COMMERCE CITY, Colo. – Colorado Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni might not be widely known as the “Zen Master,” but he nevertheless preaches the importance of seeking balance in life and in soccer.
“For every positive in life, there’s a counter. You have to give something to get something,” Mastroeni told reporters this week. “The hardest thing in soccer is to strike that balance [between attacking and defending]. For me it’s finding that balance between good structure and allowing the guys to be in front of the goal with more numbers. A great defensive foundation provides the attacking players with enough confidence to express themselves.”
The Rapids have appeared to have found that balance with a recent switch to a 4-3-3 formation, which has resulted in two straight wins in games against Vancouver and Real Salt Lake.
For Mastroeni, “everything in life is a process” and according to the second-year head coach, the formation change was no different.
“It’s a process of what happens over seven months which led us to this decision,” he explained. “All the soccer decisions [the technical staff] makes down here. There’s about 10 hours of dialogue that happen every day. It’s phone calls, it’s e-mails and it doesn’t happen overnight.”
The transition has been mostly seamless, with Mastroeni and his staff leaning on veteran players like Sam Cronin and Drew Moor to not only organize the Rapids, but bring a level understanding to everyone's evolving roles on the team.
“I think with formations, people can always read a bit more into it than they should,” said Cronin. “As the game goes, it’s our job to figure out where we all need to be.
“My particular role is to stay central, stay disciplined and protect the back four. I have to be a bit more disciplined in my defensive posture. It’s my job to link the back four to the midfield guys and make sure I’m always plugging that hole so it’s an important job.”
Cronin has also assumed the captain’s armband, although leadership is now shared amongst the many veterans Colorado have in their locker room.
“To be fair, it always has been captaincy by committee with me in and out of the lineup. A captain isn’t just one guy,” said Moor, who has worn the armband for Colorado since 2012. “One guy wears the armband but he needs some support around him and Sam has definitely been a leader of this squad.”
Moor’s sporadic appearances in the lineup while continuing to recover from an ACL tear suffered last season was one of many reasons for the change in captaincy. Now healthy, the 31-year-old Moor finds himself in a new role at left back.
“I do like Drew playing at left back. He provides very good feet and very good knowledge in that position,” Mastroeni explained. “He plays more on the front foot in those wide positions, playing really tight to opposing players.”
- Get more Colorado Rapids news at ColoradoRapids.com
Added Moor: “Outside back has been a position I’ve played a lot of times over the course of my career. It’s been awhile but it’s a position I’m comfortable in. Regardless of the formation, Pablo wants the outside backs to get involved in the attack and be solid on defense. As a whole, there’s no difference for me defensively. I need to keep things organized around me.”
Moor’s transition has been one of several for the Rapids over the course of this season. Yet in the aftermath of their first back-to-back wins since June 2014, there hasn’t been any complaints.
“It’s been a good couple games and the confidence is high right now,” said Moor. “We hope to continue to build on that.”
Time will tell as to whether the Rapids’ formation change will continue to produce results. But one of the biggest indicators lies ahead, when the Rapids travel to face the Sounders this Saturday (10 pm ET, MLS Live).
Said Mastroeni: “I think this game against Seattle will be a good litmus test as to where we’re going.”
