PHOENIX — The cliché that says champions have a target on their backs, that the pressure is on to play like champions and to repeat, is predicated on one assumption: That the winner was supposed to win the title.
But that’s not always the case.
“I feel like we overachieved last year,” Colorado Rapids midfielder Jeff Larentowicz recently told MLSsoccer.com. “I don’t think going into it we expected to get where we did. Our goal all year was simply to get into the playoffs.”
Once that goal was achieved, of course, Larentowicz and the rest of the Rapids went on a trophy-winning tear. They topped the Columbus Crew and San Jose Earthquakes in the conference bracket then came back from a one-goal deficit to beat FC Dallas in the MLS Cup final. It was an unexpected run for a club that had never won a trophy and not been in the league final since 1997, and one that will be hard to repeat.
“I don’t know how much is going to change this year, actually,” he said. “Getting into the playoffs last year was a great feat for us. The league has only expanded again and it’s only going to be tougher. So I think the goals are going to be very similar.”
Not that there won’t be demands, Larentowicz added.
“But,” he said, “a lot of the pressure that’s going to come this year is going to come from within as opposed to coming from the outside.”
