Can Matt Wells turn the Colorado Rapids into a winner?
From our first real press conference this past Wednesday, it certainly sounds like he believes he can remake this team into a 'world class' club. How? And should we take him seriously?
This past Wednesday, Colorado Rapids Head Coach Matt Wells had what I would call his first real press conference. Yes, yes, he had one last week too, but it was full of the niceties that come with the hi-how-are-ya meeting, including a bevy of softball questions from the press. How is camp? How is Florida? What have you seen? Wednesday, Wells had to field some real tactical questions, and answer them without giving away too much about his plans to opposing coaches. He had to set the tone for his leadership style. And most importantly, he had to answer questions regarding the sale of Cole Bassett to Portland Timbers for $2.65 million [ballooning to $3.7 million if certain incentives are met].
Wells faces some real challenges coming into this 2026 season. He’s taken over leadership of a team that has missed the playoffs 3 of the past 4 seasons - in a league where more than half the teams make the playoffs. The Rapids haven’t won a playoff game in nine years. They made some offseason additions but a lot of folks are unconvinced that these are significant enough moves to really ensure success in 2026. Being a head coach for the Rapids is hard, and I don’t envy him.
Wells is my fifth Rapids manager – as a writer/blogger/podcaster, I’ve interacted with Pablo Mastroeni, Anthony Hudson, Robin Fraser, Chris Armas, and now Wells.1 That level of history – and turmoil – leaves me feeling slightly jaded about glorious promises and optimistic language. ‘Yeah yeah, kid, they all say that. I’ll see it when I believe it.’ I am trying to find that right balance between skepticism and giving the benefit of the doubt. I think we all are. Quite frankly, with our history as a franchise particularly in the Kroenke era, it is more than appropriate to lean into pessimism.
I have pulled a few choice quotes from the post-practice press conference on January 28, 2026 below. The full press conference is embedded at the end of this article if you’d like to see the full context for the quotes. Under each quote is my reaction to what Wells said.
Matt Wells: In terms of us and the squad compilation moving forward, we have to make difficult choices. And this (selling Cole Bassett) was certainly one of them. We have a fantastic midfield group here. It’s probably the, being honest, it’s the unit, I probably shouldn’t say this, but it’s the unit I’ve been most pleased with since I’ve come into the club. And we have a lot of talent there and it’s my job to tap into that and get the best out of them. So it was always going to be a little bit of change here. But in terms of the midfield dynamic i’m very very happy with with what we’ve got in the building.
Wells begins the conference on a question from brilliant, charming, debonaire reporter Matt Pollard by complementing Cole Bassett’s talent and work ethic before sort-of explaining the decision to let him go. He’s starting to explain to the public what he’s looking for; what he’s trying to build; what changes he’s going to make and why he’s making them. And here he tells us all effectively ‘we had redundancy in midfield - a lot of nice players who do too much of the same thing, or not enough of what I specifically need.’ Why Cole was the odd man out will likely remain a mystery. Based on his age and experience, he probably still had sale value? Or maybe the team likes Ted Ku-DiPietro, Connor Ronan, and/or Josh Atencio better.
MW: I watched as many games as you possibly can, and then some more. So I came in here with some good ideas, but until you work with these guys, until you get to know them as people, until you start to see the chemistry on the pitch and how they link with each other within the confines of my game model which is a big change I think until then you see that you can’t make accurate judgment. So I was always saying to the front office that yes Hamzat (Ojediran)2 yes Dante (Sealy) – like massively. I felt they were immediate requirements. And then after that I wanted to hold judgment until I got to assess the guys in person. And now we’re now in that phase where I get to make more accurate judgments. And I can start to really shape this squad in my vision. And I think this is the first small step towards that. But it needs to continue. Now it’s about there’ll be more change in phase two. That could be players going out. But it will most definitely be players coming in.
Some coaches have an incredibly clear system they want to play, and the players must fit that system. Other coaches are less theoretical or doctrinaire about the football they want to play - they have some basic principles, but more or less they let the players they have guide the approach. Mastroeni wanted to defend in mid-low block, and he wanted physical players. Anthony Hudson was Rapids Way 1.0, which was trying to actually go on the offensive sometimes. But it wasn’t a very clear system. Robin Fraser’s system was about ball movement to create openings, increased high pressure over past coaches, and keeping players in positions to defend well even while on offense. It was Rapids Way 2.03 . Chris Armas was also into high press, and there was more urgency in attack than under Fraser, but his defense was a mess. I think the Armas years spelled the death of the Rapids Way – we did not hear that phrase under his tenure, and I suspect we never will again.
So far we know that Well’s new offense will be ‘a big change’ and that he wants to ‘dominate opponents’ [he said that in his opening press conference and repeated it again on Wednesday]. And we also know that Wells understands that his system will require certain players, and it looks like Dante Sealy and Hamzat Ojediran are perfect for that system. We will keep an eye on this, because I don’t yet know what that means.
‘I can really shape the squad in my vision’ is a pretty bold statement, and probably worrying for some, judging from the reactions to Wells’ words on Bluesky. I’m not shocked - every coach has his ideas and the guys he wants to carry out those ideas. It is a little refreshing for a coach to say that out loud. I do think Wells and Pádraig Smith haven’t really telegraphed their intentions to the supporters about incoming acquisitions. And also - I don’t think the Front Office or coaching staff fully get how jarring it is to have an offseason in which two Colorado homegrowns are unloaded for two new unknowns. It’s easier to lose knowing that you’re doing so while you develop young local players who might blossom down the road. Losing with some middle career Nigerian player that just arrived from France is harder to swallow.
MW: The foundations for me are the physical performance and then the mentality, how we see ourselves, how we show up every day, having that identity of being a big team that wants to dominate football matches. So the first two weeks have been about implementing that. Because there’s no sense starting with an unbelievable tactical model and then you get further down the line. And like always in football, you hit a period of adversity and if you have weak foundations then the house is going to crumble. So this has been about strong foundations …
But more important for me is what are we as people? What are we as a team? What’s our identity? How strong is our mentality? And I’m really happy with the point. It’s not perfect. I have to keep pushing and stretching these guys but I’m happy with the level we’re at now. We have to keep pushing on that. Tomorrow will be other examination of that because they’re going to be tired again.
Wells describes elsewhere in this press conference that they guys have been pushed very hard in training, and so clearly he wants a team that can physically out-work other teams. That’s a very Colorado Rapids thing: top-tier talent, speed, or technical ability is more expensive to acquire than stocking a team with dudes that have insane levels of physical fitness. But he wants swagger, too. All this talk of dominating opponents has been intrigued, for sure.
Taking a step back, it also sounds absurd. This team has been an underdog for the entire time I’ve followed it, since 2013. And arguably, the Colorado Rapids, an underfunded team in a midsized market with an owner that prefers shrewd business to a full trophy case, have ALWAYS been an underdog. Creating a club that wants to dominate opponents would be dramatic change in year 30 of Rapids history. I won’t say it’s impossible. But it is certainly improbable.
Pablo Mastroeni ruined the word ‘mentality’ for me. I mean, I get it. You want guys that want to win, and also guys that shake off adversity or stay composed under pressure. As Yogi Berra said, 90% of the game is half mental. But also, this is of questionable value to me. These guys are all top end professionals. The physical and technical ability plus the ability to understand the tactics probably adds up to a great soccer player moreso than a guy with a can-do, competitive attitude who is slower than snot and can’t shoot to save his life.
Also, motivation to perform can be manufactured pretty quickly for a guy if you provide a big enough check.
More below but first…
MW: We have a framework. Again, I won’t share all of it. So there’s different categories of how we dominate and how we review our dominance. And dominate the opponent sort of refers, especially to what we do against the ball. And when they have the ball, how we behave in all moments of the game. and then opponent builds up. But we also have to have the same level of clarity when we move further back down the pitch. And in terms of the high line, how do we hold the high line? When do we drop? When do we hold? When do we squeeze? How do we stand in the line? When the ball goes over ahead, how do we turn? What’s our references? What are the behaviors we care about? And then exactly the same when we’re defending around the box, making sure there’s absolute clarity. Every single player knows their job to the point where they know exactly how they should be stood, what their body shape is, and that’s something I’m very, very passionate about. And it’s that level of clarity that I want across all areas of our dominate framework without sharing the rest of them.
This was my question regarding Wells’ use of the term ‘dominate the opponent’. What does that mean? And in short, he might mean ‘we want to press.’ It could be that in the early watching, us pundits will determine that Matt Wells is Colorado’s version of Jurgen Klopp and the Gegenpresse: a focus on winning the ball back in the opponents final third and then pounding the ball as fast as possible into the box for a chance.I thought we’d see Chris Armas press a lot, but he really chose to press heavily only sometimes, depending on the opponent or whether Colorado was home or on the road. Wells, however, kept saying in this media session that he couldn’t tell us too much. Which is kind of cool in a Don Draper ‘he’s sooooo mysterious’ kind of way.
Last chunk here, off of another Matt Pollard question (about the decision to part ways with Cole Bassett):
I’ve been in a phase since I got here of assessing and identifying the squad. And I was very clear with him in the first meeting that when you’re coming in, like I am, to completely change the trajectory of a team and to create something special and create something sustainable which I’m determined to do. This is no short-term project. This is I want to build something here that really stands the test of time and get the boys to buy into a specific type of football and a specific way of seeing themselves.
I want that to carry through to the organization. I want us to be world-class on and off the pitch. It’s us making difficult decisions. It’s the players now this morning being a little bit uncertain. And we have to live in that space of being uncomfortable.That’s where high performance operates. And it’s no different to when we are holding that high line. I’m not going to feel comfortable right now. It’s very different to them. It’s when we’re building up from Zach Stephan and Nico and the other team’s pressing like crazy.
We’re not going to be comfortable immediately. We have to get used to being uncomfortable. And for me, squad composition falls under that same bracket. There’s going to be difficult decisions that we make, but they’re always going to be for the greater good of the squad. How I see it at the time is that this is something that allows us to shape the squad much, much more in my image by spreading the resources across other areas of the pitch where I feel like we do need depth and we do need challenge.
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So I’ve no doubt we will reinvest the resources and we’ll spread it across the squad. And at the end of this transfer window, which is when I want us to be judged, and then the product you see on the pitch, I’ve no doubt will be a squad that’s got outstanding players spread across different positions, all competing for the shirt, all fighting each other, no one comfortable, everyone ready to take the other person’s shirt, and that’s how I want the environment.
World class on and off the pitch! I love the enthusiasm. I hope he can maintain it after he takes a walk through LAFC’s BMO Stadium or Columbus Crew’s Lower.com Field and then returns to Commerce City’s low-rent district digs. LAFC’s been around for a hot minute, and their rosters have already included Son Heung-min, Hugo Lloris, Dennis Bouanga, and Carlos Vela.4 We don’t quite rate in comparison.
Also ‘I sold a player and now all the remaining players in the squad are waking up nervous about their jobs’ is certainly an approach. It’s pretty aggressive! It is a wake up call - if you don’t buy my system, you’re gone. It immediately has me worried with a Jurgen Klinsmann ‘do the players want to play for this guy?’ type concern. Let’s give it some time. Maybe he’s just being a boot camp drill sergeant for the start and we’ll see his warm fuzzy side later (?).
His comment about ‘spreading resources across other areas’ was refreshingly honest. ‘We had too many good midfielders and not enough good wingers, strikers, and defenders’ is something I’VE thought in the past, but I’ve NEVER heard a coach or GM say that. I agree. Bully for Matt Wells for telling it like it is a little.
I’m not counting Oscar Pareja, who was coach in the 2013 season when I was a fan who had yet to write any articles on the ‘Pids, or the three interim coaches who filled in after firings: Steve Cooke (12 games in 2017), Conor Casey (14 games in 2019) or Chris Little (8 games in 2023). But if I did count them, then Matt Wells is my ninth Rapids coach. I feel old now.
Side note: Ojediran is still not in the US yet, apparently waiting on a visa.
That last thing - maintaining dispersion and position in offense in case of a turnover - was probably the Achilles heel of the Hudson offense. When the Rapids got out in attack under Hudson, often they could easily be exposed on the counter.
Matt Wells used to coach Son at Tottenham. Here’s proof.