Who will play? THe question is, which Rev team will show up? The ones that win or the ones that don't? It's hard to pick a winner when they're inconsistant. If Lamosa and Twellman are out, I go with Columbus. If they play, could be the Revs.
Facing Cunningham, Buddle and West will be an important test for our all-of-a-sudden-good defense. Offensively you've got to like our chances against a backline that includes Dunseth and McCarty, assuming Taylor can go.
I think Wolde has to maintain his spot up front with a healthy Taylor, the big question is what to do with Rusty and Carlos who gets the nod? Or do we paly both and drop one of the other defenders? surely not Kante.
Its also a question as to whether Carlos will be health enough to play on Saturday. Groin pulls are tough injuries....
Brown Heaps Llamossa Kante Franchino Ralston Pierce Hernandez Kamler Twellman Harris If Llamosa cant play, I would put Pierce in CB and Cullen back in Mid. Griffiths is awful so Kamler should replace him And hopefully Twellman is healthy. The three game curse will hurt both teams... Revs 2-2 Crew
Brown Heaps Kante Rusty Franchino Ralston Cullen Hernandez Griffiths Twellman Harris We'll take this one 2-1.
Brown Pierce Kante Rusty Franchino Heaps Ralston Griffiths Hernandez Twellman Harris Cullen hasn't been playing to well lately IMO so its time for a suddle change at D-mid. Jay has been decent to good when he has been on the pitch. I am not sure if he can play D-mid but I don't see why not. 3-0 Revs.
From Llamosa's comments in Emlyn Lewis's article it sounds like he expects to be out for 7-10 days with a hamstring. I have been out of touch for a while. What has happened to Cloutier? Before his first injury I thought he did a fantastic job in the d-mid position. It will be interesting to see if Griffith gets another start. He reminds me of Welton when he was here. Loads of speed and great dribbling skills but not much connection with the rest of the team.
I think Griffiths will be back in. Nicol sent him a message about following the game plan. On Saturday he'll find out if he really got the message. For those who think Griffiths did nothing, I strongly disagree. We got him because there was no countering threat for Ralston on the left. Griffiths has shown a great ability to lose his man in the penalty area, and that scares defenses to death. That's exactly the threat they need to loosen the pressure on Twellman and Ralston. Twellman's first goal was a direct result, because he was able to get the ball one-on-one with a defender in a prime spot. Griffiths is a dribbler. He's going to get stripped and look foolish at times. When he does get through, he's rushed his passes and hasn't connected. That should come with time. I have noticed that when he is able to dribble into the box, that Twellman, Harris and Ralston are not in great positions to receive the ball. Ralston is usually making a back post run - good, but Twellman and Harris don't seem to be making creative runs, they just seem to be waiting for the short cross - which is pretty hard to deliver under pressure. I've tried to decide where Griffiths should put the ball when he does penetrate and I usually don't see any good options - to me that means the forwards aren't making creative runs. Twellman and Ralston are definitely on the same page, but I don't think Twellman can't expect Griffiths to BE Ralston - it's a mutual misunderstanding that they must improve.
Cloutier appears to have made his way into the dog-house somehow (or re-injured himself?) - even though he had some good games at Dmid. I also think that he could be a better option at Dmid than Cullen - but for some reason it just doesn't seem to be in the cards. Also agree that Griffiths is a nice option to have on the left. I'm really surprised to hear all the criticism of Griffiths when prior to his appearance the Revs had absolutely nothing going on the left-hand side of the field. He opens up space, offers another option, and makes it more difficult to pressure the Revs through the midfield. Not perfect no doubt, but pretty much what the doctor ordered for the time being. I'm also of the opinion that when Llamosa comes back he should be Rusty Pierce's backup (heresy!).
I don't know that anyone is saying that he isn't capable of being a very effective player, but rather that he didn't accomplish anything on Saturday. He flopped against Rapids because he couldn't connect with anyone, particularly Franchino, Hernandez, Cullen, and Twellman, who should have been in his thoughts. I'm sure you would agree that Griffiths can't reach his potential until he finds a way to combine with his teammates, no matter now well he touches the ball. He reminds me in some ways of D. Beasley, with Beasley thus far having better anticipation, creativity, passing ability, and toughness. This is not to say that Griffiths can't improve - if he and the rest of the Revs get on the same page, WG could be really scary, which would be excellent.
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION - OUT: M Shaker Asad (sprained MCL-L), D Carlos Llamosa (strained hamstring-R), M Jim Rooney (sprained MCL-R), F Diego Serna (torn ACL & meniscus-L); QUESTIONABLE: D Braeden Cloutier (strained hamstring-R); PROBABLE: F Taylor Twellman (ankle contusion-L)
Griffiths has excellent dribbiling ability. Unfortunatley he suffers from a typical MLS flaw, he doesn't know when to pass, when to shoot, and when to try to beat his man. He usually picks the wrong option at the wrong time. If he can get his footballing brain in order he'd be a dangerous player