Clavijo On Hot Seat In Colorado

Former Revs Coach Must Win Now

February 25, 2008

By Michael O'Connor

Former Revolution coach Fernando Clavijo is on the hot seat in Colorado.

If he is to remain head coach of the Rapids more than just a few weeks into the 2008 season, he will need to improve a stagnant offense that scored only 29 goals in 30 games last year. Most observers in Colorado agree that the Rapids need to have a strong start in the Western Conference if Clavijo’s coaching regime is to survive.

Clavijo coached the Revs from 2000-02, before he was relieved of his duties halfway through the season because the Revs suffered many of the same problems that now ail his current team.

Former Revs coach Fernando Clavijo is under pressure to win now in Colorado.

Perhaps it’s a case of Déjà vu!

Back in 2002, the Revs were playing in a brand new stadium, just as the Rapids are now. The Revs back then were also putting many of their hopes in the acquisition of a former league MVP. In 2002, it was Alex Pineda Chacon, who had come to the Revs via the dispersal draft that had come after the demise of the Miami Fusion.

For Claviojo’s 2008 Rapids, it is Christian Gomez who they hope will spur them on to success. Gomez joined the Rapids from DC United on Feb. 8 in a trade that saw Colorado give up their Designated Player spot and a first round draft pick.

The Argentine midfielder, who has made the All-Star team in the last three years, scored 10 goals (2nd on the team) and had 9 assists (1st on the team) last season, so he clearly has plenty of gas left in the tank. He will need to have an immediate impact on the Colorado Rapids offense, which looks to improve on its lackluster 2007 nine-win season and get back to the playoff hunt..

Another New Englander, Quincy, Mass. native John Murphy will also be looking over his shoulder if early results don’t go the Rapids’ way. Murphy will be back for a fourth season as assistant coach and Director of Player Development for the Rapids. His role includes being head coach of the Rapids Reserve Team and Director of Youth Development. He also works closely with Clavijo during the MLS Super Draft evaluating talent. Murphy served as goalkeeper and assistant coach for the New England Revolution from 2000-02.

Finally, the man who may be pulling the strings on whether Clavijo and Murphy stay will be ex-Revs goalkeeper Juergen Sommer, who was recently named Director of Soccer for the Rapids and played under Clavijo during his stint in New England.

A former NCAA Goalkeeper of the year, Sommer became the first American Goalkeeper to play in the English Premier League in 1995. He will also be working closely with the Rapids first team goalkeepers..

The 2008 season should be very tense for the Colorado Rapids. Clavijo has bet the farm on the acquisition of Gomez, who they hope will lead them back to the playoffs. When he did that in 2002 with the Revs, it didn’t work out so well. Alex Pineda Chacon ended up playing just 20 games, registering two goals and two assists.

But Clavijo may gain some solace from the fact that another, less-heralded, acquisition emerged that year to finally turn the franchise’s fortunes around for good. Taylor Twellman joined in that same offseason and went on to become the Revs’ all-time leading scorer, the face of the franchise and eventually a league MVP in his own right in 2005.

But if Clavijo is looking for omens from 2002, he should consider that even Twellman wasn’t able to turn around the team’s fortunes until later in the season, long after the coach had already been fired.

Clavijo and the Colorado Rapids kick off their season Saturday, March 29- 9:30 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park.

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