2017 Pre-season

No Koussai basically throughout pre-season and not part of the last game
No Anguoa basically throughout pre-season and not part of the last game (and not even listed on Revs site roster)

These are 2 of the 3 guys the Revs told us they specifically went out to get to "replace and/or improve" and we have not really seen them feature at all. Slow chemistry building there.

13 days till the start of the season.

Yep, I've got anxiety.

 

A couple of things to keep in mind:

- we haven't really seen what our two out of our three premier players can do yet. It's hard to know what our upside is until we get a real look at them.

- there was some real ugly defending in the Colorado game, but ... we owned the first half until we inexplicably collapsed in the last 4-5 minutes. The 2nd half was pretty meaningless IMO, with lots of subs and pretty crazy weather.

Still, the defensive breakdowns were alarming - much worse than in previous preseason games.

 

According to the last article Burns seems to insinuates that we may not see the real Kouassi for some time. So who players that role? Herivaux who was never given any meaningful minutes last year? Kid should have been farmed out to get PT somewhere. Caldwell who not really the most physical guy or Kobiyashi who is not really suited for that role. Now more than ever with a new back 4 was a need for a seasoned vet. A guys that can be physical and vocal. It may be revolving CB until Anguoa gets healthy. Not the best way to start off the year. Too bad they don't have cap space or roster spots to help

 

If there's a hallmark of Heaps-coached teams it's the period of inexplicable collapse.

 

Watson is also an option. He plays there for Jamaica.

Also, I get the feeling that some are looking at Caldwell as a 6 and only a 6. He is not a natural 6. Before joining the Revs he had never played that deep on the field. I think he has a lot more to give in the attack but has been playing the role the coach has told him to play. Says a lot for his maturity. I am hoping to see him get more involved further up the field.

 

. Do you see Burns full of anxiety? Nope, he's dodged that ball. Remember, as the great philosopher, Peter La Fleur, best put it: " I found that if you have a goal, that you might not reach it. But if you don't have one, then you are never disappointed. And I gotta tell ya... it feels phenomenal."

The Revs FO is feeling pretty phenomenal about now....

 

Striving for that line just below mediocrity, since 1995. As long as we're within budget.

 

Earlier kickoff today for #NERevs and Sporting KC (1 pm ET). Expecting to see two different groups play 45 mins each for Revs.

— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) February 22, 2017

 

Wait, I thought that we were established in 1996?

The New England Revolution: A year late and several million dollars short.

 

L to R...maybe wingers are listed first? Not sure what foot dominance Turner or Bowen have.
Turner - Smith - Woodberry - Watson
Bowen - Kouassi - Daigo - Femi
Bunbury - Wright

 

1-1 at half. Daigo got a goal in the 1st minute on a play even a pre-season form GK should not give up..

A quick 👀 at Daigo's early goal #NERevs pic.twitter.com/ThmFaJLnRW

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) February 22, 2017

 

I can live with that.

 

I saw a lot of the game. KC did not play their 'A' team until late. We didnt either till the second half and then we ripped them up. When it was around 5-1, they started playing the 'A's and they had more possession but we still scored against them. At that point we were just trying to run out the clock . Zusi had a little bit too much room and scored a long range rocket to give them 2 goals. Other than that... not much happened. Benny didnt do anything. Lee and Juan both outplayed him

We looked very good on attack but against a 'B' team it was hard to tell much. Im not sure about the Lee / Juan swap. They were all floating around a lot and Lee dropped deeper while Juan pushed up a lot. Maybe that's the plan? It seemed to create results today and Im sure Heaps will think he's on to something since we managed 6 goals. Again, against a B team but still nice to kick butt once in a while

 

As a reminder (mostly for me )

 

Heaps pleased w/ the debut of the Angoua-Delamea pairing https://t.co/fPKjObnMGU #NERevs

— Brian O'Connell (@BrianOConnell21) February 23, 2017

 

From what I've read (bolding mine), that rapid interchange seems to be what Heaps wants to do this year. On paper it's a good way to utilize Agudelo/Nguyen etc but given Juan got injured last year and things went south offensively, he'd better have a plan B. That could be as simple as Diego and Rowe (even Wright if he starts) making off the ball runs to pull defenders away. There needs to be more to the offense than Juan and Lee is my point.

 

Let's say Juan and Lee light it up and get called simultaneously into USMNT camp. That still leaves us with, in a diamond:

Kamara-Bunbury
Rowe
Diego-Caldwell
Kouassi
Back 4

Or, in a 4-2-3-1:

Kamara
Diego-Rowe-Bunbury
Caldwell-Kouassi

Still a solid lineup. Bench options at FWD/winger are still Femi and Wright, Daigo and Herivaux for midfield, so still solid (but not game-breaking) sub options. However they'd be built more for compact/counter than Lee & Juan's tiki taka.

 

Good analysis. They need to be able to play the counter as well as tiki taka. As long as Heaps is working on both I will feel better.

 

"Hope" is that beautiful bit of four-lettering that allows us to curse away reality and embrace what we wish was true.