‘Win everything except the fair play award’ - Former Tottenham assistant Matt Wells isn’t thinking small in first head coach job with Colorado Rapids

Wells could have had his pick of clubs. Previously an assistant at Tottenham under first Ange Postecoglou and then Thomas Frank, the Londoner has been ready for a head coaching job for some time. 

"I've felt ready for probably as long back as three, four years ago. So, yeah, to finally be in that position, it's good for me," he said. 

And there was interest from elsewhere. Wells had developed quite a reputation as a top assistant with an immaculate apprenticeship under highly-rated managers. Clubs both in England and overseas worked to secure his signature. MLS, he admits, is something he really didn't consider that much.

Then Colorado called.

"The opportunity, when it came up, was one that piqued my interest. And when I spoke to the guys here, it felt like a really good fit in terms of the types of personalities here. And they're ambitious, I'm ambitious, so yeah, I decided to make the move. And I'm very glad that did," Wells said.

America isn't exactly a new concept for Wells. He cut his teeth as a coach in youth camps over in the States. He and his wife regularly come to the U.S. on holiday. But coaching here is a different thing altogether. 

There are a few words that the Rapids team likes to make fun of Wells for. After all, he is a North London boy, transplanted into Denver. Sometimes, he accidentally says English things, such as a remark when trying to explain his tactical setup:

"There's our style of play, which is the car, and everyone's going to see the car and how well the car moves. But we know that under the bonnet, there's all these principles," Wells said. 

Otherwise, though, this transition has been relatively seamless. Some concepts simply work on both sides of the Atlantic. One is his sense of intensity. Wells has been after a head coaching job for a while. And he's seized it with both hands. That means demanding a lot out of his team. Double sessions were common in the early days, as were extensive tactical sessions. Wells asked that his teams play to the brink of severe fatigue in preseason - trying to recreate the strain of a midseason contest without risking injury. 

"Their legs are hanging off. And I'm demanding that they press they play with intensity every time our wingers have the ball. I want our full backs overlapping or underlapping. So I'm demanding that whilst in the back of my mind knowing they're playing under severe fatigue here," he said.

It's something that the players have picked up on. Zack Steffen, who spent five years as a Manchester City player, believes Wells focus is dominating the physical side of the game. 

"It's just intense. He wants a strong mentality. He wants strong, physical players. And he's not afraid to get on us when he doesn't think that we're playing up the par. And he lets us know, which is a good thing," Steffen told GOAL.

Wells takes charge of a Rapids side that endured something of a mixed 2025. At times, they were a real force in the Western Conference. And during some of former manager Chris Armas' best moments, Colorado played some of the best football to watch in Major League Soccer.

But they were rather plagued with inconsistency. The Rapids ran hot and cold all season, and a number of crucial losses down the stretch saw them miss out on a playoff spot that really should have been theirs.

And if Armas was the pragmatist who wanted to pick up points, Wells is the opposite.

His philosophy is rather ambitious, but it's crystal clear:

"We need to be the proactive team on the pitch every time we go out there. And that's my vision for the game. I can't see it any other way," Wells said.

Everything is geared towards that principle. Wells' list of areas to "dominate" includes, in his own words: Possession, pressing, both boxes, set plays, transition moments, and momentum.

"That was a reason about coming here [to MLS], as it gave me time to have a preseason. Because I know I couldn't just go into the [England's] Championship now, because I'd have a game in two days, and I have to instantly hit the ground running. I consider myself a philosophy coach, and that takes time to implement," he said.

Rigorous training sessions and preseason have helped, he insisted. And how it's all evaluated can vary. To be sure, the eye test is important, as is Wells' intensity in training. But the former Spurs assistant relies heavily on data analysis and individual feedback. He joked during his conversation with GOAL that he might not have a voice left, and revealed that he'd spent the afternoon poring over the performance data from the morning training session (in his words: "the boys were excellent today".)

But there are, of course, times when the standards drop. Wells spent the first two weeks of his job putting the Rapids through brutal double training sessions. And if the expectation is indeed "domination", then anything short of that has to be called out.

"I think the players are getting to know me, and I just I'm as honest as I can be with one of them, for good and for bad," he said.

Still, the team is bought in.

"He wants to become the best coach in the world. He wants to play the best football in the world. He's very driven. That makes him a really good coach to have," Steffen said.

At the center of Colorado's hopes is star attacking midfielder Paxten Aaronson. The younger brother of the USMNT regular, Brenden, Paxten left Eintracht Frankfurt for a deal that could reach up to $8.5 million - a club record acquisition. It was a lot of money to spend on a 22-year-old with just four USMNT caps to his name. But Wells sees why the investment was made.

"In the system that I play and the style of play, he's gonna get a lot of ball between the lines, and he'll be in positions to create. We'll give him clear pictures in the final third, but we'll also give him the capacity to use his own decisions, because that's his magic," Wells said.

The squad was, of course, part of Wells' decision to move to the club. It's a young group, but Wells put in the groundwork. He had lengthy conversations with each player via Zoom before making the move, sitting in rooms in London with personalized presentations with every single one as to what their role would be in the team this year and going forward.

Aaronson impressed him from Day 1.

"In my conversation with Paxten, I was really impressed. Probably the biggest thing that stands out was his mentality. He's been at big clubs and big organizations, and he's got big expectations, so he's an ambitious young man," he said. 

Still, there are plenty of ways in which he can improve, Wells admitted.

"The biggest thing for [Aaronson] is he has to improve his pressing, because if we want to be a dominant team, when the other team has the ball, we have to get the ball back as quickly as possible," he said.

And in a preseason fixture, when Aaronson's off-ball levels dropped, Wells had no problem letting him know.

"We had a good conversation around that, and his responses week in training has been superb," Wells said.

There will be some growing pains here. Wells is asking for not only a new style but also a complete mentality overhaul of a group that was in a state of flux last year. There will be tough sessions to come. 

There might even be a few poor results, too. But he’s here on a multi-year contract, and Colorado are a young side. 

If nothing else, this should be a coachable unit for a young manager to take over. For that reason, he doesn’t want to put any limits on what Colorado can achieve. He’s won three trophies between stints at Spurs and Burnley. 

That feeling, he insists, is addictive. 

“ I want to achieve that here, but I want to achieve it playing a special type of football that everyone looks at, and we become a reference for exciting, attacking football, and our fans can identify with it, and the fans of other clubs, if we're on TV, they want to put the TV on and watch us,” he said. 

That means the ultimate goal for this season is simple. 

“I've told the group I want to win everything this season except the Fair Play Award,” Wells said.