Halfway through the season, thoughts?

I think you're wrong about the playoffs. I think we'll be flying out to Houston on short notice come the fall.

Nguyen is by far the biggest threat on this team offensively. I love that when we clear the ball from the back to him he immediatly turns and takes on guys, and beats them too. I feel like last year the ball would come straight back into our half after Boggs/Kenny/ Sainey lost it or ran in out of bounds.

Cardenas/Fagundez are great off the bench.

Mc Carthy has done well - I can see him and Soares playing CB for the next 5 years and building up quite a partnership.

BF and Shalrie are both class - even if SJ's skills are diminishing, and the better players around them make them better.

Rowe has been excellent, though he tends to drift out of games.

Sene, for his faults, is awesome to watch. Just running at guys, they have no idea what he is going to go, and I suspect half the time neither does he. Just head down and run as fast as possible towards the goal.

I always liked DB but it is obviously his time is done. He would be great trade bait, as he is cheap, versatile and I think an MLS starter on some rosters depending on their needs.

Reis, sadly, is on the way out. I though BS did well last night, but I'm not sure he is the starting GK for the Revs for the next ten years.

Finally, I absolutly LOVE what Heaps has done with this team this year. I was at Nicol's final game in Toronto last year and that was only 9 months ago. Feels like years ago. Seriously.

My expectations has risen considerably, regardless of results.

We surpassed our total wins from last season..with 6, from the ScarletMooMoo win.
And we're 6 points from last year's season total.

Yes...key six points coming up...

TFC is a different team under Mariner. I wouldn't bet the house on a win. They seem to have a renewed fight similar to that of the Revs this year bouncing back from Nicol last year. Montreal is a must win. Even if we miss the playoffs this team is absolutely something to build on for coming years.

I agree with the 'buzz' in and around the team. The players look like they care. There have been some solid signings by the FO & the hatred between security & the fans seems to have subsided.

The atmosphere at games isn't even that bad!

As I sit at my desk with my Diego bobble head, I must say that the atmosphere around the organization is very refreshed and positive. I'm not even going to complain about a stadium.

Like everyone I have major issues with the Roster going into the season. I questioned hiring Heaps as well. Happy to say that things are better than what I was expecting. Its fun watching this team grow. Still lots of issues to address like the back line. I believe going in to the off season, the big priority for this team will be Keeper and probably still left back. I think Matt is finished as a starter and Shuttleworth is not ready. They need to keep this core together and decide the fate of Shalrie. For the good of the team, he should renegotiate his contract and take less. he is not the key player on this team anymore. They can win without him. I think Nguyen has been a huge addition to this team and can be their left mid for the next 5-6 years. Sene is also a present surprise. As many times as he frustrates, he also astounds.

1) I think the team is much more entertaining than it's been in a long time - at least when they are playing well (we do have a tendency to get unfocused for long stretches and play boring, aimless ball).

2) We still need to prove that we can win on the road.

3) We still have to maximize our opportunities - I still feel like we're not finishing a good enough percentage of our quality offensive possessions. When we have teams at a disadvantage, we need a better killer-instinct and finish them off. Yesterday was a perfect example - we could easily have won that game 4-0 with the number of quality chances we created.

4) We're becoming a lot deeper (at the offensive end, anyway) than we've been in years. The fact that there are lineup discussions involving decisions about good players is saying something.

5) We are razor-thin at outside back IMO, which is scary given Alston's injury history (although one thing I think anyone has to grant Tierney, he's durable and answers the bell).

Great post.

all very valid points, agreed

I don't need to add details as I agree with so much of what's written here. Me too.... I'm back to loving going to Rev's games!

I don't know, can it be well said AND grammatically incorrect?

On topic, I've been really impressed with Sene, from both a goal-scoring and versatility point of view. He has seemed to adapt quickly to whatever they've asked him to do. Nguyen has also been a huge positive.

The major negatives are the number of brain-cramp mistakes in back (both by Reis and the back line). This could be a function of young defenders who will mature (or not) or a lack of communication. BS was certainly a lot louder than Matt last night. Other negatives are that Shalrie has slipped -- I'm hoping it's mostly injury related as he looked much better last night in his short stint -- and Benny doesn't often seem to be on the same page as the other guys.

Nguyen is a boss. That is all.

What he said. For a change I'm having fun watching this team play.

Well, I was totally wrong about Nguyen, and totally right about Moreno.

When I look across the league at teams with roughly our point total (Columbus, Colorado, Chivas), we've played far better and more entertaining soccer than them.

I mean--what in the world sort of bland garbage is Robert Warzycha building in Columbus compared to Jay Heaps' talented acquisitions in NE? Anyone caught the god-awful product that is Robin Fraser's Chivas USA lately? That should make us feel better.

We just need a defensive that's as aggressive as our offense.

Although I'm happy with the direction of the team on the pitch, here is a sobering thought: We're dead last in average attendance... even lower than the Goats:

MLS ATTENDANCE*

Club (2012 Rank) Week 18

Home Games 2012 Home

Average 2011 Home

Average (Final)

Chicago (13) 20,533 15,401 14,273

Chivas USA (18) 11,659 13,127 14,830

Colorado (14) 18,757 15,395 14,838

Columbus (15) -- 14,141 12,185

D.C. United (16) -- 14,132 15,196

FC Dallas (17) 21,507; 10,132 13,722 12,861

Houston (4) 22,039 21,632 17,694

Kansas City (6) 19,307 19,348 17,810

Los Angeles (3) 27,000 22,483 23,335

Montreal (2) 12,058; 15,118 25,357 --

New England (19) 14,374 12,485 13,222

New York (11) -- 17,161 19,749

Philadelphia (10) 18,393 18,380 18,259

Portland (5) 20,438 20,438 18,827

Real Salt Lake (9) 20,363; 16,444 18,604 17,591

San Jose (12) -- 16,509 11,858

Seattle (1) 39,060 39,537 38,496

Toronto FC (8) -- 19,036 20,267

Vancouver (7) -- 19,123 20,406

Leaguewide 19,190 18,851 17,872

FWIW (and I'm sure this has been posted elsewhere - I think we have a thread dedicated to it) We are 'surging' in the power rankings

So MLS seems to think we are pulling it together!

Attendance at Foxboro has never seemed to have much correlation with the quality of play or the record of the team (there might even be an inverse correlation).

It's too bad that, in a time of year when the Revs' only live sports competition is the most unlikable and under-performing Red Sox team in decades, that they can't capture a greater attendance.

This team is actually pretty decent. If it weren't for some awful defending at times, they would probably have a good 6-9 more points.

I'm back to enjoying watching them on TV.

Only three things factor into attendance at Gillette and sadly they have nothing to do with the team.

01.) The weather. Look like rain? Going to be poor.
02.) The day of the week. Weeknight? Going to be poor.
03.) Are the kids in school or are there any youth soccer tournaments overlapping? The single event/birthday party/youth team crowd is the organization's first priority and the only one they spend any significant effort in attracting.

Back on topic, I like the direction the team is taking on the field. More wins than last year already, they seem to have found some goals, and it isn't like pulling teeth watching them. I really like Saer, Cardenas, friggin' love Nyugen (the new Pepe Cancela?), and I'm even enjoying watching Tierney.

Off the field, same old problems. Minimal effort in marketing, laughable attendance, and you still need a magnifying glass to see their profile locally. Big Bob told Frank Dell'Apa he would do "whatever it takes" to help the team succeed- haven't seen much evidence of that as of yet.

For me the big contrast is between the extreme negativity I felt over the winter and the current era of good feelings. Somehow, whether by design or blind luck, the FO has acquired a decent coach, and a raft of players who are upgrades over their counterparts of last year (Sene, Rowe, Cardenas, Bengtsen, Simms, Nguyen, even Brettschneider). That's half a starting eleven right there. Sure, there have been misfires, but at least this version of the Revs has been reasonably quick to cut their losses.

Ah, the modest joys of being a mid-table team.