Sports stats



MLS Colorado Rapids

Paul Bravo Still Giving Everything for the Club he Loves

October 3, 2014 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Colorado Rapids News Release


The man entrusted with overseeing the acquisition of players and building a sustainable player development system for the Colorado Rapids is awfully busy these days.

Paul Bravo, inducted as a player into the Rapids' 'Gallery of Honor' and now Vice President of Soccer Operations and Technical Director, is the Rapids' middle man between player agents and MLS, a single entity league that handles all player contracts. Add to that the fact that he must manage a coaching staff, handle athletes' egos, direct the club's youth academy and it's easy to see, there are no days off.

The 2014 Rapids' MLS season is winding down, but things are about to get even busier. Late this week, Bravo and Colorado Rapids President Tim Hinchey depart for England where they will continue to work on "The Project," a model for the Rapids that addresses a problem confronting all 19 MLS teams - how to keep players coming through so that the club can be successful year after year.

The trip will be whirlwind and includes meetings, talks with coaches, players and consultants. From there, Bravo will move on to France and Spain for further meetings in a continuing search for the "difference makers" needed by Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni for next season. The schedule will be hectic and grueling, but, truth be told, he wouldn't have it any other way.

Bravo is a quiet man who defers from the spotlight and prefers to put the emphasis on the team. In everyday conversation, you'll hear an awful lot of "we" and very little "I."

He has a tough job. Building a successful MLS team - one that can win championships - is not an easy task. It's much more complicated than simply going out, finding a player and signing him to a contract. In the MLS single-entity world, he must operate within a narrow framework where the league controls team budgets, high level player signings, writes player payroll checks, and manages all the fine contractual details like bonuses, visas and option years.

"There's a lot to it," Bravo said this week as he sat down to discuss the Rapids' direction for 2015. "You have to understand with all the rules and regulations, salary caps, the collective bargaining agreement etc. It can get complicated."

Hinchey appreciates the challenges facing his close colleague. When he gave Bravo a promotion last year, it was a sign that he had every faith in him to produce dividends for the club - the same way he did during five seasons with the Rapids as a player, finishing as the then club's all-time leading scorer with 39 goals in 135 appearances.

"He's unassuming, very quiet and not about himself at all," says Hinchey. "But is he ever well organized! He has this tremendous Rolodex in his head. He knows the names of every player on every roster in the league. He knows all of our players (pro and academy) by their first names. He has a vision of what we need to be successful and has a plan to get us there."

But there's much more to Bravo than a title and the fact that his name is inscribed high up in the rafters at Dick's Sporting Goods Park, a member of the Rapids' 'Gallery of Honor'.

"I'll tell you what kind of a guy he is," Hinchey offers. "He gets into the office early in the morning with the rest of us, watches training and does everything he has to do to manage our soccer business. He goes out of his way without much fanfare. For example, one of our youth academy girls' team coaches got sick. So Paul works here all day, goes home, changes into his coaching kit and takes our girls under-14 team and coaches them for two weeks. That's important to him and says a lot about the guy we have leading the soccer side of our business."

New players, old-school values

Paul Bravo bleeds burgundy and blue. It shows when he talks about his work and, most of all, when he describes his vision for the future. Like head coach Pablo Mastroeni, he looks like he could still play (and probably would put on the jersey, if asked). And also like Pablo, he is one of the club's favorite sons - one of the Rapids' own. He played with a passion and commitment that they still talk about - old school qualities that have become increasingly bereft in today's players.

He'll be looking for players with some of these old-school intangibles for 2015.

"When we interview prospects, we are looking to get answers to certain questions. These answers are a big part of our decision-making process. We want to find out what sort of passion he has for the game and what sort of attitude he brings. Does the player have the ability to self-evaluate honestly? What is his competitive drive and his overall motivation as a player?

"It's not just about finding good players, but finding the right players for our club."

More pragmatically, Bravo mentions the important qualities of all good footballers and their order of importance. "First, we look at whether or not he has good technique. The second most important thing is his insight into the game. Next is his overall attitude/mentality. And, depending on position, we look at whether the player is athletic enough to fill a particular role."

Then he gets to the nitty-gritty of what he and Mastroeni want in their players.

"Everyone wants team players - that's important. But the best players are motivated by trophies and winning. They hate to lose. They want to be a part of a winning culture, or at the very least be part of helping to build a winning culture."

Player sustainability: A long-term project

Building a club's player base is a long term proposition and the Rapids, with Bravo leading the plan, is layering on a system that, hopefully, will produce a steady stream of players for the future.

"The guiding principles that we have instilled include building from within (our academy), putting priority on the college draft, scouting the lower leagues, and using the international market to add players who can make a difference in our league," he says.

While the college draft may be less important than in the early days of MLS - before teams started developing their own academy programs - the draft remains a key part of the Rapids' plan. The 2013 MLS Super Draft produced current starters Dillon Powers and Deshorn Brown. "In the coming years our college scouting and our academy program will become more and more connected to each other," says Bravo.

Major League Soccer teams can carry up to 30 players (the Rapids carry a 28-man roster). The formula is two players per position and a third goalkeeper (23). The Rapids roster is filled out with two more defenders, two more midfielders and an extra forward for a total of 28.

"You always try to guard against injuries, suspensions or a dip in form for a player," he says. "Spots at the lower end of the roster usually see more turnover based on need. We also are always watching players to ensure that they are progressing in the right way."

So what about the difference makers? Where do you find them?

"We are looking all over the world for these players, but the areas of focus continue to be South and Central America, and European countries like France, England, Spain and Germany. We look at hours and hours of video, consult with people we trust here and abroad. There's also a little bit of luck involved, and of course, it also takes investment."

Other factors in the equation are adjustment periods for foreign players coming to the United States. Sometimes they fit right in and hit the ground running, while others might take a year or two to settle in.

"Players have to get comfortable with the speed of play, style, travel, the hot summer weather - all of the elements packed into our great country and our great league," Bravo says. "There are other important things, too, like bringing wives and families, new doctors, new schools and how that player deals with things off the field as well as on."

Aligning soccer operations with the business of sport

Establishing a longterm player sustainability system, Bravo says, is something that actually started following the 2011 season. "We needed to define a better model to help align our soccer operations with our sports business. You cannot have success in one without the other."

It was 2011 when the club realized it needed to find a better way to make its player roster more sustainable from one season to the next. "That year we tied four games at home 0-0, lost another 1-0 and four of those five games were our largest crowds of the season," he points out. "We wanted to put a model together that would sustain us - something that would inspire and excite our fans to come to the stadium for 17 home games, the playoffs and the MLS Cup."

Included in this player development reset was an increased commitment to fully funding the Rapids' youth academy, staffing it with coaches and laying the foundation to where the club could build from within.

Bravo knows none of this is a quick fix. "We decided to build from the ground up and we knew there would be growing pains along the way. But it's all about building things the right way. Our concentration over the last few years has been on establishing a foundation while trying to change the culture of our club."

Throwing a wrinkle into "The Project" was the abrupt departure of Coach Oscar Pareja at the end of the 2013 season. "We had a coach in Oscar who bought into our model, which included focusing on the college draft, building through the academy, the college draft and young players in the USL. Oscar felt strongly about those core values. It was a very good fit for us and something he was comfortable with."

But Pareja decided to head to return to his home area of Dallas and it wasn't until the month of January 2014 when everything was agreed to between the Rapids and FC Dallas. Preseason training was right around the corner and there was no head coach.

"It was way late in the process and it took a toll on us," says Bravo. "Oscar was our coach until the day before the player combine, and then he's gone. It's not just that we lost one coach, but we also lost Wilmer Cabrera (assistant coach) and Paul Caffrey (another assistant), both of whom went to Chivas USA, and David Dir, our goalkeeper coach. So now, here we are with all of the work done in the offseason just sitting there."

Mastroeni a natural choice

The process of bringing Mastroeni on as head coach was a "condensed process," and the team was without a head coach for a number of weeks while Pareja's move to FC Dallas was finalized. "We put a list of candidates together, spoke with them, brought two in for interviews and then made a final decision. Once we had decided on Pablo, there were only three weeks left in preseason. We announced him only a week before the season started."

Hiring Pablo was not a difficult decision, he says. "We wanted someone who fit the philosophy and direction we wanted to go. It was easy to get to know him because he already was one of us. We knew he was passionate about the Rapids. He knew our company, Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. He was very much part of the Denver area and the state of Colorado - a guy who understands what it means to be a member of the Rapids and compete within the MLS structure. Plus, he wanted to be here long-term."

From California to the Rockies

Having staff and players who want to be in Colorado is a big part of the new Rapids culture. A transplanted Californian, Bravo was one of the first to buy in a number of years ago.

He grew up in San Jose and played college soccer at Foothill College and Santa Clara, the latter for Coach Steve Sampson, who later was coach of the USA at the 1998 World Cup in France. Six years in MLS were followed by a move to coaching and management, first with Colorado (2002-2003), UCLA (2004-2005) and Los Angeles Galaxy (2006-2008). He joined the Rapids as technical director in 2009.

"The fact that I played and coached here. It's a great city and state. My kids were born here. It's a great place to raise a family. Denver is a fantastic sports town. From day one when I arrived here as a player, I bought into the Colorado lifestyle.

"On top of all that, I've always had a great deal of passion for the club because they gave me an opportunity. I remember playing six months in the A-League and living paycheck to paycheck. I learned to appreciate that I had the chance to make a living playing a game I played as a kid. I've never taken anything for granted and certainly nothing for granted in our sport.

"I have always felt a great deal of loyalty and respect for Kroenke Sports, for the opportunities to play, coach and, now, be a part of the front office. I will be indebted to the organization for the rest of my life."

Meanwhile "The Project" continues and in a matter of weeks the offseason work will kick into high gear. Next week's trip will be but a preview of what's in store the rest of the offseason.

A highlight will be a meeting with Arsenal, the big London club also owned by Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. Taking part in the discussions with the Rapids will be Ivan Gazidis, a 14-year MLS executive before becoming Arsenal's chief executive in 2008.

"The meeting is to discuss establishing a true collaboration between Arsenal and our club - one that we've earned, not just one that is there because we have the same ownership group," says Hinchey.

Meanwhile, Bravo will shoot off to France, Spain and other points east as the search continues for those difference-makers - those hard-to-find professionals who will not only help the club reload for 2015, but, hopefully, be a part of the Rapids' roster for years to come.

Check out the Colorado Rapids Statistics



Major League Soccer Stories from October 3, 2014


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

Other Recent Colorado Rapids Stories



Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central