Completely disagree. Shalrie's touched the ball more than anyone on the Revs. He's worked himself into open spaces all night. Yet, as a central player, you get caught in traffic. That's why wide players traditionally provide the most reliable outlets. Before the goal Lechner would have needed to be millimeter perfect to thread the ball to Shalrie. Anyway, for my money Shalrie took over the central midfield for large stretches of this game.
Whatever our season tally ends up being, this team looks like it'll be a LOT more fun to watch than it has been in recent years.
Guys I've figured the secret to the Revs playing great. They'll play great whenever I crack open a new bottle of Highland Park single malt 12 year. This season may be expensive but as long as my wife doesn't take away my ATM card, it'll be a great one.
OK I'll say it...I'm liking the Heaps era. Well done tonight. Galaxy didn't bother showing up, but that was still impressive.
Tonight I upgrade my guarded optimism to optimism! Congrats Jay and team! You deserve a lot of credit!
That was just a really good match and obviously an incredible result. The lads looked really good out there. Ryan Guy was outstandin, Tierney had a good game, Sene took his chance well and Nguyen and Rowe are both class players.
Who was that team and what did they do with the Revs? Best performance in years, we haven't seen combination play like that since the glory days with Dempsey, Dorman, Ralston, etc. - Rowe was excellent, he looked far more confident than the previous games - Besides the goal which looked like it was maybe his fault, Soares was an absolute beast in the backline -Ryan Guy is 58923239058208 times better than Brettschneider up front -Clyde Simms had a very quiet but very good match, he won tons of secondary balls (Edit: after seeing Kape Guy's stat, he passed it pretty damn well too) -Cardenas is a tricky little player, I liked what I saw And most importantly of all: WE ACTUALLY HAVE SKILL IN THE ATTACK! Yes LA completely sucked, but we really looked good on the ball and especially in the final third. Bravo Revs.
Unbelievable result. Since this wasn't on Comcast Sportsnet I assume it won't be replayed by them tomorrow so it's a shame that only those who stayed up or recorded it will be able to see this great Revs performance.
Love the way Cardenas can shoot dangerously in most situations. I thought Shalrie looked dicey or uninvolved in large stretches, but I saw him do good things as well. I think if McCarthy did not start and Shalrie was in his place and Purdie started, it would have been better. Obviously when Benny back, he belongs in middle. I think Shalrie would still be involved from back.
Purdie was quite horrible actually, I didn't want to put that in my previous post because it was probably my happiest post ever on bigsoccer. He looked pretty fricken lost in the short time he was out there.
Player ratings (because why the hell not): Reis, 6 - Thwarted two Beckham free kicks. Was at Keane's mercy on the goal. Alston, 6.5 - Made the second goal happen. Played high up the field and was dangerous when he got on the ball. McCarthy, 4.5 - Was there to be burned, but LA only made him play once. Soares, 7 - Had a fairly huge second half where he acted as a one-man back line at times. Tierney, 7 - Great first half, got attacked more in the second half, but never got fully pantsed. Simms, 5 - Really liked his play in the first half, but he turned a bit invisible during the second and didn't win many balls. Shalrie, 7 - Supplied the free kick for the 1st goal, worked the give-and-go with Alston to create the 2nd goal, composed on the ball all night and triggered the team's transition game. Nguyen, 6.5 - More dangerous in the 1st half, but acted as a useful pressure valve in the 2nd (even won a few balls in the defensive third of the field). Rowe, 7 - Found space and caused havoc in the 1st half. A little more subdued in the 2nd, but his best game by far as a pro. Guy, 7.5 - Applied high pressure, ran the LA defense ragged, put the LA defense in peril almost every time he touched the ball. My MOTM. Sene, 6.5 - Good holding play (and was willing to come back deep to provide it), played big on his goal. Lechner, 4 - Only been with the team a brief time and it showed. Primary culprit responsible for LA's lone goal. Cardenas, 4.5 - Fun first 90 seconds and then became sort of anonymous. Offers some flash, not sure about substance. Purdie, N/A - Not much time on the field. Rainy weather might make him rethink the shaven head.
I've been quite harsh on Tierney, but he had a great performance tonight. Smart on the ball, great service when attacking and the goal was the frosting on the cake. Great game. Simms was outstanding. He'll get overlooked because he did exactly what he was supposed to; break up attacks and distribute from deep. Fantastic showing. This was just an amazing showing from the team in general. We might not have held possession, but we did far more with it. 10-15 passes at a time, even if it's not resulting in a goal, results in working the defense and making space. The team played together and communicated very well. I can't think of anyone who didn't play well. Great display.
Soares had 10 headers, 10 clearances, 9 interceptions and 9 recoveries. Hard to heap enough praise on his defensive effort tonight.
Your side looked really solid. Several teams are serving notice that they're for real - and you're definitely showing something. The passing in the front third was impressive.
Still can't believe this performance. What a turnaround from the first two weeks. Some fantastic individual performances out there, Rowe and Soares especially.