Changing coaches often means changing playing styles, and the decision to hire Oscar Pareja as head coach means the Colorado Rapids of 2012 may look quite different from the teams of 2010-11.

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.

Colorado spent 3,330 minutes this season defending the 2010 MLS Cup Championship, which put the team 180 minutes shy of defending its title.

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.

Teams earn a share of the points in a tie, but rarely do they toil for it like the Colorado Rapids did on Saturday night.

The record book will show that Chris Wondolowski scored an unassisted goal for San Jose in the 18th minute, and Drew Moor delivered an unassisted equalizer in the 71st. What the stats line will fail to show is the frenzy and oddity on display at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

The Colorado Rapids roster is being tested by CONCACAF Champions League and MLS play, and it is being found wanting.

The latest evidence came on Saturday night as the Rapids fell to the Chicago Fire, one of the worst teams in MLS, 2-0 at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Ill.

While it was the most disastrous result in the latest string of games, it was also further proof of the mounting fatigue for a squad battling in two competitions.

Twice Colorado led on Saturday night, and twice Chivas USA came back, eventually claiming a share of the points at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Goals from Caleb Folan and Jeff Larentowicz, both clinical strikes, were countered by the visiting Goats, who exploited the few openings they found on the night.

Isidro Metapan and the Colorado Rapids combined for five goals on Wednesday night, but it was a brace from Macoumba Kandji that made the difference in the home side's first CONCACAF Champions League match.

Kandji's goals, in the 16th minute and first-half stoppage time, rescued a discombobulated Rapids side and paved the way for Andre Akpan's second half winner at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

The emergence of Sanna Nyassi as a speedy striker has a been a big part of Colorado's 3-0-1 record since losing Conor Casey for the season to a ruptured Achilles tendon.

What should have felled a team that was struggling to score instead led to a four goal outburst from Nyassi and 10 points from four games.

When the Columbus Crew visited Colorado this past fall it was for a first-round playoff match that the Rapids won 1-0 on a Pablo Mastroeni goal.

While that win put the Rapids (8-6-10, 34 points) on the road to the MLS Cup title in 2010, the stakes are not much lower this Friday when the two teams meet at Dick's Sporting Goods Park.

Macoumba Kandji has returned to practice for the first time since he tore a ligament in the MLS Cup in November, but the injury list for the Colorado Rapids is not getting any shorter.

Marvell Wynne and Joseph Nane went on the injured list for Saturday's showdown with Eastern Conference leaders Philadelphia Union.

(Editor's Note: This is the fourth part in a series on what the Rapids will do with an expanded roster in 2011.)

Who will be the sixth forward?

This is the key question for the Rapids attack as they start the 2011 season. The team has only five forwards on its roster, and one is coming off a major knee injury.