COMMERCE CITY — Soccer gets a bad rap for its lack of scoring.

And the sad fact is the 2015 Rapids did little to win over those who bemoan low-scoring games. Colorado’s 33 goals in 34 games were the fewest in Major League Soccer.

Even soccer purists had difficulty watching the Rapids play. They led MLS in fouls committed (506) and completed a league-worst 74 percent of their passes, according to soccer statistic tracker whoscored.com.

It should come as no surprise the Rapids finished last in the Western Conference and posted the lowest home attendance in MLS, averaging 15,567 fans per game.

WATCH: Rapids hope Gashi, Pappa provide offensive spark

The Rapids set out this offseason to change almost everything. They want to possess the ball better, score more goals, win more games and pack Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in 2016. The roster was gutted — more than half the 2015 team is gone — and the Rapids brought in goal-minded former striker John Spencer to serve as an assistant to coach Pablo Mastroeni.

Spencer, who scored 37 goals in 88 games with the Rapids from 2001-04, said his approach is simple.

“There’s only one offensive philosophy: to score goals. And that’s what wins games,” Spencer said. “And that’s why you pay big money for big-time players.”

The Rapids now have a few big-time players in their attack. Irish international Kevin Doyle, who led the team in goals last year with five, begins his first full season with Colorado after arriving as a high-priced designated player in mid-2015.

“We just have to be a little more positive,” said Doyle, who has four goals in two preseason games. “We obviously have new players coming in as well, which will help.”

Last week the Rapids signed designated player Shkelzen Gashi, a 27-year-old Albanian international striker who led the Swiss first division in goals the past two seasons. He scored 25 goals in 41 games for FC Basel since 2014.

“A guy like Gashi finds a way to score goals,” Mastroeni said. “And that — you can’t teach. That’s why talent is so important to have a good campaign.”

Mastroeni said he envisions playing a 4-2-3-1 formation and says the three attacking positions behind the lone striker will be more mobile this season, which will lead to more creative interchange and make them harder to defend.

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Another key player is Marco Pappa, acquired from Seattle in a December trade. The Guatemala international will be pulling the strings in the midfield as the Rapids’ No. 10 playmaker.

“I’m going to be working hard, but I’m going to be having fun because I’m in my right position,” Pappa said.

That gives the Rapids the luxury of moving two-time team MVP Dillon Powers into a deeper-lying midfield position, a spot where he feels more comfortable and can get the ball more.

“The strongest part of my game is my passing and in that position you get to do a lot of that,” Powers said. “You just keep the flow of the game and dictate the pace.”

Spencer also can provide a striker’s eye and help improve their finishing. The Rapids had their chances last year but put a league-worst 30.4 percent of their shots on target. Only 7.9 percent of the Rapids’ shots resulted in goals — worst in MLS.

“Sometimes it comes down to poor touch, poor finishing, confidence,” Spencer said. “It’s going to be partly my job to build the confidence of the forwards we’ve got.”

Doyle says it’s also nice having a coach who can relate to the strikers better. The Rapids also have some depth in the attack with returners Dillon Serna, Luis Solignac and Dominique Badji and newcomers Conor Doyle and Zach Pfeffer, but Mastroeni said Colorado could still “add another piece or two.”

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The Rapids’ challenge will be getting everyone to jell. Pappa has yet to practice fully with the Rapids after suffering a stab wound in December that required emergency surgery. Gashi is expected to join the team in the next couple weeks in Tucson after he tends to loose ends in Switzerland following his transfer.

Colorado plays at Sacramento Republic FC of the USL on Saturday, then heads to Tucson for four games at the Desert Diamond Cup. They open their season on the road March 6 against San Jose.

Daniel Boniface: 303-954-1104, dboniface@denverpost.com or @danielboniface

Off the mark

The Colorado Rapids offensive output was the worst in MLS in 2015. Here’s how they ranked among the 20 MLS clubs.

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Category Stat League rank Goals 33 20th Goals from open play 18 20th Percentage of shots on target 30.40% 20th Percentage of shots scored 7.90% 20th Percentage of passes completed 74.00% 20th Long balls per game 75 1st Short passes per game 318 17th Crosses per game 21 6th Fouls committed 506 1st

Source: MLS and whoscored.com