Revs hit the road for the fifth time this season, and are currently 1-3 on the road (2-4 overall). Might see our best Starting XI next Saturday, depending on injuries (as usual), which would be nice finally. Figured this board is dead quiet with no game this weekend, so at least we can have something to discuss. RBNY should be without jackass Marquez that game, but their offense has scored 11 more goals than the Revs in the same amount of games, while giving up 2 fewer. This RBNY team is interesting ... they have a match on Sunday against their other rivals, at DC.
Big game for Heaps as a a coach. Benny and SJ did not start last game. I wonder who he pulls from that lineup to insert these two. Does he have the nerve to put SJ in the back line? I am going to guess that he sits Guy. If he stays with the same back line as last game does he sit Rowe or Nguyen? What I do like about this bye week at this time is it give Moreno and Sene another two weeks to combine with each other in practice as well as give the rest of the team time to get to know how Moreno plays. It also give Benny time to get healthy. Two losses in a row, two heart breakers and now on the road to a RB team that has stepped up their game and is just running over people offensively. Gut check time for the coach and the boys in blue
lineup prediction (barring any lingering or new injuries): [LINEUP-4-4-2]Sene, Moreno, Nguyen, Simms, Joseph, Feilhaber, Tierney, Soares, Lozano, Alston, Reis[/LINEUP-4-4-2] Bench: Rowe, Guy, Cardenas, McCarthy, Barnes, Shuttleworth, Runstrom although it is not ideal having Benny out wide instead of in the center, this is probably our best XI, i would think..
IMO, I think Sene and Moreno will take time to know/play w each other. Instead we play with one forward and 2 WF/Midfieders and I think it's more effective than playing w 2 forwards at this time. Thus, I prefer 4-2-3-1 lineup and I believe this is our best lineup for now. Moreno Lee - Benny - Runstrom Simms-Shalrie Tierney-Lozano-Soares-Alston Reis.
Stopping Henry and Redgoats is certainly one of my goals for the season. I think Sputnikorbust has it right. However, Heaps has shown a readiness to try tactics to win the game. The big danger is the tandem of Cooper and Henry. It wouldn't surprise me to see Shalrie at CB at some point in the game to get the right assets on the field.
Is it me or do we get screwed in the scheduling department each year? It seems, we always have the latest home opener, lots of away games early season, lots of very late west coast games and bye weeks early in the season and midweek games. It all adds up to every Rev season starting with a whimper to me. At present, 14 days, between a game and almost 3 weeks without a home game. No wonder the Revs have virtually no profile in the Boston Area.
I pick Runstrom because I think he is dangerous than Rowe/Guy as F/Midfielder. I think Rowe is our future playmaker of 2013-15 and we can not expect too much from him as a rookie. I think we should play him for 30' per game. Also, I think Guy is our player #12 and I 'll pick Guy over Rowe because Guy has more experience/speed. Sene 'll play @60' for Moreno as CF.
It's cold in Boston. Despite the Koppen climate classification of Boston as "humid subtropical," its too cold to hold night-time games in March.
I really rate Maicon Santos. I have a feeling he us going to have quite a game. I will be quite happy if DCU punish RBNY before we meet them.
Here's the problem with this: Benny and Nguyen are both capable of playing as wide midfielder on the left, but not as a true winger. On the left, they can cut inside and have the whole field to pick out a pass from. On the right, they would have to cut onto their weaker foot and it would likely be pretty ineffective. Perhaps Nguyen can play as a makeshift winger, but I've seen a lot more of dribbling away from defenders and picking out a pass then running at defenders, beating them, and putting in crosses like a right footed player on the right wing has to be able to do by design. I think this is a very interesting dilemma that if Nguyen is ineffective at RM will either knock Simms out of the lineup, which I don't think would be deserved, move to one striker, which Sene doesn't seem cut out for (or Moreno either, poachers need a strike partner unless they have a very talented midfield), or Shalrie gets moved back to CB again. #3 makes the most sense to me.
What I'd start: [LINEUP-4-5-1]Moreno, Nguyen, Rowe, Simms, Feilhaber, Joseph, Tierney, Lozano, Soares, Alston, Reis[/LINEUP-4-5-1] Sene in for Moreno at 60', Guy or Cardenas in for Rowe at 70', if we're desperate we can put Runstrom on for Lozano and move Shalrie back in 4-4-2. I think that is the best way to get the best out of Feilhaber, Nguyen and Shalrie. Benny would be the center midfielder with Nguyen and Rowe cutting in, and with Simms and Shalrie both playing defensive midfielder, Alston and Tierney would be able to get forward and provide width.
Good analysis and your observations are spot on. You hinted at it (bolding mine) - Benny and Nguyen are essentially the same player. Neither should play on the right. Since I want the best 11 on the field, I'd suggest Heaps starts Nguyen over Benny. He offers you more in terms of creating space, he has better vision, is more creative on the ball, stays on his feet and can beat defenders directly. IMO, it's redundant to have both Nguyen and Feilhaber in the same lineup, thus why Heaps started Nguyen and subbed in Benny against DC. I'm not saying Benny is a bad player -he's decent- and he provides nice cover in case Nguyen gets injured but the Revs have 3 wins in games Benny Feilhaber has played in since he got here a year ago (3-14-9 through last weekend). Is that enough for you guys? Not for me. That should be enough data for Heaps to make a good decision. My agenda is simple: I want to win. We're going to continue to suck this season and forever with Benny pulling strings in that same role. It ain't working. Time to try someone else.
Well when the Revs start winning with Benny in the lineup, go ahead and use them against me. I'm just pointing out what should be obvious.
Benny has only played 3(?) games under Heaps. That's not a big enough sample size. Looking at last years games isn't fair. You're introducing a new variable (Nicol) and you can't make a conclusive statistical analysis.
Fair enough. The Revs have 0 wins in games Benny has played under Heaps. We'll revisit this at the end of the season.
IMO, I think both Lee and Benny can play well w each other, but so far they only played together @ SJ for 20' when Heaps inserted Lee in @ 70' and during that 20' I thought they both played really well. I think they both deserve more time to play together.
I believe Benny is the best player currently on our roster, so while I agree there's a selection dilemma (how cool is that, by the way? Last year it was Boggs as an auto pick), I disagree with your solution. Saying Nguyen and Benny in the same lineup is redudant is like saying having Xavi and Iniesta is redudant. The more skill on the ball you have the better, as long as you don't kill the overall team shape accomadating for both. We don't have to do that, we can just slide Shalrie back, move Benny to the middle, and leave Nguyen on the left. That's the simplest solution that maximizes the quality in the attack without giving away anything on defense in my opinion.