapids Transfer Roundup

September is fast approaching and the MLS transfer window has officially closed shut. How did the Colorado Rapids fare this summer? With monumental shifts in the team dynamic, the personnel, and with…

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To finish out this spell of games, Colorado found two wins to start the PM10 era. A very refreshing new-look 3-4-2-1 formation showed massive improvement to the XI and while I had nitpicks about Bassett’s usage in these games, I still was a big fan of the changes and found myself mildly pleased with the direction of the club. A 2-1 road win against Minnesota was massive both for confidence and for the tactical shakeup playing out of a back three. Their follow up 3-1 win at home against Atlanta was the Marcelo Balboa tribute game. The vibes in that one were through the roof and with the new signings en route, this would stand as the last strong moment for this team before the final stretch.

It had felt that the club was going to avoid a collapse; maybe this team really is “okay-to-good” after all!

Nope. They traveled to play a B-Squad of an LA Galaxy side, switched from their wildly successful 3-4-2-1 back to the 4-2-2-2, and erased all the progress made from the last two matches. Aaronsen debuted for about 30 minutes but failed to really change the game state. Ian Murphy mysteriously drops from the starting XI despite decent outings11. It was just a wildly different switch up after seeing the team playing at it’s best in the back three after all the vibes.

The final stretch of games would go on to prove how utterly atrocious this team was and how far below “okay-to-good” they really were. Ten points in this game spell excluding Leagues Cup.

Our final spell of games is the most damning against Chris Armas. A lot of the seasons’ success hinged on the idea of a strong back line revamp and it never really came to fruition. To start, the Rapids traveled to SKC and came away with a 2-1 lead to end the half. Following three unanswered, they’d go on to lose 4-2 on the road in what should have been a very winnable match. This match featured a 5-3-2 with Oliver Larraz behind Paxten Aaronsen and Cole Bassett as dual 8’s. This formation proved to be the Rapids best attacking lineup and I think the team had the necessary juice to make this work. It’s a real shame that Atencio was unavailable for this match because he is the kind of player that would succeed in that primary holding midfield role as a backline shield. Oliver Larraz works well as a sidekick, but if he’s at the base of the midfield as a lone defensive midfielder there’s more cause for concern about his ability to play there especially with an already lackluster defense behind him. Obviously what stands out here is the result, but this match was the second highest xG total of the season with a strong 3.6 xG. Their highest xG producing match was their home match against SKC; both losses.

The follow up match at home against Houston gave them a slight bounce back but instead of doubling down on what could have been a promising 5-3-2 idea(or the 3-4-2-1!), the side reverted to their 4-2-3-1 from last season with Cole Bassett in at the Left Wing Position.

At this point, with the various data and game samples available, I’ve about had it with Cole Bassett playing outside of his usual deep midfield position. The comparison between him playing deeper and as a winger is night and day. Last year, Bassett had the best underlying numbers in the ASA database among defensive midfielders in the entire league. His defensive work was not perfect, but he gave the team a true defining x-factor from deep that warranted a more robust sidekick than Oliver Larraz; I figured this was going to be Atencio.

Colorado’s 2024 success was due in part to Bassett’s profile of player; a box crashing 8 who was massively relied upon up until his late season injury that plummeted the Rapids out of form and briskly out of the playoffs.

Given Aaronsen’s usage as a deep midfield player in Utrecht’s system for the 2023/2024 season, it’s clear that there was some amount of sauce between these two as dual 8’s in that road match against SKC. You can pinpoint the collapse of this team when Aaronson started filling in as a Mihailovic #10 replacement instead of trying out this interesting new idea of building around two complementing midfielders ahead of one formidable shield in Josh Atencio. Abandoning that idea in favor for a system largely made playable mostly due to Mihailovic’s talent was the reason the Rapids faltered out of a playoff spot despite having an easier path to clinch.

A fluke late goal winner against Houston at home was big, but I had to temper my expectations given the context of the match and the nature of the goal. My tepid reaction would further be proven right with a 3-1 road loss against Dallas in a game that further exposed the backline featuring Rob Holding as a starter. At home, the team couldn’t break down the Loons who were at this point trending downwards following the injury of Kelvin Yeboah and the sale of Tani Oluwaseyi. An impassioned final chase to secure points on the road at America First Field was not enough to rescue a point but they did hold strong to become Back-to-Back Rocky Mountain Cup Champions with the largest of asterisks12. Their home closing draw against LAFC wasn’t as lopsided as initially seemed but for all the work the team did to find a lead they found a way to blow it in remarkable fashion.

So… what now?

I have not had the best of time watching or “covering” the Rapids this season. There’s the phrase “leave the game before it leaves you” and for me I’ve opted to coin my own as “leave the jade before the jade leaves you.” One of the funniest and most memorable comments years ago from former C38 Prez Dave Wegner in regards to my enthusiasm for the Rapids was the notion that “I wasn’t quite jaded, yet”. Welp: here we are. Not only has my jaded view of the team hindered much of my enjoyment of the sport and my Matchday experience, I’m at a point now where it has left me.

After so much frustration and anger with under performing Designated Players, lack of accountability for the front office, a stadium that has still not seen improvements, the lack of visibility among Denverites, key players being traded or sold after strong years13, the failed rebuilds, developmental lottery tickets, and the constant playoff losses and bounces you get to a point where it leaves you- and all that’s left is apathy.

I find it absurd talking to people who are outside this Pids-sphere about the Colorado Rapids. “Are they any good?” *shrug*. I have a surplus of knowledge of the team, faint memories accompanied by scorelines, player moments, and context to so much of the club: but I always just… shrug. “They’re alright, I guess” and at my most blunt “No.”

We are approaching 10 years since the team’s last playoff win. Ten years is quite a long time given the early goal set initially of bringing an MLS Cup back to Colorado. In a playoff landscape made EASIER by the league since then, it’s hard to really “rally” myself up for more of this. When you take massive steps forward as a club only to slowly walk them back, it' really makes it hard to buy into the next year.

It’s why more than ever, KSE need a kick in their ass. Denver Summit FC will be strong competition for the Rapids in the larger Denver market. Despite what Padraig Smith says about fans being able to “attend both”, the idea here is not about which team fans will choose between the two of. Colorado Rapids fans are as loyal as they come and many will still go out of habit, community, and because it’s the thing to do as Rapids fan diehards. It’s the soccer fan who is still absent-minded of the Pids and only really knows DSGP as a place where Arsenal featured or that random National Team match. I don’t think you can realistically compete for eyeballs with the shiny new club in town with a retread of the same moneyball practices, uninspiring home form, and with anonymous DP stars who, in our world are everything but, fail to move the needle for the rest of the sports landscape in Denver.

Credit where credit is due, the front office figure heads Padraig Smith, Brian Crookham, and Fran Taylor treated their diehard fans on the road in Salt Lake City to free beers before the match and a kindhearted albeit somber thank you after the 1-0 loss14. That for me was a small Grinch moment where my tiny Rapids heart grew twice it’s size and for that I want to tip my cap to the team for doing that. I have often harped on how this connection has been lacking in years past so to lay witness to this moment, even with all the apathy I’ve had since that Djordje trade, it does inspire hope. And if there’s anything we know from cliche soccer TV shows: its the fucking hope that kills you.

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With all that being said, I can’t really know what 2026 will bring for this team. For as much as I want to see a new coach, there’s still plenty of unknown when it comes to who would be able to direct this team. A team that has largely suffered due to it’s poor roster construction more so than the coach. Does Armas have a better year with a more productive DP than Cabral? Does Mihailovic stick around if there was some care put into the facilities at DSGP bringing them up to standard? The coach and players come and go but we’re still left with a front office that is set forth on moneyballing their way into the next season. Not necessarily a Cup, but just enough to keep fans around with promised rebuilds and a subsequent “aw shucks, that’s just the soccer business” when those core pieces in rebuild get sold or traded. The Rapids took a massive step back with Chris Armas this season. How they respond in this upcoming offseason will set the tone for just how serious they are to be with the prospects of a new club in town.