Colorado Rapids, Chris Armas mutually part ways as contract expires

The Chris Armas era is over in Commerce City The Colorado Rapids publicized that the club and coach mutually agreed to part means on Monday Armas whose contract expired at the end of this season finished with a - - record in the MLS regular season since joining ahead of the campaign In the Rapids were on track to make the playoffs for the second straight year but had their season end dramatically on Decision Day after a poor run in the season s home stretch A search for a new coach is underway effective right now After a dismal season which ended as the worst in club history and included the firing of former coach Robin Fraser Armas brought life back to Dick s Sporting Goods Park with a fast-paced playstyle and one-of-a-kind personality During his time in Colorado he had a knack for building bonds with players staff and fans which shifted the club s lifestyle promptly upon his arrival We re grateful to Chris for the professionalism and passion he brought to the club Rapids President P draig Smith noted in a announcement He helped our group take meaningful moves forward over the past two seasons and leaves behind a strong heritage that will serve us well as we begin this next chapter While there were low points in his short tenure Armas led the club to specific of its highest heights namely an improbable run to third place in the Leagues Cup competition which included four straight victories against Liga MX clubs and an astonishing upset of Club Am rica in the quarterfinals He also led the Rapids to back-to-back Rocky Mountain Cups against rival Real Salt Lake a feat the club hadn t accomplished since - the cup s inaugural two-year stretch I m incredibly proud of the work we ve done here and the progress the squad has made Armas revealed in a announcement I want to thank the Kroenke family Kevin Demoff and P draig along with the players staff and the Rapids population for their trust and assistance This is a special club with passionate fans and I ll inevitably be grateful for my time in Colorado As much as Armas time was stamped by way of life improvement and a high-energy suffocating playstyle it was also marked by sustained commotion in roster turnover Both of his years started far better than they finished and that can be attributed to system-breaking moves in the summer transfer window In the MLS-record sale of center back Mo se Bombito left the group without a speedy last-ditch defender to cover the crew when they sent numbers into the attack and that particular hole was never filled This year star midfielder Djordje Mihailovic who had broken club goal contribution records in left the Rapids high and dry when he demanded a exchange to Fraser s Toronto FC In both seasons marked decline in performances after the moves left the band near the bottom or out of the playoff picture entirely Related Articles Rapids season ends on last-minute equalizer by LAFC Rapids lose at Real Salt Lake retain Rocky Mountain Cup but fall out of playoff spot Rapids to face rival Real Salt Lake with playoff hopes trophy front and center Rapids keeper Zack Steffen left out of USMNT October camp friendlies Santos opens Rapids account but Colorado draws at home to Minnesota United Conversely the Rapids completed a few record inbound transfers during his tenure including the completion of Rafael Navarro s million transfer in and nabbing Paxten Aaronson from Eintracht Frankfurt for a club-record million this August Smith announced on multiple occasions this year that the club planned on extending Armas third head-coaching stint Armas explained reporters near the end of the season that offers were made and an agreement was close but it never got over the line There are multiple openings across the league including in Armas hometown of New York with the Red Bulls which also mutually terminated their head coach on Monday Other vacancies include the New England Revolution CF Montr al St Louis CITY Sporting Kansas City and Atlanta United The majority of the coaching staff outside of Armas also have their contracts expire at the end of this year Decisions on the future of those coaches will be made this offseason with a large input coming from the next head coach That head coach the club commented will be identified and chosen with a focus on building on the foundation established over the past two seasons according to the club s comment Want more sports news Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver s teams