Leg muscle pulls can be a real problem and sometime even career ending. I find that he's on the DL a real red flag unless it was just a tactic that allows some kind of roster manipulation (doubt).
If your really confident in a Revs win, you can really cash in! The Revs are far and away the biggest underdog of the week coming in at +290. http://sports.bovada.lv/sports-betting/soccer-usa-mls.jsp
Its funny, SJ fans are the biggest homers in the league. You guys consistently overrate your team. You beat Chivas, the worst team in the league, and suddenly you're title contenders. I was reading some guys post claiming "Beita" was the best outside back in the league. Yeah, right At least Rev fans are more grounded, with most of us predicting a 8th or 9th placed finished in the East.
"Grounded" is a more polite way of saying cynical, skeptical, sarcastic, doubtful, and gloomy. At least this revs fan is (less so this year but give it time...)
One MLS article I found "But soon after being inserted into the lineup at the end of May, the 25 year old blossomed, unspooling assists from long range – he collected a team-high seven on the year – and using his pace to frustrate opposing wingers." Another MLS article predicting best XI: "This is not a reach. Beitashour was simply that good from June onwards. The third-year man tallied seven assists in part-time work at right back, logging just less than 1,700 minutes. That was good enough to lead the Quakes last year. This year he'll have more targets and a better defense around him, meaning he can be more aggressive when he pushes forward."
Well obviously I didn't see him much after June then. If all that is true, then it's up to Kelyn to terrorize Corrales.
The Revs won't be dangerous down the left side anyways. I have a good feeling about Kelyn vs Corrales and Benny vs Cronin. I also don't believe in the San Jose center backs.
Correct--although Opara is a completely different player than Jason Hernandez and has strengths of his own (speed, leaping ability). They're really gonna miss Victor Bernardez.
Hernandez being injured might be a blessing in disguise for the Quakes. It puts Opara in the lineup, and he gives SJ a major aerial advantage. Though I agree with Autogolazo that Bernardez is a major loss. Yet a team is going to need to be able to attack on the ground inside the 18 to take advantage of Bernardez's absence.
This team doesn't really have an arial game anyways, so this plays into the Revs' strengths. Opara will get turned around by the likes of Rowe and Cardenas, and Benny will draw him and Morrow (?) out. I think this defensive matchup suits the Revs pretty well.
I completely disagree. I would expect Opara to lay back and eat up crosses. That's aside from my doubt that the Revs are going to be all that dangerous on the carpet. Individual players may have some moments, but a cohesive unit capable of beating high pressure, teasing out the defense and attacking an exposed weakness? I'll be pleasantly shocked if the Revs can play that sort of game. I also expect Opara will create chaos for the Revs when SJ gets a set piece. NE can be punished in the air.
Both Benny and Rowe have shown the ability to draw out defenders and slide dangerous balls in behind them. If Opara does lay back, it will give Rowe, Shalrie and Benny space to attack the top of the 18. I do have questions of the Revs strikers, but I think the possession game really favors the Revs attack against Cronin, Opara, Morrow, Corrales, Beitashour. Cardenas has looked particularly dangerous against players who give him space and and can't keep up with his quickness. I think the Revs have the players to possess this game on the ground and be dangerous. Whether or not they finish off chances is another question, but I think they will see plenty of chances against this weak San Jose back line, and they will be able to dictate the possession and pace of play as well. With all that said, the Revs could easily dominate possession, create chances, and lose this game. Like stated below, the Revs may suck against set pieces. They will also rue missed opportunities in front of goal if they spoil chances. San Jose is opportunistic, and have the big finishers to put the ball in the back of the net. I just wonder how they are going to keep the ball out of their own net, even without any real talent at striker from the Revs. With Opara, Lenhart and Wondo, the Revs could have a nightmare on defensive set pieces.
From what I've seen of the Revs this preseason, they aren't getting large enough numbers forward to attack an entire defensive unit. Where they've been successful is when individual players have beaten a defender or two, but this isn't going to be a team filled with trialists on Saturday and it's not Frank Yallop's first rodeo. I expect you'll see SJ force Clyde Simms to make a lot of decisions with the ball, to make Benny come back deep in order to get touches, to force Rowe wide (expect him to feast on a steady diet of hard tackles every time he tries to operate in the interior), and to have Opara use his size/speed/jumping ability to clean up any danger in the 18. I disagree. I think they have a proto-possession game still waiting for a few key pieces before it becomes a reality. In particular I suspect any possession game plan will sputter when the ball gets played through Simms. Yep. It's also going to be imperative the shut down service from the wings during the run of play. Hopefully Alston will play like a chicken with a reconnected head and the midfield can lock down early crosses (which are the bane of a 4-2-3-1. Not sure the Revs have the players to shut down SJ's right wing. Formation will be interesting. Obviously I'm thinking 4-2-3-1 in order to play Benny centrally. Yet it's possible they try a 4-4-2 with a bucket midfield. My worry there is it could turn into an 8-2. The problem with any formation is that it devolves into a bus parking exercise if you don't have enough players capable of playing both ends of the ball. Can the Revs apply high pressure? Can they play the ball out of the back?
It's been around a few years. DL Rules: 1. Must sit out at least 6 games 2. Opens a roster slot (and international slot if applicable) 3. Does NOT free up salary cap space
[LINEUP-4-5-1]White, Cardenas, Rowe, Joseph, Fielhaber, Simms, Barnes, Soares, Lozano, Alston, Reis[/LINEUP-4-5-1] Shuttleworth, Cardenas, McCarthy, Guy, Brettschnieder, Fagundez, Nguyen. Get rid of the "target" forward and go with speed in hopes of spreading the D and allowing Rowe, Benny and SJ to fill the lanes
The Revs had plenty of stretches, especially in the first LA game and in the NY game, where they strung together good possessive movement in the final third. Some of those individual performances may have been against trialists, but they were also when they were surrounded by trialists on their side. Apart from the last game against LA, when the bulk of the "first" team was out there, they dictated tempo, pressed high and moved the ball quite well. It's obviously a work in progress, but they've also had a full week of real training without trialists in training. I'm also not sure the Revs really tipped their hand this preseason as to the type of pressure they want to deploy in transition. We saw glimpses of it in certain situations, but the more and more trialists were shuffled in and out of the lineup, the harder and harder it was to create a team based strategy such as pressing high in the attacking third. Who is SJ going to use to make Simms make decisions? Wondo and Lenhart aren't mobile enough. Dawkins and Moreno? Please. You're giving SJ too much credit. They don't have the quality to force Simms into mistakes without severely damaging their team shape. Yallop's systems have always relied upon shape and organization. Other than their wings, the rest of their team is really slow. I have also never been impressed with Opara, even before the foot injuries. He cannot mark. He is terrible in the tackle, especially against players who can dribble. He overcommits, get's lost in traffic, and doesn't have a commanding presence in the center even for a guy his size. Unless the ball is coming through the air, or he is chasing someone down, I've rarely been impressed by anything he has ever done. I know you don't like Simms at all, but I think he has the ability to control the flow of play in transition, and there will be enough outlets around him to bail him out when the pressure heightens. San Jose doesn't have enough athleticism in the middle of the field and up top to chase Simms down without leaving gaping holes in the rest of their midfield. and I'm not sure SJ has the players to shut down New England's right wing. I think it will be a more box midfield type setup. They really don't have anyone on the left, and I'm guessing they will just concede that corner in possession. It makes them one dimensional as far as attacking certain flanks, but San Jose isn't a very wide field, so the play is concentrated more centrally anyways. I am confident the Revs will play a high pressure game with Rowe, Cardenas, Diego, Benny, Nguyen, Guy etc...Those players are all high energy players, and most of them have tons of quickness with some speed. During preseason, they barely all played together.