After finishing with the third-most goals scored in the USL’s Western Conference in the club’s inaugural season, you might think the Swope Park Rangers would push on in a similar fashion that allowed the side to claim the Western Conference Championship.

For new Head Coach Nikola Popovic, though, the goal for the team is to become more aggressive and open.

“We are going to change a little bit the model that we were performing in last year,” Popovic told the club’s website this week. “Now we are going to be much more offensive, a much more aggressive team, and we have to build on that, from one model that was a bit more closed to one that is much more aggressive and much more close to the first team.”

• RELATED: Rangers Add Maher, Musa to Squad

Popovic was announced as the Rangers’ Head Coach last month after serving as an assistant to Marc Dos Santos in 2016. The 43-year-old believes getting a year under his belt will stand him in good stead in his first head coaching role, having had the opportunity to acclimatize to his new surroundings upon arriving at the club.

“I think it’s going to be natural,” Popovic said of the transition to Head Coach. “It was very important to be here the first year to feel the culture of this club. That was very, very strong, and I think what we did in the last year was creating the first foundation, giving them a very strong culture, giving them the behaviors that this club already has.”

The Rangers’ success on the field in their first season was given added impetus on Friday when midfielder Tyler Pasher and goalkeeper Adrian Zendejas were announced as the first players to sign with Sporting Kansas City from the Rangers. The side is also set to have a number of key players back in 2017, including All-League defender Amer Didic, captain Christian Duke and USL 20 Under 20 selection Kevin Oliveira.

• RELATED: Rangers’ Pasher, Zendejas Sign with Sporting Kansas City

While the long-term hope is for those players to follow the path of Pasher and Zendejas, the focus on putting a winning product on the field will drive the team forward as it looks to return to the USL Cup Final.

“I think we have to have this will, and we have this in our culture, that it’s always going to be our purpose to win, to go day by day trying to win something too,” said Popovic.

With Pasher having made the move to SKC, and others like Didic knocking on the door through their USL and CONCACAF Champions League performances, Popovic is hoping he can guide the Rangers to continued success both individually and as a team.

“I think for a coach it’s the most important thing,” he said. “If you are able to coach them and make them better players and see them performing at that high level, it’s very important not only for them, but for the club, for everybody.”