Colorado Rapids head coach Pablo Mastroeni is spending some time this offseason with English Championship club Middlesbrough, who are under the guidance of former teammate Aitor Karanka.
According to a story on the team website, ColoradoRapids.com, the visit will allow Mastroeni, the former Rapids and US national team star who led the team to a eighth-place finish in the Western Conference in his first year as a head coach, to “experience a snap-shot of some of the club's best practices, while gaining an insight from one of the sport's up-and-coming coaches.”
"Pablo is hoping to spend time with Aitor – another former player that has moved onto coaching – to share ideas," Rapids VP of soccer operations and technical director Paul Bravo said in the story. "This, therefore, represents a great opportunity for our head coach to go and further his education."
Karanka, a former Athletic Bilbao and Real Madrid defender, was a teammate of Mastroeni’s with the Rapids in 2006. Mastroeni attended his first training session with the second-tier club Wednesday and will spend a “few days” with the team.
He’ll return in time to attend the USSF 'A' License coaching course in Los Angeles later this month.
