Some game. Two PK's. Two red cards (Memo to Fox Sports Net: Your parabolic guys are doing a great job. I heard - crisply and clearly - Ryan Suarez's every word). Three points - Priceless. Olivares gains immediate entry to the MLS Thuggers Club. A closeline to the face. Dag. Thank Gawd for Twellman's two goals, but that boy looks like he could do a Rip Van Winkle. He looks T-I-R-E-D.
I'm so happy!!! Those Dallas fans were talking that if they didn't destroy us, they'd be mad! Bahahah. Adin Brown is magic. The up and down play had me excited but pissing my pants at the same time. Bring on the Mutts.
Followed by Kante. He had a huge game. The call on him for the PK was weak at best. He was on fire in the first half and single handedly settled things down after dallas got the rest of the defense back on their heels.
Kante Kante in the first half was pretty much on his own in center defense. Hernandez was not coming back. Kamler was not doing a good defensive job either and Joey was getting all the action in the left, where all the crosses were coming from. Kamler was involved in the the two goals, though. The red card could be interpreted as tough, but Suarez deflected out a ball that was just about to cross the line.
Re: Kante True. And, Ryan Suarez did it with both hands up. If it was with one paw up, maybe. That's a straight call, though.
The plot thickens Have I got this right? LA 45 SJ 45 CR 42 DB 40 CC 38 NY 35 KC 35 NE 35 CF 34 DC 32 So, Revs (as well as KC and Metro) could either win the division or fail to make the play-offs on the basis 0f the next game. Yikes. The game didn't change my impression of anyone on either side. Kante had a particularly good game as did Cullen. Harris was wonderful tracking back. If only he could score. For all the Hernandez v. Deering comparisons prior to the game, DH was the clear winner. Brown looked like as good a keeper as there is in MLS. It was a poor way to lose a shutout streak. TnT was clearly off his game. Heaps was Rhine's punk all game - so much so that I wondered if Heaps was well. Llamosa was marginal, though I should be grateful he could finish the game. Franchino again looked out of position as a marking back. Dallas is clearly a team in pain and out of luck. I don't sense that they are typically a violent team, but in their frustration they were filthy tonight. Deering and Olivares could easily have been red carded as well. The AR who missed Olivares' mugging of Heaps should turn in his badge.
Re: The plot thickens Yup. Franchino was definitely the weakest link tonight offensively, and perhaps defensively as well. Couldn't count how many balls he gave away under little or no pressure. And his trying to dribble out of his own box only to get stripped at the 18 didn't go over so well either. All in all, though, can't complain. Good job by Nicol not to go to a defensive 4-5-1 as many of us speculated he would. Outstanding games by Brown and Kante. Dissapointing that Ralston will miss the next match, but with no Mathis and more important no Howard we should have the advantage against the Mutts. I thought Howard was the main reason we're 0-3 against ny this year.
moacir is absolutely right. I was bucking Nicols for starting Kamler instead of Griffith (who would have put much more pressure on the left wing and given Ralston/Heaps a little more space), and his every touch seemed to confirm my worst fears - then he figures in two goals! The man is a good luck charm and no mistake. Some things are simply beyond logic. Chad Deering showed exactly what kind of player he is tonight - for better and for worse. Mostly worse. (BTW Doug, you and Adrian should pay attention, his late clattering tackle on Cullen was pure red - did you see it?) And he really did hurt the Revolution - though more next game than this one (due to Ralston's yellow). Taylor Twellman going over Heaps for the second goal - worth the price of admission (which, BTW, I didn't pay). Daniel Hernandez planting Rodriguez after his forearm to the face of poor Jay Heaps leads to an ill-earned Dallas goal - priceless. When on his game, Hernandez can play like Leo Alvarez with wheels. Lets hope he can play with Leo's smarts, because that is/was Leo's greatest asset. Carlos Llamossa was a welcome relief coming off the bench. He may make a big difference next week. I wont' say a word about the Rev's goalkeeper because I'm superstitious that way. Okay. Ony one way to look at next week's game with the Metros: One game series: winner take all. Going to be tough without Ralston/Pierce. Let's see what this team can do.
Congrats on a cheap win. The good news is that a fixed mutual draw next week between Rev and Metro could see Goon sitting home. Shades of Germany/Austria '82? You bet. But EVERYONE hates the Gooners. Chicago can kiss my a$$. Johnson checked off twice with TWO revs in front of him and was still flagged. The Suarez straight Red was insane. Sure, it was a PK, no question. But a straight red? I've watched 75% of all the MLS games ever televised going back to '96, and I've NEVER seen a straight red in that situation. PK? Sure, no question. But a straight Red? Welcome to the World of the Dallas Burn. No owner, and whether you're at the disposal of the Fed or the League... The Fix is in. Cazart. -bs
Bitter much? If Chicago wins, they're in the playoffs, and if they lose, they're out. The Fire hold their destiny in their own hands. The Revs and Metros have nothing to do with it, unless the Fire can only manage a draw. That's the only scenario under which a draw is mutually beneficial. You know, the incessant whining about referees from every team that loses every week is getting old. I'd suggest that were the officials REALLY interested in gift-wrapping the game for the Revs, one of them might have spotted the forearm shiver Olivares gave to Heaps moments before the referee gave Dallas a penalty kick.
look the game was won on the twellman goalmouth scramble-congrats on that. but listen-i was there- the cards were a farce.since when and in what league do refs give out second yellows in stoppage time for a foul that won the ball? especially if the first card was for dissent. if that was the case in england viera would never see the 60th minute of any game! suarez should have been given a yellow. the ref awarded the pk but for what reason did he think it was intentional? it was relatively early in a scoreless game. and by the way, olivares was fouled not once, not twice, but three times going to the box. he just didn't fall down like...oh yeah...twellman. good luck revs
Well, IANAR, but... I believe you're mistaken. That was a Denial of an Obvious Goal-Scoring Opportunity (from the laws) -- the ball was heading into the goal. Red card is required when the player "denies an obvious goal-scoring opportunity to an opponent moving towards the player's goal by an offence punishable by a free kick or a penalty kick." Sorry, it was the correct call.
A VERY STRONG SUGGESTION TO ALL BURN FANS POSTING HERE FROM A MODERATOR OF THIS FORUM WHO ALSO HAPPENS TO BE A MODERATOR OF THE BURN FORUM: Mind your friggin' manners. (That means you, Brushes Sand.)
Well, I was at the Cotton Bowl tonight and I can understand where Burn fans who were at the game might've thought that the red card to Suarez was a total farce. Without the benefit of replays (no video screens at the Cotton Bowl), it appeared to be a completely innocent, inadvertant handball -- a penalty, sure, but no red. Obviously, the video replays showed a slightly different story. Fair enough. And I hope that Suarez didn't get himself another game's suspension in his tirade at Brian Hall afterward. That said, Broome's second booking was a bit more mysterious. The foul itself was mostly harmless, but he had been yapping at Brian Hall all night and Hall was likely in no mood to cut Broome any slack. Way to go, Paulie. If you're going to get yourself sent off, at least get your money's worth. And please, don't start with any sort of "Dallas was a bunch of thugs out there." The Revs weren't exactly shying away from the rough stuff themselves. If Brian Hall had given all the red cards that he should've, both teams would've been playing with seven men at the end. The Revs won the match because they finished their chances, plain and simple. Had the Burn put away a couple of their chances in the first half, it would've been a different story. But then, given the Burn's problems with finishing over the last month, their poor finishing tonight comes as no shock to me. The last time they had a lead was the August 10 game against Chicago.
Things must have looked a lot different at the Cotton Bowl than on tv. I thought it was one of the cleaner games I've seen all year. Who should have gotten red cards (in addition to Broome and Suarez)?
Actually if was Olivares - my bad. I'll buy this assessment (with the caviat that Deering is very lucky to be playing next week). So much of the last few weeks for these two teams has come down to luck - New England mostly good, Dallas all bad. Dallas fans have to remember though, Dallas is going to the playoffs this year no matter what. The Revs (probably) have to win next week to get there.
Last night's match contained everything that makes proper football the best spectator sport around: some really skillful play, some outrageous howlers and clangers, some close calls, a bit of violence, good and bad refing (note we had Brian Hall, the top US ref), etc, etc. I was on the edge of my seat for two hours and exhausted afterwards. Terrific match. Sure, there were all sorts of less than top flight moments but there was a lot of good stuff too and considering that the temps were around 90' the pace was amazing. While we have to admit that luck has been smiling on us lately booth in our own matches as well as around the league, the Rev are where they are due to consistent effort applied across the board and inspired by Steve Nicol. The "interim" tag should be consigned to the same asheap as all the "cmgi" logos, regardless of what heppens next weekend. Congrats to the players and to the coaching staff for a rebuilding well done thus far. And I have to agree that over the last month Hernandez has morphed into an alvarez clone; slowing the play, distributing carefully and settling scores. Let's hope he keeps maturing and, of course, thwacking a free kick now and again. Great job, terrific match. I can't wait for Saturday! JIM DOW
I thought NE did well enough and hold them no ill will (except for your thug Franchino). The refereeing was very bad. Brian Hall let a lot go early and guess what? A very dirty game at the end. I am sure that Olivares looked like he gave Heaps an elbow on purpose but all game your Rev's were clutching and grabbing (I would too if the ref lets it go) and Percy was at full speed (hard to tell on TV and it does make a difference) and was trying to break loose. If Hall had seen it he probalby would have gotten booked but Hall was booking every Burn player in this game that his incompetant eyes actually saw. BTW, one of your reds was Franchino retaliating on Rhine with an elbow to the face away from the ball. Well good luck you have a player that can finish and we don't.
The REV did not look like they were a man up in this game. Anyone notice that. We certainly don't dominate anyone yet.
It may be a bit quick to nominate Nicol for coach of the year. Certainly the Revs are playing better, but their wins have come against weak teams and they have needed more than their share of good luck to accomplish even these. Granted many of their losses earlier can also be attributed to bad luck. Things even out and it looks right now that the Revs are a mediocre team. We are all thrilled with that now but given the talent they had to start the season should mediocraty be the grounds for reward? I think the best arguments to keep Nicol is that he has gotten the team to play hard when all looked lost, he hasn't had a healthy contingent of players to work with, and repeated coaching and style-of-play changes have failed repeatedly with this team. These are all valid reasons and I think he will stay, but I still feel a more experienced and less risk-adverse coach could have done better with the players we had. Possibly the Revs will continue to improve through the playoffs and quite probably they will be more successful next year as Nicol remolds the roster but something will be lost if this franchise adopts the current style of play as its ideal.
Well said, SocDoc. I got blasted on a separate thread by calling the Revolution mediocre but I think the points you raised are right on. I'm as pleased as anyone that the team was able to come back and make a good run for the playoffs but I still think they have a long way to go before they are a good team.