COMMERCE CITY — There has been no official announcement from the Rapids about coach Pablo Mastroeni’s future, but the former U.S. international said Tuesday he wants to return for 2016.
“Of course I want to be back,” Mastroeni said. “I told you before, my aim is to be a great coach, and you can only do that if you’re coaching.”
A last week Mastroeni would get another season at the helm, but with the help of an offensive-minded assistant — a scenario the defensive-minded Mastroeni has considered.
“Those are things that we’ve talked about, and we’ll mull over all that stuff when the season kind of unwinds,” he said.
The Rapids are 16-29-18 in 63 league games under Mastroeni and sit in last place in the Western Conference this season with an 8-11-10 record. Mastroeni feels he has laid a positive foundation for future success.
“Defensively as a group we’ve been very good,” Mastroeni said. “We’ve been very organized, and even when I’m watching game films now, regardless of the outcome of the game, I see a team that has an idea of what they’re trying to achieve.”
Colorado is seven points and four teams out of a playoff spot. Defensively, they’ve allowed 33 goals this year in 29 games — third-stingiest in MLS.
Captain Sam Cronin, who has been in the league since 2009, said the Rapids still believe in one another and come to work with a positive attitude.
“We have a pretty good spirit considering the position we’re at in the table,” Cronin said.
Where the Rapids need to improve is scoring goals — they’ve scored the fewest (27) in the league this season.
“We need to continue to find ways to make better decisions in that last 25 yards of the field,” Mastroeni said. “There’s not a week goes by that we don’t harp on it. It’s a specialty in this game.”
Daniel Boniface: 303-954-1104, dboniface@denverpost.com or @danielboniface
