Pablo Mastroeni had been functioning as Colorado’s head coach throughout the preseason, but in the wake of Óscar Pareja’s departure to FC Dallas, the team had been slow to give the former Rapids midfielder the permanent job. On Saturday, one week before the team opens their season in New York, the team announced the 65-time United States international could ditch the interim tag, handing the 16-year Major League Soccer veteran the permanent job.
You think? Mastroeni transitioning into a coaching role will surprise few who covered the Rapids legend, something which made it even more inexplicable why a man who spent 11 years with the club had to wait so long to get the job. Had Pareja just moved to Dallas last week, the timing of today’s announcement would be understandable. But last year’s boss made his move at the beginning of January (and took his first steps to Dallas a month before that). With Mastroeni in charge throughout the preseason, Colorado should have made this move long ago.
In comments released by the team, Mastroeni didn’t seem too upset about the delay:
As we discussed in our Rapids preview, the MLS season is a long one, with little wobbles in February and March rendered irrelevant by October. Where the biggest danger Colorado could have encountered was a midseason change of coach, the team took a step in the right direction on Saturday. All doubts surrounding Mastroeni are gone.
Mastroeni was always the right man for this job, and it seems like Colorado knew it. It’s hard to be critical of an organization’s due diligence, but Mastroeni should have been the permanent coach before March 8.