Former MLS veteran No. 9 and current MLS 360 analyst Bradley Wright-Phillips sat down with Jordan Angeli and Drew Moor for the Colorado Rapids Podcast this week to review Colorado's season and players and share some memories along the way.
What do you make of the Rapids this year?
I think I'm on record saying this—in the beginning, I gave the Rapids no hope, because I saw what they’d done last year. Chris is a good friend of mine, coached me. I wasn't sure what he was going to bring to the team yet, coming back to MLS, I wasn't sure. I didn't know what to make of him. So I went with what they’d done last season, the players they had. And to be honest with you, it’s one of the teams I enjoy watching this season, because one, you know, they're going to fight. Two, there's not any stars. I like the way there's players that this season that have made themselves into stars, but there wasn't any stars. It seems like a blue-collar team in that everybody's going to work for each other, and they got some amazing results. I think they've been fun to watch –young Cole Bassett, [Djordje] Mihailovich, [Rafael] Navarro. I think if you keep giving that that man chances, he could be in a Golden Boot conversation next year. Zack Steffen had a brilliant season. I think it was tough to lose Moïse Bombito, I think he would have been in Team of the Year. So considering all of that, I think it's, been a successful season for Chris Armas and the Rapids. Yeah, the last four games haven't been great, but it's been really successful. I mean, Champions League qualification, a great Leagues Cup run. It's been amazing. Honestly, I was rooting for them to get into it. I wanted the Rapids or Vancouver to get into one of those four [first playoff] spots, just be good to mix up the league and see something a little bit different.
You said you are very good friends with Chris Armas, he was the assistant coach and then coached you as a head coach for a couple of seasons back at Red Bulls. Can you share some memories of him?
Chris is a person. Like, like, you said, amazing human being. Like, honestly, amazing. We text every now and it. Him now, but he's just one of those people. He'll be in a conversation about how a team might set up, and then all of a sudden he would jump into a conversation about the air conditioning at his house, you know? Like, yeah, my mother in law, she likes it cold, but he's still talking about, you know, the other team. That's just him, man. Something comes to his mind, he's gonna let you know. But the biggest compliment I can give Chris is I played for a lot of coaches, and with a lot of coaches, you can second guess yourself. Some coaches—you almost don't want to look in the coach's eye. You almost don't believe what that coach might say to you. But Chris gave me, as a player, what was good for me, which was a freedom. I hate to go on a pitch and second guess. 'Should I have held this? Should I have taken two touches? Should I have had a shot here?’ Chris had full trust in me and the team we had, and he let players go and express himself. And I think when you're dealing with professional teams like first teams, most of the players are good, and I think it's important to let them be in the driver's seat, let them take control. And he was very good at that.
What are some strengths and weaknesses of the Rapids this year?
Togetherness I think is a big part, I think it’s overlooked. When I speak to Chris, it’s that they want to be good on both sides of the ball. So now, when I watch them, that's exactly what I look out for. And it's a team that they defend together, and then they attack together. If you look at them, there's no real big star, but as a team they’ve scored the most expected goals in the league. It’s an all-out action side. It's a team that's going to defend and then attack together, and it's not too complicated. And I like what I see, because I played in a very similar way at Red Bull.
It's been a difficult run of games here at the end of the season. How do you reset yourself going into playoffs and what some of the things you'd be talking about in the locker room?
Forgetting the last four games, I think we saw it a little bit in the league's cup with teams, let's say San Jose terrible in the league. They get to leagues cup, and it's almost like their minds were like, oh, yeah, that this is something new. Now we're not, we're not the worst team in the in the league. You know, this is a whole new competition. And I think the rappers, especially with late form, they have to have that mindset. And I think if I'm a senior player in that locker room, I'm talking about that. I'm talking about the things that we've done well all season. If I'm Chris, I'm showing videos of when we played well. As a player, I'll go look at my own videos. When was I successful during the season? When did I feel my best? And I'll try and emulate that. Coming up into [next week] when they're at home. I think it's just remembering all the good things and not changing your style. I think every time we as Red Bulls lost in the playoffs is when we tried to adapt to someone else's style. We thought about the opposition too much. I've said it three or four times already speaking of here, the Rapids are very tough to play against. Don't change that. Be that team. It doesn't matter what the Galaxy have been doing up until now. It's a new game. Be that team. Make it difficult and take your chances.
When it comes to playoff games, what did you learn from your experience about how the approach in the locker room changes, or on the field, or really the mindset of a player when you go into playoff games?
You mentioned resetting—I found that hard to do. I found it hard to go, ‘Okay, forget everything, and now we're just focusing on playoffs.’ Nothing you've done two weeks ago matters anymore. And it was hard, especially when you've had a decent season, a long season, hard with traveling around America, now to go into another mindset and be like, ‘Okay, this is everything now. It doesn't matter if you're tired, doesn't matter what happened. You have to get up and go for this, these games.’ I found it fun, but it's very hard. I think teams that win MLS Cup, I know they get a lot of credit, there should be even more, because it's very difficult to do.
You've talked pretty highly of Cole Bassett. How integral has he been in the Rapids' success and then potentially, what's it like to get him back here for the playoffs, and how can he add a different level?
Cole Bassett, huge fan. I don't know if you guys have heard but I call him MLS’s Frank Lampard. First of all, what he's done, like him and Mihailovic, especially, just putting that team on their back, a team with not the biggest names in the league. I think what he's done is outstanding, just these timings of getting into the box and turning up with a big goal, his ability to cover ground. If there's one thing I wish I had as a footballer was more fitness. I think it's huge to get him back for the playoffs but Cole will be a huge boost. It's almost like a new signing especially going into the playoffs.
Since you were an elite number nine, Rafael Navarro has really come on strong this season. What are the things that stand out to you as to how he has been so effective?
I think for me, first of all, his work off the ball. I think if you're playing for Chris Armas with some Red Bull influences, you're going to need to work off the ball. You're going to need to start the press. I think also his patience. I don't think the team looks for him straight-away, so I think he has to be patient. I think he's been very efficient with his chances when he's got them. And I think for him to get even more goals, he would have to do that even more. But just everything you want in a striker—runs the channel, stretches the backline, doesn't need too many chances to take his opportunity. I think they've got a perfect one for the style of play you guys play with, and he's had a brilliant season.
