COMMERCE CITY, Colo. ā Unbeaten in eight games following their latest result, a 1-0 victory over the Seattle Sounders, Colorado Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni once again credited belief as the driving factor in his teamās continued success, regardless of what is being said about the group outside the Rapids' locker room.
āYouāve got to believe in yourself as an individual, youāve got to believe in what weāre doing as a group,ā Mastroeni told the assembled media at practice this week. āYouāve got to believe that even when youāre down, as weāve been this year on the road, that youāre going to come back. Then that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy of belief. With that belief, the men have done some great things.ā
Assistant head coach John Spencer, who has spent time on the coaching staffs of three different MLS teams, agreed that belief is a key factor in the success for any club.
āWeāve seen it with many teams throughout Major League Soccer,ā Spencer told reporters on Wednesday. āWhen teams get off to a good start, that belief and that confidence comes. Most teams continue that form throughout the season. For us, itās no different.ā
While the belief remains strong within the Rapids locker room, doubt has still lingered among outsiders. Colorado is now in its fifth-straight week of sitting atop the Supporterās Shield standings, yet has only been atop MLSsoccer.comās power rankings for two of those weeks. Additionally, the Rapids have only recently found themselves atop similar rankings from ESPN FC, Sports Illustrated's Planet FĆŗtbol and SBI Soccer.
āI donāt feel disrespected at all,ā Spencer said of the lack of recognition from soccer media. āYou win respect by winning games, by winning championships and by competing for playoffs. All I can say is weāve raised a few eyebrows with what weāre doing this year.ā
Rapids captain Sam Cronin said that he and his teammates pay little mind to what goes on outside the walls of Dickās Sporting Goods Park.
āI personally donāt pay attention [to the media]. For the most part, I donāt feel like we do. Weāre pretty sheltered,ā Cronin said. āThereās a lot of stuff that flies around, good and bad in the media and social media, in particular. I think it just distracts from the task we have at hand here.ā
The Rapids arenāt paying attention to the criticisms and are likewise not buying into the hype surrounding a first-place team.
āBeing in first place now, that really means very little,ā Cronin added. āWeāve just got to keep getting wins and getting healthy and keep focused on the little tasks we have each week. If we start thinking about standings or media or anything else, it can be a distraction.ā
Itās made it all the easier for Colorado to continue to embrace the role of underdog, despite the Rapidsā newfound success of 2016.
āHistorically, this club has been in that position,ā Cronin said. āComing into the season, there werenāt big expectations outside this locker room on us, so I think weāre the underdogs. Even in first place, weāll still continue to be the underdogs and itās our job every Saturday to prove weāre a good team and that weāre going places.ā