Giving Pareja the reins of his first MLS team is going to create a roster shakeup. The Colombian, a veteran of MLS campaigns from 1998 through 2005, has already talked about the need to find a Carlos Valderrama-type playmaker for the Rapids.

Considering this is a team built on a model of rugged defense, over-the-top balls and just enough skill to get the ball in the back of the net, replacing Gary Smith with Pareja will mean replacing many of the fundamentals that led to an MLS crown in 2010 and the second round of the playoffs in 2011.

This change will produce winners and losers. Here’s some of both.

Winner: Jeff Larentowicz. Bringing in ballhandler for midfield means someone will have to double up on defensive midfield duties. This responsibility will fall to Larentowicz.

The defensive midfielder has consistently been one of the best Rapids on the field since joining the team in 2010. Look for him to have even more work to do, with few shots on goal to take. The workhorse will be critically needed.

Loser: Wells Thompson. He plays with great energy. He plays with great passion. He rarely plays with finesse. The last item will cost him.

Thompson’s lack of touch is anathema to type of short-passing game Pareja espouses. He might get some time as a late defensive substitute, but look for his minutes to dry up in ’12.

Winner: Omar Cummings. Cummings goal scoring went from league-leading in 2010 to barely measureable in 2011. This will reverse with a team that emphasizes getting passes to the feet of players.

Conor Casey did a fabulous job in ’10 of getting the ball to Cummings. Without Casey, Cummings was adrift. With Casey back from injury in ’12, and more short passes, Cummings should thrive.

Loser: Caleb Folan. Pareja’s not looking for the “big and strong” forward to pair with a “small and fast,” and that means Folan’s time on the roster should be limited.

Casey’s nose for the goal and years remaining under contract means the new coach will have to find a way to use him. The same is not true for Folan. The 29-year-old Irish international was going to be under pressure with the return of Macoumba Kandji from injury. Hiring Pareja likely sealed Folan’s fate to find another team for 2012.

Winner: Steven Emory. No, you haven’t seen him on the field for the Rapids. You will this season. From his college playing days at Metro State, we know that Emory can thrive in the short passing game. Expect the young midfielder to show that in training and find his way on to the reserves bench early in the season.

Winner and Loser: Pablo Mastroeni. Hiring Pareja should guarantee Mastroeni makes the move from defensive midfield to center back. This could easily extend a playing career that has produced renaissance seasons in 2010 and 2011.

A new coach and a new position are likely to mean a new role, too. The captain’s armband will likely wrap around the as-yet-unnamed central midfielder that Pareja is seeking. Pareja is looking for a triggerman for attack. That player will set the tone for the 2012 Rapids. And that means the quiet professionalism of Mastroeni is unlikely to allow him to hold on to the captain’s title.

The coach, who had agreed to a new contract, and the team announced a parting of the ways on Monday afternoon. The departure came the same day that Rapids players cleared out their lockers following a 4-0 aggregate loss to Kansas City in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Late in the season, Smith indicated that there was a rift between himself and technical director Paul Bravo. Smith indicated at the time that problems there were causing the team to miss opportunities.

The rift seem to add fuel to speculation that might leave for a position with Portsmouth in England or at some other club with a larger budget and underperforming side.

The speculation did not, however, derail the Rapids from making the 2011 playoffs and defeating the Columbus Crew 1-0 in a Wild Card match at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City.

Rumors, however, proved true when managing partner Jeff Plush announced Smith would be leaving. The team will now begin the search for its sixth coach in 16 years.

Bizarre: Evidently, 39 wins marks the point at which a Rapids coach leaves. Smith’s two immediate predecessors, Fernando Clavijo and Tim Harkinson, each won 39 matches while at the helm.

Smith’s regular season MLS record with the Rapids was 39-31-35.

Continuity: Since joining as an assistant coach in 2008 and taking over two-thirds of the way through that season, Smith has added consistency as he milked the most out of his team’s talent.

With his departure, the Rapids are left with a low payroll, an aging midfield, and a superstar — Conor Casey — returning from surgery for 2012. Not exactly the ideal spot for any manager coming aboard.

CSN’s View: This was a loss for the Rapids. Smith produced a winner without spending big. He was a stable presence on the sideline and always supported his lads. For a team that goes through coaches every few seasons, Smith will be a tough one to replace.

Graham Zusi provided the services in the 28th and 76th minute as Sporting Kansas City recorded another 2-0 victory over the Rapids, giving KC a 4-0 aggregate win in the Eastern Conference Semifinal. Aurellian Collin and C.J. Sapong doubled the margin for Sporting, which beat the Rapids 2-0 on Sunday on the strength of two Teal Bunbury strikes.

A piecemeal lineup and a punchless attack characterized the disappointing finish to the season for the Rapids. Colorado came in desperate to gain a two-goal win to force overtime and backed by words of praise. But the end result was much like the rest of the season as the Rapids couldn’t find a breakthrough.

While the winners get to move on to face the winner of the Philadelphia Union-Houston Dynamo series on Sunday at Livestrong Sporting Park, the losing Rapids get to ponder what might have been.

The Few: With Drew Moor, Kousuke Kimura and Caleb Folan out with injuries suffered in the first leg against KC, Tyrone Marshall out serving a mandatory suspension for a red card in the first leg, Conor Casey, Jamie Smith and Anthony Wallace out for the season with injuries, and Pablo Mastroeni out since suffering a concussion on Oct. 14, the Rapids were not close to the side that won the 2010 title.

On Wednesday night, the team lacked rhythm and punch. Ultimately, the side paid the price.

Final 11: Here’s the lineup the Rapids fielded in the last match of the year: Matt Pickens, Wells Thompson, Marvell Wynne, Scott Palguta, Miguel Comminges, Brian Mullan, Joseph Nane (Macoumba Kandji 56), Jeff Larentowicz, Ross LaBauex (Eddie Ababio 80), Omar Cummings (Quincy Amarikwa 46), Sanna Nyassi.

On the bench were substitutes Andre Akpan, Danny Earls, Mike Holody and Steward Ceus.

Now, compare that with the squad that started the season against the Portland Timbers on March 19: Pickens, Kimura, Wallace, Wynne, Moor, Mullan (Thompson 88), Smith, Mastroeni (Nyassi 77), Larentowicz, Casey (Amarikwa 61), Cummings.

Found Wanting: The lineups tell the tale of how the depth of this squad was tested. Players had to play out of position and hunt for ways to score. The task proved more than the squad could manage.

What’s Next: The MLS expansion draft will unfold in three weeks. A conference call will determine who the Rapids lose, if anyone, to the new side in Montreal on Nov. 23.

Unless grabbed in the draft, expect Pickens, Wynne, Larentowicz, Cummings and Nyassi to be in the starting 11 for the foreseeable future. Thompson and Amarikwa’s energy make them likely returnees, too. Akpan and Palguta are also likely to stay thanks to their work rates. Kandji gets a return to the Rapids after spending most of the year rehabilitating his leg.

After that, it will be time to take a long look at the injured, the ineffective and the aging before starting the 2012 season. Among the injured, look for most of them to return. Moor and Kimura are defensive stalwarts. Wallace is a young player with promise. Casey, although aging, is the still the squad’s offensive spark. They’ll all be back.

Smith, who underwent successful ACL this week, adds spark, but has never settled in as a regular and can’t assume a roster spot will be waiting. Folan, who provided six goals, was a disappointment and is unlikely to return.

Mastroeni, the team captain, is a lock to return and play until he can’t anymore. Joining him on the high side of 30 are Marshall, who looks like he might have another year at center back, and Mullan, who can see the end from here, but can’t tell quite how far away it is.

As for the rest, now would not be the time to buy a house in the Denver area.

Trailing Kansas City 2-0 on aggregate when they take the field tonight at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas, the Colorado Rapids have suddenly become the beneficiaries of miraculous hopes for improbable outcomes.

In carefully detailing past comebacks in the playoffs, the team Web site leaves little doubt that the Rapids could reverse that margin and even produce a three-goal margin of victory to take the series outright. The Denver Post then followed up today, with comparisons to a San Jose battle back from a 4-0 deficit.

It’s all very inspiring.

And it’s not going to happen.

Just like the Broncos are no closer to returning to the Super Bowl this season or next, regardless of who is the quarterback, the Rapids don’t have the team needed to take out Sporting KC.

No Firepower: The Rapids are a good team with enough injuries to take out a great side. Six of the starters from the 2010 MLS Cup victory will be absent tonight. Even with most of the roster intact, Colorado has lacked firepower all season.

In 34 MLS games the Rapids managed more than two goals in a game four times. Colorado hasn’t put more than two in the net in an MLS game since July 20, when Sanna Nyassi and Omar Cummings revealed how slow the New York Red Bulls central defenders are in a 4-1 rout.

In the past three months, the Rapids own only one victory by a two-goal margin in MLS play. Admittedly, the Rapids played a brilliant game in beating the Columbus Crew 2-0 on Aug. 5, 11 MLS matches ago, but that was 11 matches ago.

Reason to Believe: The only cause for hope is the team’s 3-1 victory over Isidro Metapan in CONCACAF Champions League play on Sept. 28, and the presence of Nyassi and Cummings on the pitch tonight.

There is hope because the side that beat Metapan was almost entirely made up of reserves, similar to the squad that will take the pitch tonight. The other hope comes in the chance that Nyassi and Cummings may be the starting forwards tonight. If so, their combined speed may be enough to spring a surprise.

Final Score: There’s hope, but that’s not enough. Colorado has 90 minutes left in its season. I see the team running out of time tonight.

The latest evidence came Sunday evening as the Rapids fell 2-0 to Sporting Kansas City in the first leg of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Colorado, which edged the Columbus Crew 1-0 in the wild card match on Thursday, couldn’t generate legitimate threats as Sporting spent the evening shoving them around the field.

There was a great deal of literal shoving as Kosuke Kimura, Drew Moor and Caleb Folan all departed with injuries. Moor injured his shoulder, Kimura broke a bone in his left foot, and Folan left with an ankle sprain.

This means a team that hasn’t scored more than two goals in an MLS match since July 20 would have to win by at least that margin just to get a penalty kick chance against KC on Wednesday night. Or, the team could repeat its three-goal win from July 20 and advance to the next round.

Otherwise, Kimura, Moor, Folan, Jamie Smith, Pablo Mastroeni, Conor Casey and Anthony Wallace — who will all be out with injuries on Wednesday — will have company in the training room.

Teal Deal: Teal Bunbury scored both goals for Kansas City on Sunday. The second-year player from Akron continues to make a fool of my prediction that he would be a bust when KC drafted him in the first round before the 2010 season.

Also Missing: Defender Tyrone Marshall was ejected during the Sunday match, which makes him unavailable for Wednesday’s return leg.

This ejection and the injuries leave Marvell Wynne guiding a back line of Scott Palguta, Danny Earls and either Mike Holody or a player transplanted from another spot (Wells Thompson?) on Wednesday night. This is not good news for a defensive clampdown.

Cummings was alone in the penalty area when his roommate, Kosuke Kimura, passed to him in the waning moments of the first half. Kimura, who made regular forays into the attack, saw Cummings just after receiving a pass from Brian Mullan.

The Jamaican forward then did what he had done 14 times in 2010, but only three times this season, and put the ball in the back of the net. This one tally was enough as the Rapids rode a stout defense to a 1-0 win over the Columbus Crew in the second Wild Card match of the MLS playoffs.

Colorado, the defending MLS Cup champions, now gets a double date with Sporting Kansas City in the next round of the playoffs. The Rapids will host the Eastern Conference regular season champions at 5 p.m. Sunday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City. The return leg will be 6 p.m. Wednesday at Livestrong Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.

The winner of that two-game series will advance to the Eastern Conference final on Nov. 6 against the winner of the Philadelphia Union-Houston Dynamo series. Because of the oddities of MLS playoffs, the Rapids — the fifth-place team in the Western Conference, own the Eastern Conference title from the 2010 playoffs. FC Dallas, which lost to New York Red Bulls in the first Wild Card match, held the Western Conference title from 2010.

Facing KC: While you let the oddity of holds what title sink in, it’s time to start pondering a Colorado-KC playoff series.

The two MLS originals have met in the playoffs for seven previous matches. The Rapids own a 2-3-2 record against KC in the playoffs, but the two teams have not met in the postseason since 2003.

Overall, the two teams have met 49 times with the Rapids winning 17, Kansas City taking 10 victories and the two squads tying 22 times. Not surprisingly, both meetings this season resulted in 1-1 draws.

Crew Killer: Cummings tally gave him four goals for the season, half of them against Columbus. Cummings most recent MLS goal came against the Crew on Aug. 5 in a 2-0 Rapids win.

The Columbus Crew meet the Rapids in a one-shot wild card match the night after FC Dallas and the New York Red Bulls tangle in the other wild card match. The winners will then face either Sporting KC or the Los Angeles Galaxy.

This Season: The Rapids managed to get by Columbus on penalty kicks in the first round of the 2010 playoffs after the two sides were tied 2-2 on aggregate goals.

This season, the Rapids suffered a humbling 4-1 loss at Columbus and then delivered the most compelling 2-0 win at home on Aug. 5. Which team shows up on Thursday will determine how much longer the crown wearers get to play for another one.

Even Stevens: Playoffs are the great equalizer, and that’s never more true than a one-game showdown.

Colorado, whose 49 points would have been good enough for second in the Eastern Conference, but only good enough for fifth in the Western, faces a fourth-place squad from the East.

Columbus, which finished with 47 points, faces woes in the midfield, the one area where the Rapids have been sound in recent weeks.

In fact, the midfield did an excellent job in the 0-0 match with Real Salt Lake in the final home regular season match, and followed that up by boasting the only goal scorers in the 2-1 season finale win over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

The win secured the homefield for Thursday’s playoff meeting.

Does he play the starters at Santos Laguna on Wednesday, or does he go with the reserves againg?

Smith has been conservative in use of his starters, relying on backups for CONCACAF Champions League matches. Along the way, the reserves have compiled a 2-2-1 record in the CCL and arrived at the precipice of a birth in the next round.

Standing in the way is a Santos Laguna side that whipped the Rapids 4-1 at home and already grabbed a spot in the second round. The Rapids could make it to the second round with a tie and same help, or the team could ensure a spot with a win.

Now, knowing that Santos is likely to field reserves in what has become a meaningless game for them, Smith has decide whether he wants to gamble his regulars for a win, or keep them fresh for a final regular season game on Saturday at Vancouver and a first-round playoff match on Oct. 26 or 27.

After the 0-0 tie with Salt Lake, the Rapids (11-9-13, 46 points) aren’t showing much on offense, but they aren’t giving up much either. The Rapids haven’t scored more than two goals in an MLS game since Aug. 20, but they have also shutout Salt Lake and Dallas in consecutive games.

Next Up: The final regular season game has the Rapids traveling to the Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday. The team can move up or down in the standings, but will stay face a first round game.

It was as match a wrestling match as a battle of soccer teams on Saturday. Here, Brian Mullan tangles with two Dallas defenders. Colorado won 1-0. (Photograph by Joel Baud/ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

The Saturday night showdown between FC Dallas and the Colorado Rapids was not so much a rematch of the 2010 MLS Cup as it was a desperate 90 minutes for two teams stumbling toward the playoffs.

Colorado came in winless in its last five MLS matches (0-3-2) and Dallas arrived on a string of getting shutout in three straight matches. For the teams clinging to the top two wild card spots, neither side was in a position to allow for too many errors.

Mercifully for the Rapids, the team with the biggest chinks in its armor proved to be the visitors from Texas.

Drew Moor, whom FC Dallas traded to Colorado in 2009, rose to get a head on a Sanna Nyassi corner kick in the 25th minute and deliver the game’s only goal. Matt Pickens was solid in the net and the Rapids weathered a late challenge while a man down to win 1-0 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, the team’s first home win since Aug. 5.

With the victory, the Rapids improved to 11-9-12, 45 points, with two matches remaining. Dallas — shutout for the fourth game in a row — dropped to 13-11-7, 46 points, with three matches remaining.

The result likely meant that both sides will make the postseason, but with several teams still having four games to play after the weekend, it’s too soon to start making playoff decisions in Dallas or Denver.

The LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake have all booked playoff spots. The top three spots in the Eastern Conference are still to be sorted with six teams bunched only seven points apart. The top three from the East will go through with the remainder battling FC Dallas and the Rapids for the four wild card spots.

Next Up: The Rapids get a rest. Colorado’s two regular season MLS matches include a home date with Salt Lake on Oct. 14, and a visit to the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps on Oct. 22.

In the final group stage match of the CONCACAF Champions League, Colorado travels to Santos Laguna on Oct. 19 to face a side that is already in the CCL quarterfinals. The Rapids need a win to advance in the champions league or a tie and some lucky circumstances to move forward.

Still Searching: Murphy Brown had greater success finding an assistant than coach Gary Smith has in finding a leftback. Moor, Anthony Wallace, Danny Earls, Scott Palguta and even Wells Thompson have spent some time in the spot. The latest choice, Miguel Comminges, was sent off for a second yellow card on Saturday. This means he will be sitting out on Oct. 14, and another back will have a chance in the unsettled corner.

In the process, the Rapids (2-2-1, 7 points) also threw a lifeline to a CONCACAF Champions League campaign that appeared dead after losing two matches at home by a combined 6-2 margin.

For a team that hadn’t won since it beat Metapan at home 3-2 in the opening match of CCL play on Aug. 17, the win was as delightful as it was unexpected.

The Rapids, who were winless in eight matches in all competitions (0-5-3), got a 31st minute goal from Eddie Ababio, but conceded the equalizer five minutes later.

Colorado, however, was not done scoring. A team that hadn’t scored more than two goals since it last met Metapan, came out pushing the pace in the second half. This effort was awarded in the 49th minute when Quincy Amarikwa buried a free kick to put the Rapids back in front.

Omar Cummings, who replaced Andre Akpan in the 72nd minute, found the insurance goal five minutes later. Cummings took a Mike Holody pass on the right side and fired a right-footed shot into the goal.

Goalkeeper Steward Ceus then weathered repeated shots from Metapan through the cloasing minutes and four minutes of stoppage time to get the win.

What’s Next?: As the Rapids were winning, Santos Laguna was settling for a 1-1 tie with Real Espana and a spot in the quarterfinals. The Rapids moved into second place in the group with one game to play, but only two points separating them from last place in the four-team group.

Colorado Travels to Santos Laguna on Oct. 19 for the final group match. Meanwhile, Metapan — 6 points — and Real Espana — 5 points — meet that same evening. If the Rapids win, a tall order against a team that beat Colorado 4-1 at home, the team would advance to the quarterfinals.

Metapan needs a win and a Colorado tie or loss to advance. Real Espana would need a win and a Colorado loss to advance.