Not saying the Revs had a good showing, but I was at the Union/Dynamo game yesterday, and it was the same level of cluelessness and mediocrity from both of those teams. Thankfully there are highlights on MLS Live, or I would think the whole league looked like this!
I'm guessing Heaps is not happy with the attack, and its not just lack of finishing. I expect to see two things in the next week: 1. a change to the attacking personnel against SKC. Alston was the key to the two recent goals that produced four points, and he is suspended for the SKC game. Hard to predict who will get the start, with uncertainty over Rowe's and Fagundez's status, but I'll be that no matter who is available, the front five will not be the same as the five who started the last two games. Rowe, Imbongo, Bengsten, Davies, Mullins, Neumann, Caldwell -- one or two of those guys is going to start against SKC. 2. a signing . . . We're coming up on the time they mentioned; its obvious they need help; they have cap money available; I assume this means something is coming in the next week or two.
That was ugly to watch. Just ugly. Some quick thoughts. Nguyen is going to run away with MVP for this team if he keeps this up. Alston has a horrendous second touch. But man, he's played well the last two games. Why, why, why, why, why Tierney? Why? Funniest part of the game. They show Heaps as soon as Tierney gets on the field, and Heaps looked like he was hiding his head over the move. "Wait, what did I just do?" Sene not only was taking up space and doing nothing else, every single 50/50 ball it appeared he was backing away. Teal did hustle, but that's just not enough. He needs help up top. For the second straight game, I liked the work that Jerry put in. Good save by Hey Bobby, Bobby ... but what a horrendous PK. We absolutely have to do better when up a man. It seemed like it was all Chicago even though we had the extra player. 20% of the season now over. Still no help from Burns.
Counting on, Doc? I assume you expect additional player(s)? Will you be genuinely disappointed if we don't get reinforcements soon?
I had hoped that the Revs would enter preseason with the key additions Rev management said they needed to make already in place--and it didn't happen. Disappointing? Sure. But for me I would have been even more disappointing if the Revs filled those two key needs with players of the kind of marginal quality they have signed in the past. They have a bad track record when attempting to make major signings. I think Heaps is smart enough to know this and will only pull the trigger if he can get someone he thinks will really help. I sure as hell would love to know who they went to see on their recent scouting trip and if it's soon to result in the signing of a proven goal scorer. From what I opine has been Heaps patience to make a good signing I've been willing to temper my disappointment---for awhile-- but if noting materializes in the near term as promised I will not only be disappointed but pissed off and again calling for Burns to be run out of town with a coat of tar and feathers.
NBC sports needs to upgrade their commentators. Was that Russell that did the starting lineups? Its pretty sad when you can't even get the starting lineup out and then to start grunting in frustration when you lose your train of thought.
First, although it was blacked out on MLS Live, I was happy to discover that NBCSN streamed the game for free. Watching the Alston handball, in real time my initial reaction was PK-red card, so I was not surprised at all when the ref called that. His arm was moving away from his body when the ball hit him. Refs will call that 99% of the time.
Thank god for Tierney's world class left foot!! ------------------------ Sene is shying away from hard challenges and 50/50 balls. he is a very timid player now and it shows. he seems slower and his ball control seems have to gotten worse. he is not the player he was when he got here before the two big injuries. We could certainly use that player back but I think he is gone for good
My son and I were discussing this during the game and he suggested that maybe Sene would benefit from an assignment in Rochester.
For sure Ryan Guy never wimped out of a 50/50 ball. He gave 100% every single minute he was on the field. I was confused when we cut him, not sure what we expected more out of a player on minimum salary.
2 games ago i was happy to see Sene get 50-60 minutes per game. Now 2 games later, i see that i was wrong. He has not looked match-fit. I like Bunbury but he doesn't look right up top - replace Sene with him. With what we have available, I think Bengtson up top or Imbongo (where is he??). And based on his still very limited appearances, should we conclude that Davies is never going to make an impact for the revs? Shuttleworth is playing well - maybe i was wrong about that too. It is great to see Alston making impacts on both ends. I think Farell is going through a Sophomore learning curve (as opposed to a Sophomore slump) - he should not have been outmuscled by Amerikwa on the goal - oh and I hate that he has this beard-bet on scoring a goal - play defense and if/when a goal comes, great but don't focus on that. It was so annoying to hear about Tierney's world class left foot on the national broadcast - it was like the conspiracy got to them too.
What's the thing that people here say so often ... if it gets repeated enough, it must be true? He was horrid this game.
Sene's issue is psychological more than physical at this point. Getting that type of injury will cause a slight hesitation. I tore up my ankle in college and had a split second of hesitation for 12-18 months. Score goals and you get over it. He needs to get on the stat sheet, score some goals like he proved he could and he'll be back. Sene still has upside. I'm more patient with Sene than Guy because at least he showed he can score goals at a decent clip in 2012. Ryan Guy has never proved he could be much more in MLS than a grinder. He's the quintessential "Nicol guy", like Phelan was - limited talent, all hustle, but limited talent. Have I mentioned limited talent?
Good thing we have these pre-season games going on now so all that can be worked out. The points don't count at the moment. OK, maybe he's had some bad games where he hasn't been his normal self. How long does the coaching staff let him work it out? Maybe he's not doing any more harm than good currently, but a net effectiveness of zero is not what the team needs. I don't have answers... I was kinda hoping the management and team did. Kevin D.
The chart describes the game pretty well IMO. We started slow, then seemed to get into a decent flow, but then Chicago asserted themselves and we forgot all about playing the ball on the ground, under control. The last 10 minutes I was just hoping we'd make it to halftime, because we were so far out of our normal game. Sure enough, coming out of the locker room we got back to playing the way Heaps wants them to play and we very much owned the 2nd half IMO, and not only because of the Amerikwa red card. ------------- - particularly in the 1st half, but overall, our wings were really, really poor. Sene accomplished little (although the one area where he stands out is holding the ball up when we come out from defending) and likewise Fagundez - Fagundez seemed to be having some kind of physical problem - even before coming out. On the goal against, it looked like he pulled up, rather than compete for the ball at all. That allowed Chicago a clear path to look for the quick counter, which they executed pretty smartly. Unless he had some valid reason not to fight for that ball, I think the defense had a good case to be really ticked. - Shuttleworth had a fine game - and is having a fine season. I like that he out-guessed Anongano on the PK and made some tough, physical plays when he needed to. - Not sure Alston deserved the red card (and penalty), but the fact that he spun his head away made it look like he was handling while pretending not to - it's just an unnatural (and dangerous) way to react in front of a shot. - Farrell is having a real up and down season; getting a serious education in the process. On the Amerikwa semi-break, it looked like he anticipated the Farrell shoulder-charge and beat him to the bunch, bumping Farrell off stride and freeing himself to get off the shot. - I like Tierney more than most, but there is no excuse for scuffing crosses to the extent that he does. - Amerikwa was begging for a red-card. His first yellow for diving was fully earned. He followed that up by screaming in the aref's face and then tempted fate even more by diving a couple of other times. The 2nd yellow that did send him off was an easy call, but he easily could have been gone even earlier. Seems like his early-season goal-scoring has him a little full of himself. - I'm getting tired of Barnes at right back. His long throws are reminiscent of the Nicol era - never amounting to anything. And, he is doing a good job of overlapping, but lacks the agility or ball-handling to be a threat once he does. The biggest issue coming out of this game IMO was how the Revs let Chicago take them out of their game in the first half. They corrected at halftime, but they fell into bypassing the midfield way too easily.
It's simple, if you want to get any production out of Sene, put him up top where he belongs. Bunbury is useless, send him to the bench.
If you happened to to be a decent scorer/ attacker, and you were somehow available, would you sign with this team, for any amount of money? I think not! Gil
Bobby Shuttleworth earns honorable mention. No shame taking 2nd place to Rimando, he had an amazing game. Team of the Week (Wk 7): Sporting Kansas City players highlight this week's squad April 21, 2014 Benjamin Baer MLSsoccer.com
At the moment --if you use the standard---win at home and tie on the road---we are down three points. IMO thats not too bad playing without fielding a player able to consistently score goals. The million dollar question isn't who on the roster is going to step up to do that but rather--if and when--the Rev sign such a player. They have said that is their intent--yup, intent is good--but at this point unless they bring in such a player that 3 point negative will quickly morph into double digits. Mr Burns--I have the rail, tar and feathers out of the barn. Put up or stand by for an old fashion Yankee ride out of town by fans wearing Rider Uniforms.