Columbus Crew SC vs New England Revolution MLS Regular Season Match – Saturday, March 9, 2:00 PM – Gillette Stadium Broadcast: SportsTime Ohio, MLS LIVE on ESPN+ (******** yeah, blackouts!), MLS LIVE on DAZN Links: MLS Match Center Vitals: Columbus Crew SC 1 P / 1 G / 1 PPG | 0W-0L-1D | 1 GF / 1 GA / 0 GD | FORM: D New England Revolution 1 P / 1 G / 1 PPG | 0W-0L-1D | 1 GF / 1 GA / 0 GD | FORM: D Goal Leaders: Columbus Crew SC Gastón Sauro - 1 New England Revolution Carles Gil - 1 Previous Meeting: May 19, 2018 @ Gillette Stadium Columbus Crew SC 1, New England Revolution 0 Notes: We got the first match of the season out of the way, okay. We didn't execute, okay. But that's okay, okay. We got our jitters out, okay. The pressure, the emotion, the moment is gone, okay. Now we focus on playing good soccer, okay. We go win this one up in Foxboro, okay. Okay. I don't have much else to say about this match so here is Brad Friedel talking about saving penalties: And many thanks to @porchlight for the title assist.
I made a delicious salmon chowder for lunch on Saturday and am having the leftovers for dinner tonight. Honestly, who knows if New England is any good? If you watched the New England/Dallas game this weekend with as many other actual better professional soccer options were available you are a better man than me. That said, a tie on the road at Dallas is impressive. And this is the Revs home opener, so you can expect a tepid atmosphere at Foxboro as opposed to the normal complete lack of atmosphere. It's gonna be a tough ask for our boys. That said, we brought in Matt Reis for one goddamn reason. This game. Matt Reis a died in the wool New England Revolution goalkeeping legend was passed up for the Revs head coaching job for some Ohio kid with a British accent?!? I have a feeling Matt is gonna rally the troops here. A Zack Steffen clean sheet. 5 Santos stumbles. 2 Zardes goals. And a 3-0 Crew victory.
I think the first 10,000 people through the gate gets them. For the players, it's in the contract, win or lose.
Too bad Hansen isn’t healthy . Honestly I like Christian Martínez better than Pedro who has 1 goal in 48 games.
So that NordOst 96 group is having a watch party for the match at Missing Falls Brewery in Akron. I was wondering if anyone from here might be attending that.
I had to check the profile picture like five times to make sure I wasn't seeing things as to who posted this.
Not I, but I'm planning on attending a watch party myself for really only the third time in my life. This time, it is literally less than a mile from my house, across the street on sunbury in Westerville, at a place I like to go to for beer and food. It was like destiny. I can't not go.
I'd consider going but I think I pissed that guy off. Then again,who haven't I pissed off, so I suppose that's no barrier.
I can't help but think our first game was mismanaged with only one sub. (For the record, I liked Robinho for Meram.) Porter said in the post-game presser that he didn't want to sub Zardes, Santos, or Higuain: Yet, we had the late cross that Zardes couldn't get connect onto, the classic Santos collapsing in the box and grabbing his face late in the game because wind blew on it too hard. Higuain slowed down from his already slow pace, and of course the Santos trip at the end. Two of those three players (Zardes, Santos, Higuain) should have been subbed in the last 10 minutes. We have JJ Williams, Mullins, Argudo, and Sosa sitting. In fact, JJ Williams is the only one of those four in the 18. Instead, we have 4 defensive-minded players in our 18: Josh Williams, Abubakar, Jimenez, and Clark. One of those players should have been cut out of the 18 (Abubakar or Jimenez, IMO) for Mullins (or Sosa/Argudo). And, we should have made at least one, if not two, more offensive-minded subs. Yet, Porter says, "this is the game we need to figure out." Use your roster!
Maybe Porter is playing the long-con. Not make these subs to only get a tie instead of win, to pressure the staff to let him spend and get his players in, vs. using subs and winning games without the team he fully wants. Totally joking.
I, too, was puzzled that we did not make more subs. But, one game. I really don't think I can judge much on one game.
I read those comments, too. And the one line that really jumped out was: "That would have been the only way to get J.J on the field." Look, I agree with @kgilbert78 that this is just one game, and we need to chill out a little bit and not assume that what we saw on Saturday is the entirely of what we'll see all season. But Porter's statement - which I certainly could be reading something into that he didn't mean - was that the only way we'll see a second striker enter a game is if another offensive player comes off. Which, again, seems very Berhalter-esque. Unless I'm mistaken, the only time last season we saw two strikers was when roster availability made a shirt to that line-up advantageous (was it during Open Cup matches without Higuain?). I mean, really? We'd never pull a central midfielder or defender to insert another attacking player? We don't have players who can shift their positions, in game, to help make those adjustments? It just strikes me as odd. As it did when Gregg was making these same decisions. Anyway, as we wait for more data, the next thing I'll be looking for is Porter's willingness to mix up his starting XI; something Berhalter was loath to do. Might Robinho start for Santos, for example?