Rapids Are Starting to Register

It's no suprise that a club that's dressed in green and white, blue-and-black stripes, and maroon and sky blue, all within 13 years, has had a bit of trouble forging a lasting identity.

The Colorado Rapids have made the playoffs more often than not, play in a beautiful new stadium and have featured players like Carlos Valderrama, Marcelo Balboa and Pablo Mastroeni. Yet they barely resonate on either the American soccer landscape or in Denver, struggling to attract fans (just over 11,000 this season) and media coverage while falling behind several expansion teams in their national Q rating. They have an owner, Stan Kroenke, who's been accused of being more interested in raising his stake in Arsenal than with fielding a winner at home, haven't played a meaningful international match in more than 10 years and count two MLS reserve division titles as their only honors. The Rapids are boring, or even worse, anonymous.

Now, Gary Smith is on the verge of changing that.

The former Fulham player took over from the beleaguered Fernando Clavijo late last season, bringing a commitment to detail and discipline that appears to be just what his young team required. The Rapids finished 2008 relatively strong and have gotten off to a 3-2-2 start this spring, including a well-crafted 2-0 win over Real Salt Lake last weekend.

Kroenke, technical director Paul Bravo and Smith have chosen not to go the designated player route and instead intend to build from within, assembling a roster of talented and complementary players similar to the ones that have won trophies in Houston, New England and Columbus. Rapids like Colin Clark, Jordan Harvey, Kosuke Kimura, Nick LaBrocca and Omar Cummings are young but playing well, progressing as professionals and forming a solid supporting cast for Mastroeni and striker Conor Casey.

"There's some very talented boys who had little experience. They had a few games, but weren't battle hardened," Smith told FanHouse. "It seemed quite obvious to me that those players were capable and had the potential to be not just future stars in the league, but certainly as a group the foundation of where we want to go."

Smith is going to play a style that suits his young team – one that is athletic, utilizes wing play and attacks at speed. "I think if we don't play to our strengths, then the wins and losses will become more losses. We do have a direction," he said. "At home we want to play a high tempo, use the altitude. Away from home, the fact that the group is determined and has good character will be the basis of our work."

Not always the most attractive approach – remember that former MVP Christian Gomez was unable to fit in with this group and returned to D.C. United – but at this point, and in a Denver market that seems to support only winners, perhaps it's most sensible. Mastroeni's decision to re-sign with the Rapids in November rather than head to Europe was the ultimate validation of Smith's approach. Now all that's left is to get people to notice.

"We want to show we're the type of team that's going to entertain and worth coming to watch, that will put more bums in seats and will give this stadium some character. That's what's missing at the moment. The new surroundings, the cleanliness, the almost surgical appearance," Smith said. "We need to try to keep bums in the seats with some victories. We're working hard to do that but it doesn't come overnight." He said he "absolutely" would be looking to add one or two players during the summer transfer window to bolster those efforts.

Even if it takes Smith a couple of years, he'll have done something that nobody else has been able to do for 13 - put a Rapids team on the field that's worth watching.