The article is less inflammatory than the headline makes it sound. Either Diego is trying to be a good soldier and hide his true feelings, or there is nothing there. Or maybe he doesn't want to sit out half a season like (he who is not to be named) had to in order to leave. Considering Brad benched (he is not to be named) and handed the keys to Diego, I'd think he would be OK staying.
its possible but its my understanding that Gil and Bojan don't really play the same position. Gil more of a play maker and Bojan a wing/forward type player. Heaven forbid the Revs actually try to land both!
maybe because he knows the NE is not a great organization and has a terrible track record of nurturing young talent?
Well, Twellman's own experience is that he was denied a move to Preston North End that would have paid him around 4x what he was making with the Revs, and at the same time, Shalrie Joseph was denied a similar move to Celtic. Both were under contract and the Revs had every right to decline those offers, just like now with Fagundez. The alternative would have been to go the Dempsey/Dorman route. At the time, I sympathized with the players, since it was a great opportunity, and careers are short, so I can't blame them for trying to make whatever they can. But as a Revs fan, I knew there was no way in hell they'd be able (or willing) to replace them with guys who were even half as good. While the Revs need to do whatever they can to strengthen the team, the long game is that if they somehow get a reputation of not being willing to sell a player when a good offer comes in and the player wants to move, that will hinder their ability to sign good players in the first place. By contrast, look at Atlanta, who have brought it young South Americans, and have no problem selling them, even if they are key members of the team. Because they will just go out and use that money to buy their next star, and if they have to sell him in a few years, so be it. They just go back and do it all over again.
True, but for wing/forward, we've already signed Caicedo and Rennicks, as well as re-signed Agudelo. For a team with a number of needs, it feels like they'd be overloading at one spot. We'll see. Or, maybe because he has clear ties to Uruguay, so why wouldn't he want to play for a top team there? Plus, he mentioned several reasons himself (such as Libertadores). I'd guess that one of the reasons is that, under Friedel, he's no longer a guaranteed starter (something we've said we want). Sure, when a good offer comes in, I'd agree. We don't know if that is the case. Also, the Revs are kind of damned if they do, damned if they don't. Albeit, after a struggle, they did honor Nguyen's requested to be moved - and got a fair amount of criticism for that. If they sold Fagundez, they would get a storm of criticism, a lot of it from their longest-following fans and season-ticketholders. I don't think the larger Revs' community would support the idea, nearly as much as this forum would. For me, I'm not against letting him go. Unfortunately, I don't really see him as a game-changer in MLS as this stage of his career. But, it should be a quality offer - if not from Nacional, then whoever. And, if he did go somewhere and thrived in another setting, that would be great to see (but his time with the UNT wasn't encouraging).
Absolutely (although that doesn't mean that "Someone needs to push" him). Regardless, more depth/quality is needed.
Twellman backs that up in this video: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...-united-deal-tricky-designated-player-dilemma Basically, he is saying that ATL has to sell Miguel Almiron, or they will ruin the reputation they have built in the last 2 years. What reputation have the Revs built in the last 20+ years?
Doesn't sound like Diego's dad/agent did him any favors by the way he handled it ... shopping him around without talking to the Revs first.
I'm ok with any signings that project at the top end of the roster. Agudelo should not be in the starting XI after the dud he put together last season. I'm as high on Rennicks as anyone and I think he couod be great. But I want to see him earn his way into a starting role, not be given one by default. More F/W talent can onoy be a good thing. You are right that they do need to improve elsewhere on the pitch as well (#8 and RB). It would be good to see some movement on other positions, but I am excited to see movement targeting the top of the depth chart at all
anytime you have the ability to bring in a player that is arguably better than what is on the bench or starting you should do so. The Revs still have the capacity to fill a need at CB or RB even if they manage to bring in a Bojan or Gil
Not suggesting they don't bring in either, but if they bring in both, I would guess that major spending is done for this year. But, lets get one signed first ... I still don't get why they resigned Agudelo.
PortugueseSoccer.com ⚽️ @PsoccerCOM #SportingCP Nani is reportedly being shopped around Major League Soccer (#MLS). @MLSTransfers Wonder if he could put a few fannies in the stands from the Portuguese fans
New England Revolution open preseason camp in Spanish seclusion https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2019...olution-open-preseason-camp-spanish-seclusion There is a well produced video 3 1/2 min long if you have not seen, worth a look.
I asked Friedel how important these early preseason games are for new players to learn the system, including the press: "Pressing's only a small part of our team ... We probably work with the ball more than pressing, so I think we need to stop with all the pressing talk." #NERevs— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) January 31, 2019
"The spirit of the group is outstanding" - Brad Friedel#NERevs // #NERevsInSpain pic.twitter.com/rVnDIT8lio— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) February 3, 2019 Jeff getting another lesson from Friedel to be more precise, and less presumptuous when asking questions. I must admit, I like that from Friedel. It will only make Jeff better, and thus make the overall Revs organization more professional.
So ..... a journalist getting "a lesson from Friedel" on being "less presumptuous when asking questions" is going to "make the overall Revs organization more professional"?? Did I miss some sort of sarcasm measure?
Ha -yea good point - rereading it does feels like a couple of leaps. Might just be my pet peeve. When Feldman first started broadcasting I was always saying he needed to be a better student of the game, speak more in soccer terms, etc. And whether you like him or not, he really has changed for the better. I love the coverage Jeff and others do, but I want to barf in my mouth every time they write or say something like "Friedel's style is an energetic style" or something like that. Or the way they report on the special "pressing system" that clearly Friedel is now irritated by (and probably recognizes that if that is constantly written about his team and they are not good at it, fingers will point at him). So I just like that Friedel is calling it out a little - just another small piece that might cause improvements in Jeff's and others reporting (even if they are small).
My takeaway is that Friedel is signaling that he plans to play a lot more than just "pressing" this season.
And that's a good thing! Sure, there are times when it would make sense to press. Other times when it's best to slow things down, or spread the ball around, play "possession" or go Route One. All of those methods have their time and place. Good to hear Friedel acknowledge this, and I hope that we will see periods of games where he will make those kinds of adjustments based on the circumstances. That was one thing we generally didn't see much of last year, and certainly not from Heaps before him. A step in the right direction, and maybe a sign that Friedel is learning to be a better manager.
I hope the takeaway is that Friedel learned a huge amount from his first season in charge and that he went somewhere in the offseason to figure out how one really goes about coaching at the professional level. So maybe, just maybe, we'll have more tactics than just pressing. Maybe we'll also have player management that isn't bipolar. It is really a shame that REV fans specifically and MLS fans in general have to watch this team tread water for a season or more every time they hire these "new" coaches. I wasn't entertained watching Heaps (try to) learn to coach and I'm not entertained by Brad either.
Or if you hire a guy who has actually been reasonably successful coaching a professional team in the past.