COMMERCE CITY — First-year Rapids coach Oscar Pareja looks back at the seesaw season his team played through the first half in Major League Soccer and says he can see fits and starts — for every lurch forward, the team wobbles back.

Only once has Colorado won consecutive games — the team started 2-0 — but only once has it lost more than two in a row. Just past the midpoint of the season, after 18 games with 16 remaining, the Rapids (7-10-1) are in sixth place in the Western Conference and out of the playoff picture.

For a team less than two years removed from an MLS Cup championship, and one year after playing into the second round of the league playoffs, the Rapids are gaining fans — average attendance and season tickets sold are ticking upward — but hearing more frustation.

It hasn’t deterred Colorado’s coach.

“We’re in an uncomfortable position in the standings,” Pareja said Monday. “We are competitors and we want to be at the top and fighting for the playoffs. And where we’re at now, being out of the playoffs, is not enough.

“But in terms of the process, it’s what’s expected. I’m happy with what the boys have achieved over five months.”

Pareja’s takeover in January came at the expense of former Rapids coach Gary Smith, whose British-tinged system stressed defense and longball play down the flanks. Pareja, on the other hand, brings a strategy from his days playing for the Colombian national team, one based on possession and creativity in the middle of the field.

It’s proved to be a difficult transition.

“We have to be more consistent with getting the result,” Pareja said. “At the end of the day, this is a business and we are competitors and nobody likes to come and not get points. That part is hard.

“It’s easy, when you change things and bring in a new system, when you’re winning games. But we have to battle with that, and I’m willing to.”

The Rapids are playing like an all-or-nothing side. Unlike past Colorado teams, they rarely play to a tie — their only draw this season was a 2-2 knot against Kansas City after Colorado rallied to score twice in the second half. The Rapids have equaled their wins at the same point in 2010, the club that went on to win the league title. After 18 games in 2011, the Rapids with Smith were 4-6-8 (including a stretch of six straight ties); in 2010, they were 7-5-6.

“I see some teams in MLS that are higher than us and they go in and they don’t want anything up top, they don’t want to win. They want to wait for the mistake and hold,” Pareja said. “If people are waiting for that from me, it’s not going to happen. It’s just not going to happen. Because I don’t have it in my blood. And I have to suffer for that sometimes.”

Colorado dominated visiting Vancouver last week, earning nearly 60 percent of the possession. But the Whitecaps settled in on defense, waited for a counterattack and turned a Rapids defensive mistake into the game’s only goal for a 1-0 win.

“I play to win,” Pareja said. “For me, that’s my nature. Is it costing me points? Yes, but that’s just what I am. And I will win or I will die with it.”

The Rapids, who rank in the middle third of MLS in goals scored (25) and goals allowed (22), have been hampered for long stretches this season by injuries. Conor Casey, the club’s all-time leading scorer, missed half the season’s first half because of an Achilles tear. Omar Cummings, Colorado’s other high-scoring striker, missed four games because of a sprained ankle.

Production has been bolstered by two players signed in the offseason specifically to play Pareja’s system. Colombia’s Jaime Castrillon leads the team with five goals and Argentine playmaker Martin Rivero is tops with six assists. Also, 13 players have scored for the Rapids, the most for any team in MLS.

“The team has developed a new identity,” Pareja said. “I’m so pleased with their willingness to work, despite the results we’ve had.

“The big challenge is, how can I sell this idea to a team that came from such a different style for so many years … for a team that maybe has that in their blood. But they have responded very well.”

Nick Groke: 303-954-1015, ngroke@denverpost.com or twitter.com/nickgroke

Three sides to the story

The Rapids (7-10-1) recently passed the halfway point of their Major League Soccer season. The ups and downs so far under first-year coach Oscar Pareja:

Shining bright: Martin Rivero has injected the Rapids’ midfield with South American creativity. The 22-year-old playmaker, signed from Argentina in the offseason, leads the team with six assists, fourth-most in MLS.

Striking down: Colorado’s top two strikers, Conor Casey and Omar Cummings, have been hampered by injuries, missing 22 games between them. They have combined for only five of the team’s 25 goals.

Looking ahead: Four of the Rapids’ next six games are at home at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. And goalkeeper Matt Pickens, who leads MLS with 69 saves this season, is a candidate to be named to the All-Star Game. Nick Groke, The Denver Post

At the half

After 18 games under first-year coach Oscar Pareja, one game past the season’s halfway point, the Rapids are currently out of playoff contention. But they’re very near where they were the past two seasons, including in 2010 when Colorado went on to win the MLS Cup title: