![]() Wearing a burgundy cardigan and a dress shirt with a wide-stripe tie, he has his hands shoved into the pockets of his tan slacks, as if he’s forcing himself not to move. Now, as the cannon smoke clears, the five-foot-10-inch Mastroeni, still trim and fit, stands motionless in the coach’s box on the sideline. (In the days leading up to his ouster, Bianchi’s criticism of the team’s front office had drawn the ire of Hinchey and others.) “Does loving a coach translate to wins? It probably helps, but it’s not a surefire deal. But how long would it take for him to command the knowledge and respect any coach must have? And would Kroenke Sports Enterprises (KSE), which also owns the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche and is the largest shareholder in the Arsenal franchise in the English Premier League, have the patience to let him find his style? “He overthinks things,” says Chris Bianchi, who covered the Rapids from 2012 to 2014 for before being fired. No one doubted he could learn Mastroeni’s mental focus has always been unwavering. Now, with literally no time cushion, he was charged with turning the wisdom he’d gleaned from his field time-more than 27,000 minutes in his professional career-into a strategic philosophy he’d have to impart to a roster of millennials. The sum total of his soccer teaching experience was a few course hours in college. The trouble was, Mastroeni wasn’t a coach he’d never even been an assistant. Conveniently for Hinchey and the organization, he’d just retired, hadn’t sold his Broomfield home, and was looking to get into coaching. men’s national team for 65 matches, including two World Cup runs, Mastroeni is the Rapids’ version of soccer royalty. (He holds the league’s all-time record for yellow cards.) Having also played on the U.S. Most MLS coaches have played in the league, and Mastroeni spent much of his career as a beloved Colorado midfielder, celebrated by fans for his forceful tackles. He was a logical choice, if not an obvious one. After Pareja’s departure and the hasty vetting of a slim roster of candidates, Rapids president Tim Hinchey announced Mastroeni’s arrival as head coach-on the same day the MLS regular season started and barely a week before the Rapids’ first match. Faintly visible through the haze is the person at the center of this dismal season: Pablo Mastroeni. If there is an opposite of mojo, rhythm, and synergy, the 2014 Colorado Rapids embody it.Īfter the starters are introduced, a cannon booms, but the lack of wind leaves the smoke hovering over the field. The team is still struggling to settle into a starting 11 lineup (it will employ at least 30 variations by the end of the season). It doesn’t help that as they warm up for this contest, the Rapids are mired in a 14-match winless streak in a regular season that only comprises 34 games. ![]() To say the defection created angst-from the players, the management, and the fans-would be an understatement. Pareja was Colorado’s coach less than a year ago, but in a soap-operatic move, he absconded to Dallas, where he’d previously played and served as an assistant coach, just before the preseason. ![]() ![]() The Rapids are set to face FC Dallas, an MLS rival coached by Óscar Pareja. The meager attendance is probably good it means fewer people will notice that the kids hauling the oversized state flag off the field are dragging it along the ground. A teenager screeches out an awkward version of the national anthem on an electric guitar as the sparse crowd awaits the Colorado Rapids’ last home game of the year. Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City is usually buffeted by gusts that race from the foothills toward the Eastern Plains, but on October 18, 2014, the flags at the seven-year-old soccer stadium hang limp. Now he has a plan that might just save the squad-if he and his players can only wrap their minds around it.įor once, it’s not windy. In 2014, local soccer legend Pablo Mastroeni returned to the Colorado Rapids to take over as coach and immediately led the team to one of its worst records ever.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |