Everything will be business as usual today for the Rapids – sort of.
The team will practice in Westminster and coach Fernando Clavijo will formulate the details of his next big game plan.
But instead of preparing for Sunday’s Major League Soccer Cup, Clavijo will leave this week to scout talent to bolster a Rapids squad he rebuilt into one of this year’s Western Conference finalists.
“I’m very pleased with how everything went this year and how far we have gone,” Clavijo said after Saturday’s 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy. “We still need to finish what we started.”
Clavijo and general manager Charlie Wright were not specific about any concerns; the general feeling was the team is ready for tinkering rather than a face-lift.
In Clavijo’s first season with the Rapids, the Hall of Famer brought in 24 players and sent 18 packing. The Rapids suffered bouts of inconsistency but assembled more talent than the franchise has had in recent memory.
“I think we have a great group to build from,” Clavijo said. “I think we’re talking about four or five from the 28 that we need to improve.”
Clavijo has said recently the team needs to add depth to its right midfield and in central defense.
Winger Terry Cooke had no true backup this season with the prolonged injury to Matt Crawford, and defensive midfielder Pablo Mastroeni had to play on defense in the playoffs when Nat Borchers went out with an ankle injury.
The Rapids seem to have good depth at striker, attacking and left-sided midfield, defensive midfield, both sides of the defense and in goal.
Left-sided player Eric Denton said the offseason will give the team a chance to familiarize itself with all the new faces.
“We’ve had a lot of new people come in at a lot of times throughout the season,” Denton said.
Clavijo will leave this week to scout in Argentina and will continue to Germany, Spain and Austria by Dec. 15.
Colorado has an allocation pick from the league, valued in the six figures. Wright said the Rapids are fourth in the order for an MLS allocation, which applies only if teams are interested in signing the same player.
The Galaxy used its allocation money this season to sign standout Landon Donovan, who scored both goals Saturday to eliminate the Rapids from the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
“You’re playing a team that has one guy that makes half of what our whole roster does, and he’s the only guy that put the ball in the net,” Wright said of Donovan. “I think we acquitted ourselves pretty well. We’ll try to find a couple better players so we can beat them next time.”
