2013 Revolution Roster

I want to push him to the bench!

 

Simms is by far better on the ball than McCarthy. McCarthy is a squad player anyways. I suppose he could be the 4th option at CB or 3rd-4th option at DM.

 

This roster has been significantly overhauled since October 2011. While the road to get to this point has been rocky, and they are by no means where they need to be, they are finally taking a proactive approach to building a roster. Without getting too emotional or subjective either way about the actual roster, look at who they have parted ways with since the end of that season.

That season their "best" starting XI was probably this:

-------------Caraglio-Lekic----------
Benny--------------------------Zerka
-----------Shalrie-Phelan------------
Tierny--Soares--Cochrane--Alston
-----------------Reis-----------------

Their bench was basically:
Nyassi, Mansally, Barnes, McCarthy, Dube, Boggs Schilawski, Guy, Diego, Coria

red players are gone

Obviously McCarthy spent a majority of his time this past season starting, but he is the only other player remaining who got regular starts this past season. Nyassi has been all but phased out completely. Soares was only in his second season. Tierny will likely be replaced as well.

I'm not going to say that they are necessarily better. I think they are, but the point is that they have shipped out most of the deadweight on this team. Sure some of it still remains, and they got rid of some good players, and they brought in more deadweight, but there seems to be much more quality in this side now. Goncalves, Sene, Bengston, Cisse, Dorman and Toja all *seem* to be quality internationals. Obviously play on the field will determine that, but on it's face, they seem better. Added to that are Rowe, Caldwell and this years #1 draft pick, plus Nguyen, Simms and possibly Freeman.

These players all still need to prove that they can play and contribute in MLS, but the technical level of the players they have now, compared to what they had 14 months ago, is a vast improvement. Even if they got rid of one of the most technically gifted players in MLS last month. I'm not exactly sure who they should draft. I still think the back line and DM spots, long term, need to be reinforced. I'm not as concerned about striker as some people are, as I think it's much more important to build your core in the middle and in the back, then go after attacking talent. Plus, I really like Bengston and Sene.

Basically what I'm trying to say is *gulp* Burns and Heaps seem to have a clear direction forward. Which is something I haven't been able to say about this team in close to a decade.

 

lol i might actually lose my mind

 

RB/LB - Kevin Alston
RB/CB - Andrew Farrell
RB/CB - Darrius Barnes
CB - AJ Soares
CB/DM - Stephen McCarthy
CB/LB - Jose Goncalves
LB - Chris Tierney
LB - Tyler Polak

Hunter Freeman as a ninth back isn't overkill, but when you add in Ryan Guy and Donnie Smith as crisis options in the back, there probably isn't a need for him.

I just hope they don't go for Chad Barrett. That guy adds nothing but injuries in the fort from stray shots.

 

It's like Harvard and MIT sometimes have the John Doe Visiting Professor of XYZ, Barrett could be the Khano Smith Visiting Forward. Mainly because we know if Barrett comes here he will fail miserably either through performance, injury or Heaps's decision making and won't last more than a year.

 

The revs scored 39 goals last season and gave up 1 more goal than Supporters Shield Winners San Jose. The problem is scoring, the attack is toothless in the final third. Hopefully a guy like Toja can solve that but scoring is a major concern.

 

I don't think Freeman signs now, although I still want him to sign. If Goncalves doesn't work out like Lozano did last year, that immediate cover would be extremely useful.

I don't think both Donnie Smith and Luke Spencer make the team. MLS just amended the "Youth DP" rule to be more like a "International GA/allocation" thing and the Revs may want to leave a spot open for that. Or a Supplemental pick could outperform one or both of them in camp.

A second DP striker would be ideal, but based on Burns'/Heaps' comments I don't think the Revs are even looking for one - I'm guessing the last international spot goes to a LB assuming they don't trade for more.

Anyway, we still have one more part of the offseason process - trialists! The Revs have gotten useful pieces like Perovic and Sene in the past from preseason trials and hopefully they find another effective player.

 

I agree. I want them to sign a DP Brazilian striker who will win the Golden Boot in 2013 and who will entice the local Brazilian drummers and their lady dancers to return to section 110

 

Should this be in the positives thread? This time last year wasn't Kraft Out was supporting the Impact?



Nice analysis

 

The problem was that the team was pinned in its own end, without much ability to transition out. Looking at GF/GA to conclude that they are good offensively or defensively is about as useless a stat as there can be.

Obviously this team struggled in the final third, but their biggest problems came in getting the ball back to front. Watching the game would tell you that, not looking at the meaningless GF/GA stat line.

 

Agreed. Especially since the other side of the argument can be made that we only scored 4 less goals than the Eastern Conference champions, SKC, but allowed like 18 more. So our offense is fine, we need to improve the defense. Stats can't be used in isolation.

 

Also, how are you supposed to score, when both of your central midfield players are sucked into their own 18 to retrieve the ball. One of those midfielders being the guy criticized most for not contributing enough to attack. And your attacking midfielders are all pinched into the middle of the field and deeper than they should be. This team couldn't maintain any sort of shape, because they had so much trouble transitioning the ball out of their own end.

 

For all Shalrie's defensive prowess at his peak (years ago), I think his most valuable contribution was his control over that transition to the offense. And that was helped out, of course, by having outlets such as Ralston and Dempsey and Twellman, as well as having teammates in predictable places.

 

Yeah, definitely. And the last few years he struggled on the ball, especially last year. Simms certainly helped to a degree, but he is very limited.

 

I like Simms a lot. I think he's a good guy to have on the team. He's just likable. That said, I agree he is limited. He seems comfortable in controlled possession (moving the ball side to side or backward to create space), but lacks in confidence (or ability) to use possession to put pressure on the opponent, whether through quick transition or cutting forward passes. Which I think would be fine if he had more bite and provided more coverage defensively.

 

Simms is a steady, situation player.

 

This is probably the best indictment I've heard of McCarthy. Usually it's just "McCarthy sucks!", which I think stems from people's memories of several consecutive games at the beginning of the season in which he made glaring mental mistakes. McCarthy improved greatly defensively over the course of the season as he learned the position- his positioning got much better (though it is still imperfect), his tackling improved, and he won virtually everything in the air (thankfully, since Soares seems to have developed lead boots).

What he never did do was become comfortable enough to transition the ball out of the back once he'd won it. I think it's too early to give up on him as a CB because his comfort on the ball in midfield may yet translate to the back if he can just learn not to panic.

 

I don't think it fits the DP category, but we're trialing the Antiguan starting ... today.

 

One thing that's kind of lost in the shuffle is how our player acquisition process in the last two years has become a bit more rigorous and less speculative. It wasn't so long ago that the Revs had this sadly misbegotten idea that players with "bags of potential" were lying undiscovered, like King Solomon's Mines, in the hinterlands of Africa. Remember all those players? Assengue, Niouky, Augustine, et al.? The Revs wasted a lot of time with those guys. Contrasted with that, even some of last year's failures (Cardenas and Lechner, let's say) at least gave us some useful minutes.

I don't know if this is a case of the Revs learning their lesson, or the league simply becoming more competitive -- but in any case, the Revs at least seem to have a better clue about where at least to look for players.

 

Who is this your talking about on Trial ?

 

Antiguan midfielder Quinton Griffith is reportedly on trial from Jan 21 to 30.

 

Thanks
Sure hope they have one or more forwards scheduled for tryouts. Heck, I'd even settle for an old fashioned Name player from the EPL to be signed as a DP?