Don't think Heaps agrees. I think Jeff L. tweeted Heaps because people were asking him. So, he gave a non-answer (they probably "evaluate" injured players every day) instead of no answer. And a smart coach won't assume that the other team's coach is guaranteed to cover all the bases. And, it's not just a matter of JoGo or no JoGo - it affects at least 2 or 3 positions.
If you are talking about 2 guys neck-and-neck for the golden boot, absolutely a factor to distinguish between the two. But in the case of a midfielder, or any player for that matter whose game consists more than a raw number of goals, I will take as many goals as I get from him. Another factor is PKs. I remember Moreno had a ton of PK goals and all of Twellman's were from the run of play. Sure it takes skill and the right mentality to bury PKs all the time, but no one will argue that it's harder to score from the run of play.
Agreed, great points. I think assists are a great indicator for an attacking mid like Rowe while goals are gravy. This year I'm hoping he builds on 2013 and gets to double digit in assists and scores the same number of goals but they are of the game tying or winning variety.
Goncalves' injury officially listed as a right quad strain, he's "out" on the injury report. Rowe, Tierney both questionable. #NERevs— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) April 16, 2014
Chicago Fire vs. New England Revolution Toyota Park (4:00pm ET) REFEREE: SORIN STOICA AR1: Kermit Quisenberry AR2: Jeremy Hanson 4TH: Baldomero Toledo http://www.proreferees.com/mls-assignments-04-19-14-04-23-14.php
I'd be curious to know how they came up with "Protecting the lead" as a Revs strength? We've only led in two games this year. And one of them, we didn't protect the lead (thankfully got a last minute goal to win it).
From their "About Us" page: Team/Player characters are calculated relative to the league averages for certain team/player statistics.
Well, it's a small sample size. If the Revs are currently better than the average MLS team at protecting a lead, that's how they get that tag. It'll evolve over the course of the season. Plus, it's just something to talk about in the lead up to the match. Been pretty quiet in this thread.
I think the current cultural bias for " detailed analysis" in sports has reached a point where most of these minute dissections now transcend reality. A little is useful--a lot is garbage.
NE Revolution @NERevolution 15h The #NERevs know last week's win is no sure indication they're on the right track. http://nerevs.us/vUojJ Wait -- who are you, and what have you done with the real tweeter?!?! Quick, someone order up an emergency air-drop of kool aid - there must be a shortage in Foxboro.
A little reality is refreshing, it might make someone like me pay attention to the team's feed on twitter.
Things may have cooled down for CJ but I still would like his scalp tacked to my barn door and toilet bowl of excrement dumped all over the Fire. GO REVS
Seriously. Tierney, Soares and Shuttleworth may possibly be the worst passers in the league at their respective positions.
#cf97 @UIHealth Starting XI: Johnson; Palmer, Hurtado, Soumare, Cochrane; Nyarko, Larentowicz (C), Alex, Shipp; Amarikwa, Magee** No Sega!— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) April 19, 2014 #cf97 @UIHealth Subs vs. #NERevs: Reynish, Ianni, Ritter, Watson, Pineda, Joya, Anangono— Chicago Fire FC (@ChicagoFire) April 19, 2014
Starting XI: Shuttleworth; Alston, Farrell, Soares, Barnes; Dorman (c); Fagundez, Kobayashi, Nguyen, Sene; Bunbury #NERevs #CHIvNE— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 19, 2014 Today's bench: Knighton, McCarthy, Tierney, Caldwell, Neumann, Bengtson, Davies #NERevs #CHIvNE— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) April 19, 2014