Attack makes Colorado a 2019 playoff contender
Colorado hasn’t had a goal scorer with even the modest sum of 10 goals since Deshorn Brown back in 2014, and the Rapids haven’t been in the top half of the league in goals scored since 2013. The sum total of all of the team’s offseason moves, as well as formation changes, are aimed at correcting that.
The Rapids started by shedding two would-be starting strikers, expensive disappointment Yannick Boli, and “guy who can do a job but isn’t really a top-flight striker” Jack McBean. That is in addition to the departures of Caleb Calvert, a young talent who never quite broke through, and shortterm rental Giles Barnes, who I recall having a really awesome shot in his first game with the Rapids in July, and then promptly never doing anything of value again.
None of these guys will be missed. The four of them collectively scored fewer goals all season than Rapids defenders Edgar Castillo and Tommy Smith.
The Rapids brought in veteran target forward Kei Kamara from Vancouver. Kamara is a striker that likes to bang in goals with his head. Kamara has 112 goals over his 12 years in MLS, and rattled in 14 goals last season. He’s 34 years old, but he has also stayed remarkably healthy — he has racked up more than 2,000 minutes a year, every year, since 2008. Hopefully, Colorado can use his 6foot-3 frame to hold up the ball, send runners into the box and post up for far-post-dunks on corner kicks and crosses. Kamara’s skill set unlocks a lot of other offensive options for the Rapids that they haven’t had in almost a decade. If Kamara does his job, he’ll require opposing teams to keep him close or double-team him when he gets close to goal.
Colorado also added Diego Rubio from Sporting Kansas City as part of a three-way trade that sent Kellyn Rowe and cash to SKC and sent Edgar Castillo to New England. (Keeping Castillo would have necessitated buying him from Liga MX team Monterrey for a big fee.) He’s quick and a very technical dribbler, so he’ll play quite nicely off of Kamara. Rubio had 8 goals in just 781 minutes last year. For comparison, it took Rapids leading scorer Dom Badji 1,343 minutes to get seven goals — before he was traded to Dallas.
To those likely firstteamers, Colorado added NCAA Division I leading goalscorer Andre Shinyashiki from nearby University of Denver via the MLS SuperDraft, trading cash to move up to the fifth overall pick in order to get him. He had an outrageous 28 goals in 2018. The Brazilian-born Shinyashiki is pure confidence in front of the net — if he gets a little space in the box to operate, he is absolutely lethal. It’s feasible that he could produce 5-7 goals his first year coming off the bench.
Better or worse?
Much, much better. If the first two strikers on this squad went down with injury, I’d still think the attack was much, much better. I’m not big on guarantees. But I guarantee that with this group of scorers, Colorado will definitely score more than the paltry 36 goals they accrued in 2018.