Takeaways from Colorado Rapids 3-0 loss to Minnesota United

The Colorado Rapids are staring at a 14’er-sized gap between them and the summit of the MLS standings.

Colorado is firmly at the base of the table, now in last place.

The Rapids lost 3-0 to Minnesota United Wednesday night at Allianz Field in St. Paul as it gave up all three goals inside the opening 45 minutes.

After results elsewhere, Colorado now has the worst record in Major League Soccer (3-12-10, 19 points) as it is seriously in contention for a “mock-me” style trophy. Not the playoffs, but rather, “The Wooden Spoon”, awarded to the supporters whose teams finish at the bottom of the table.

Here are two takeaways from the loss.

Despondent, desperation inside locker room

Following the game, the always stoic Rapids head coach Robin Fraser gave a rare insight into the true reality of the locker room and did not hold back. It’s very bleak.

“We play with a certain identity and I think given the situation we’re in right now, I don’t see the same identity,” Fraser said. “It’s a mixture of desperation, being despondent. There’s a lot of different emotions going on when you go through a year like this.

“But when we see positives, we want to grab them and certainly the (second half) tonight was a positive and we need to continue to work to get back to playing the identity that we’ve had for a couple of years now.”

While newcomer Andrew Gutman, who was a bright spot Wednesday with a few driving runs at the Loons’ defense, he admitted he hadn’t seen anyone give up by any means, but knows the standard also has to be much higher.

“The mindset has to be that you’re going into every game as a top professional, and if you don’t, you’re going to get exposed in this league and you’re going to be out of a job,” Gutman said.