I think unlike many other leagues, MLS doesn't allow any contact between the coach and the bench when they're suspended. I'm sure Heaps gave situational directions before the match, but I don't think he was allowed contact during the match.
I agree that there wasn't a major difference between Soehn and Heaps judging by the Revs' play. They were incredibly disorganized in the first half, pinging the ball around in the back and midfield (I think there were 4 consecutive backpasses between Shuttleworth and Goncalves at one point) with no idea how to attack. Sene was left in the game far too long, and even though he scored, putting Bengtson in for him when protecting a 1-0 lead was a really questionable move (replace the guy who plays little defense with the guy who plays no defense at all)? Pluses: Even without the goal, Alston played his best game ever as a Rev - he was in total lockdown mode and was dominant on his side. His attacking moves also looked more advanced, and while historically he's the wildest shooter on the team, that was an A+ finish on the goal. While Kobayashi was fine, I'd like to see Caldwell get more minutes alongside Dorman (assuming Rowe isn't back the next game), the attack looks more energized when Caldwell is in there. Nguyen is still the Team MVP so far this year - he's just been a complete player all around and looking very confident. Credit to the entire backline for seamlessly adjusting to Goncalves' injury. Past years there would have been a goal in the first five minutes of an unplanned defensive substitution. Houston didn't threaten all game. Minuses: I have no idea why the coaching staff thinks Sene is a winger. He is atrocious in that position to the point he's disrupting the offense. Please shift him up top if you want to play him. Bunbury on the other hand, is getting worse every game. I've never seen a forward make the exact wrong decision on nearly every touch until today. Overall: Three points the team absolutely needed to take, so congrats to them on it, but the game showed some serious tactical adjustments still need to be made, and players need to be held accountable for their form, or else the goalscoring while be sporadic all season. It's time to give Mullins/Neumann/Imbongo a shot up top and see what they can do. I still feel it's also time to really reconsider the 4-4-2 (a flat 4-4-2 as opposed to a diamond - Matthew Doyle makes a pretty solid case for it on the MLS site), even if you have to sacrifice a starting attacker.
Was I imagining things or was there a shot of Brandon McDonald tackling Jonny Steele in the Clyde Simms piece at halftime? I know they had similar haircuts but come on...
A thousand times yes! I am baffled why Sene is out on the flank when he led the league in goal scoring when he played regularly up top. One of the most glaring flaws in Heaps' coaching career, IMO.
I agree... I thought Sene was the weak link... he and Kobayashi. Bunbury has the physical attributes to be a player but im not sure what the problem is. What I don't want to see is him getting a pass in the goal area then back passing. Im all for switching him and Sene and seeing what happens. Teal has had enough time to show something and is not getting it done. Time for a change 3/4 of the game was a snooze fest but it was nice to get a win in the end
agree it looked like a Heaps team -- the also includes the solid defending. Houston had 0 shots on goal.
While I only saw the highlights on MLSsoccer.com, did anyone else get the impression that the rest of the team were a bit hesitant to come over and celebrate with Jerry? It could be that it was in stoppage time and they were tired, but it kind of made it look as though Jerry is not too popular with the team.
I did notice that there was certainly a different scene than when Alston scored. I'm not trying to over think it though.
Yup, solid match defensively. For all the talk of Boniek Garcia, I think yesterday showed how much Brad Davis influences that team.
Wow, Houston was awful. A much needed 3 points, but there is so much that needs to be improved in the attacking third.
Who said I'm not happy? I know reading must be tough for you but I was commenting on my pregame prediction, which turned out to be wrong. The goals came from unexpected sources. I'm very happy the revs won, but go play the lottery if you predicted Alston and Bengtson (who didn't make the 18 last week) would be the goal scorers.
Great point about the first half. The first 35-40 minutes were almost unwatchable to me. They had no idea how to advance the ball from the back line so they would knock it around 2 or 3 times and then Shuttleworth or Soares would hit a long hopeful ball up top. That's almost never a good solution, but it's even worse when you are going against a team with big defenders who are good in the air and not a single one of our advanced players is good in the air. I hear the coaching staff say things like "we know Bunbury is not the same style player as Agudelo" and "we went direct too early", but then they come out and play like this right from the opening kickoff. I have to put it on the coaches at this point. If they don't want them to play like that, then tell the players to stop. If they are unable to stop, take out the players that are doing it. The most frustrating thing about it is the attacking 5 are quite good at the quick passing/movement game. Whenever they use it the team plays much better. I don't understand why we keep trying the route 1 stuff.
Yeah, that was meant tongue in cheek. The outpouring for Alston was awesome, even better in that he had never scored a regular season goal.
Exactly. First change is to get a guy up top who doesn't look tentative and clueless in the final third. Bunbury is a mistake. Acknowledge your mistake, bench him and start Sene up top, perhaps with Neumann on the wing where Sene played. Dorman may even be an option there but get Bunbury off the field.
Watching the first half, I was thinking I'd rather see Bengtson get another opportunity than watch Bunbury fail week after week after week. The midfield is getting him the ball in dangerous spots, but he can't get it done. Sene is a much more natural striker. Move him up top and possibly solve two problems. Forward and right wing.
Squawka Performance Score - 4/12 vs. Houston 52.67 - Kevin Alston 39.75 - Andy Dorman 37.29 - Andrew Farrell 33.54 - Daigo Kobayashi 29.68 - Bobby Shuttleworth 24.43 - AJ Soares 21.60 - Jerry Bengtson 20.18 - José Gonçalves 13.38 - Diego Fagundez 4.27 - Darrius Barnes -3.37 - Lee Nguyen -9.36 - Saër Sène -14.04 - Teal Bunbury -25.87 - Scott Caldwell Squawka Performance Score - Overall 178.21 - Andrew Farrell 121.46 - José Gonçalves 85.89 - Daigo Kobayashi 83.34 - Lee Nguyen 48.46 - Kevin Alston 39.62 - Andy Dorman 30.72 - AJ Soares 25.88 - Bobby Shuttleworth 21.94 - Kelyn Rowe 17.48 - Diego Fagundez 6.19 - Jerry Bengtson 3.51 - Saër Sène 1.31 - Steve Neumann -4.47 - Scott Caldwell -6.00 - Dimitry Imbongo -8.20 - Patrick Mullins -15.78 - Donny Smith -30.47 - Darrius Barnes -32.25 - Charlie Davies -35.19 - Chris Tierney -39.21 - Teal Bunbury
Interesting episode of G0T, a few thoughts before getting ready for my Monday. The Revs obviously need to do more around the goal, and I understand worrying because this team has in the past shown a penchant for collapse, but Houston did absolutely nothing all game, the Revs were just the better team. I just looked at the standings, and was quite surprised to see that the Revs are actually in a playoff spot at the moment, though Houston has a game in hand. They've also won every game they've scored in this year, how good could they be if scoring became a habit? I and others have said before how Bunbury seems more like a guy who wants to set others up than score, which is not the mark of a foward. I was almost in shock to see him have a ball come to him at the 6 in front of goal, and he flicks it behind him for someone else. Even if he knew someone was there, that would be odd for a true forward, when there's nobody there, that's just inexcusable. At least after that he tried taking a few shots from around the box, but the guy just is not a forward. He has some good qualities though, can't we please just put him on the wing, especially since Sene looks so terrible there. Have to give credit to the defense, they lose their rock in the middle, but I can't remember any real troubling chances in front of Shuttleworth. I was so happy to see Tierney not on the field, thinking that maybe the coaching staff might have finally seen the light, only to read on my phone that he was out injured. Can they please keep Alston there, please? (I know I shouldn't say that, I'm just setting myself up for disappointment.) If JoGo is out for any length of time, it will be bad enough not having him on the field, if it were to also mean that Tierney goes back on the field after he might have been benched in light of how well Alston played, I'll be really bitter. I was also thinking as I watched just how much better Dorman looks than Caldwell did in the first few games. While I'd like to see a top of the line d-mid, I'd even like to see some more cover there, so that we could send Caldwell to Rochester for more seasoning. From what we've seen from him this year, he just doesn't seem ready to run the middle in that spot. Well, after seeing 2 goals in the same game, maybe scoring was just becoming old hat for the players, no big deal. Though in truth, weren't the players under instruction to not have too many celebrate last season, after allowing too many goals after scoring them? I'd think that's more likely, than his teammates are shunning him or something, that idea sounds more like fans trying to project their feelings into Bengston's teammates. Like how, when he tucks the ball into a small space at the near post, someone comments that he almost missed. I'm not saying he's finally turned the corner down the road to scoresville, but he did score, give the guy at least a little credit for it. Heh, on a more melancholy note, note, how many people would have predicted he'd be tied for team leading scorer after 6 games? "Consistency of whose on the field helps build chemistry." Ah, so they just need to gel, hadn't thought of that. And really, all that should matter in picking who plays is what they're supposed to be able to do, not mind should be paid to if they're actually doing what they're supposed to do? If you haven't shown you can do what you should, everyone should just wait patiently, as if they're supposed to do something, bet your bottom dollar, they eventually will, some day. I'm not sure I see the wisdom in that strategy.
He gets full credit for scoring from 12 inches away but it was still pretty close to missing - even Paul Mariner commented on it.
Horrendously boring first half. But they didn't quit, seemed to find some strength in the locker room and played a much more organized first half. Very nice finish by Alston. Good to see Jerry get on the board as well. And I hate Rico Clark.
You are right that they had a tough time and the two goals were unusual in nature, but I think their work rate finally caused a breakthrough and thus a victory.
The real thing that made that goal even possible was the move he made with the ball to get around the defender. An incredibly difficult thing to pull off and keep the ball at ones feet. Also, sticking the ball into the net wasn't too easy either, because the window was closing rapidly and he had to slip it through carefully.
Sorry, that just sounds to me like trying to lessen the credit he should get. It's not a goal of the week contender by any means, but it wasn't a formality. He had to get to the ball and make a nice small flick in a small space to go around the keeper, and because there was a player covering the net coming out at him he had to slot it into the near post gap as he dribbled in from a wide angle, it was hardly an unpressured tap-in from a foot away.