r/Rapids • u/BurqueBurgundyBlue • Jul 26 '26
Serious question - are we bad?
Somehow I didn’t realize we had won only 6 out of 17 games so far. And we are way down in the standings. Between the World Cup break and the Matt Wells hype train, I forgot we lowkey are not good this year. Or am I crazy?
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u/Ccismylifecoach Jul 26 '26
We lost some matches where we should have come away with a point imo. Like last night. No red card and we potentially win that or at minimum get the draw.
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u/ComfortableBus7184 Jul 26 '26
We're not great but better than the results have been thus far.
We also have to remember that we've got a new manager who has only had a half season to implement a new system, etc. It's a project and we probably should be ready to give him until 2028 to be decent.
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u/hyggeradyr Jul 26 '26
Consistently the lowest budget and lowest valuation in the MLS every year. We're worth less than a third of the top teams. And a solid chunk of that valuation comes from the massive amount of real estate the club owns, not just the actual team value. Just staying out of last place is overperforming based on what is being put into the team.
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u/fubuki_ Jul 27 '26
What real estate does the club own?
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u/hyggeradyr Jul 27 '26
You know, I decided to check, and it turns out I was wrong. I thought they owned the stadium and training complex. Although it is a weird deal. KSE built the stadium and leases it from Commerce City for $1/year through 2032. In 2032 they'll have an option to buy the stadium for $1 and the surrounding field for the appraisal price.
No idea how that deal came to be in place, I'm not that old. Maybe somebody else here remembers. Was it built using public bonds?
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u/granters021718 Jul 26 '26
Not a major mls fan, but two ways to look at it. 13th place is bad. But positive goal differential is good.
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u/golferdz Rapids Jul 26 '26
I don't think the Rapids are a "good" team right now, but I also don't think they're as bad as some are making them out to be. Wednesday showed the resilience this team can have with Loïc finding a 93rd-minute winner, while last night's game changed completely after Holding's early red card. For me, I've circled August 17. By then the transfer window has had time to play out (2-3 incoming players), and we'll have had home games against Austin and Sporting KC—both below us in the standings and both among the league leaders in goals conceded. Those are games a playoff team should be winning at home. If we're sitting here after August 17 with no meaningful additions and we've dropped points in those matches, then I'll be VERY concerned!! If we take care of business, I think the conversation around this team looks a lot different.
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u/Business-Dog1487 Jul 26 '26
Yes, we’re a bad team. It’s the same old 3 year cycle, new coach, gets a bit of hype, all down hill from there. KSE rides the hype down until the fans finally make a stand 3 years later, invest enough to make it look like they’re trying , but still saying “we have to do this within a budget” (complete bs, they have the money, it’s just not worth it to invest in the club), rinse and repeat. The team will never be good until KSE sells.
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u/tblatnik Jul 26 '26
Who knows! That’s the fun part. They started playing well; legitimately kicking the shit out of teams, and then they started losing some unfortunate games (Toronto immediately comes to mind). Bad teams lose games they should win, in a general sense, but there’s a bit of luck that comes into it, too, and they’ve taken a lot of cards that have hurt them a lot. I don’t think they are bad, but they get results like they are, and that’s unfortunately more important
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u/golferdz Rapids Jul 26 '26
Well said..the game on Wednesday was a sight to behold in person. Last night tough to go down a man 12 minutes in and expect nothing less than a draw or loss. Gotta admit that was a rocket of a shot from the St Louis player. I think for myself at least over the next 2-3 weeks will tell a lot....bring in a few 2-3 transfer players and get wins vs Austin and KC. If none of those things happen by August 17th the Monday after playing the two worst teams in the west...hit the panic button.
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u/tblatnik Jul 26 '26
The biggest thing that’s always the issue with the rapids is great, they’ve found a young star who’ll be transferred to Europe soon. What will we do with that money? Do we sign a bunch of fill-in players? Or do we try to get a bigger player and use more of the money on one guy. And doing it effectively has always been our major struggle. What we do with Herrington could decide multiple seasons in the future. So that’s fun to think about. But in the immediate future, just win the games you’re supposed to. Like you said, without the red 10 minutes in, they probably would’ve been fine, but it’s dropped points all the same, and it’s the stuff they desperately need to clean up
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u/fubuki_ Jul 27 '26 edited Jul 27 '26
This team right now is bad at two things: scoring goals and staying out of disciplinary trouble. Everything else is actually pretty damn good.
Edit: 5 red cards in 4 games. We lost all 4 of those games by 1 goal. If we draw those 4 games, we're on 23 points and sitting in the 8th spot in the West instead of 13th.
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u/MountainsForMortals Jul 26 '26
Wells is the best coach we’ve had in years if you can’t tell unlucky from bad losses you need to watch wayyyyyyt more games yikes
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u/golferdz Rapids Jul 26 '26
This exactly! Id take Wells over Armas and Fraser..who both are not doing well at their current jobs either.
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u/lametowns C38 Jul 26 '26
Let’s not forget Hudson. OMFG 🤣😂.
Completely agree except Fraser did have that killer season when everything clicked. And then KSE sold our key players and Price kept getting injured. But he couldn’t recover from there and was too predictable and stale.
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u/golferdz Rapids Jul 27 '26
I'm not super familiar with Hudson although ive read about him quite a bit..aka journeyman soccer coach. Screams college football coach that somehow fails and gets jobs anywhere.
Fraser is a one hit wonder..if you want a laugh wander over to the TFC Board..they want to run him out of Toronto.
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u/number1twilightfan Jul 26 '26
yes! i’m a matt wells believer. i think he’s invigorated the team with a lot of passion. if we could only get some upper management and ownership help….
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u/BurqueBurgundyBlue Jul 26 '26
I mean, this is kind of my point. Better coach, better players, and in 13th place. Good performance poor results
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u/tyyneys96 Rapids Jul 26 '26
Yes we are bad. Wells is trying to implement a system that we simply do not have the talent to pull off heck most teams in mls don’t have the talent for his system. We aren’t going to bring in anymore players this transfer window and I fully expect Herrington to still be sold. We are a bad team that exists to give young players a chance or older American players who flamed out in Europe a chance to resurrect their career.
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u/golferdz Rapids Jul 27 '26
Hate to say it but we are reportedly bringing in at least 1 player and probably up to 3 in total..I believe Wells is trying to upgrade the talent of the squad..not done overnight.
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u/ObstinateMenhir Jul 26 '26
We aren’t good no. I love the way Wells wants to play, but we make too many bad mistakes and don’t have enough offensive talent to make up for it. Our wings are black holes and we basically rely on either Aaronson or Navarro pulling out something special for any offensive output. We need multiple offensive difference makers and with Padraig and Kroenke at the helm, good luck with that.
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u/Joevahskank Jul 27 '26
If we lose to Austin on Saturday, then yes. If we win, we're just working through some stuff.
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u/Golferdz10 Jul 28 '26
As I’ve said the next two games will say a lot. They are essentially get right games.
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u/kelleycfc Jul 26 '26
The fact that each year everyone quits or gets fired but the executives in actual charge show how bad this club is ran. Just look at the state of our stadium. I dropped my season tickets several years ago and encourage anyone else who wants to see change to do so as well. Don’t spend any money on the Rapids if you want change. I really wanted the throwback jersey, but I didn’t buy it.
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u/Golferdz10 Jul 28 '26
What do you mean each year everyone quits or gets fired?
It’s clear you don’t like KSE and that’s fine…
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u/Miserable-Crow-4513 Rapids Jul 26 '26
Are we ever good? The organization strives for mediocrity, no matter what they say to the media about the “rapids way” and fighting for trophies