Heaps is Clueless...it's time....

Calling Mr. Mariner, Mr. Paul Mariner. Please pick up the white courtesy phone.

 

I love Heaps' whole attitude, but going into the season with Simms, Soares, and Gonsalvez as the middle-defensive spine was bound to create possession issues and completely negate any dangerous attacking players we have. Every god damn team we play uses the same strategy; press Simms and the back line and they'll give the ball right back to you.

Maybe a better defensive midfielder solves our problems, but it seems far more likely that we need a more possessive dmid (maybe Cisse, Dorman, or Caldwell is that guy?) AND and more possessive CB option.

After watching Schalke every Saturday morning then watching the Revs later in the day, this team's inability to possess out of the back is just atrocious.

 

The way he set out the team today was amateur. Toja and Guy had no defined role and neither were able to get forward and support Bengston or drop deep and help the team shape. It was so poorly thought out.

 

Kyle McCarthy ‏@kylejmccarthy

42m​

#NERevs coach Jay Heaps labeled the first half "just not good enough" and said the display impacted energy to produce extra bit after HT.

What the hell does this even mean? I wonder if he goes into halftime and says it's just not good enough to the players. Does he even understand what the issues are? It doesn't seem so as he continuously makes those same mistakes.

Remember when he said we would attack. How's that working out? We have one forward that he trusts to put out there. 5 forms of ACMs which he plays all over the field. Still no actual wing players, though Fagundez is maybe halfway there. Hell Bengtson has our best cross of the year so far.

Farrell looks great, but he can't cross the ball it seems, he should probably be playing DM or CB. Alston can't cross or provide any attacking width. Soares and Goncalves, while solid defensively, constantly launch balls upfield despite there being little to no pressure.

I don't know who to blame. Heaps seems to have absolutely no idea what he's doing. Our team doesn't have the players to play the style he seems to want to play. Our players are not playing up to their ability.

 

Maybe we don't have enough good players.

 

I think that's certainly part of it.

 

It may be part of it, but it's impossible to tell until they've been deployed in a meaningful way.

Also, the team still has holes. I don't know if that's Heaps' fault or not. If he's asked for certain players and Burns hasn't come through, then Heaps might not be at fault. If Heaps can't identify the problems that exist, then Burns isn't the guy to blame.

 

Soares came into the league with some play-it-out-of-the-back skills. Part of the current problem is the team isn't taking advantage of those skills. The other two would be my first two targets for upgrades on the team.

Simms' possession game seemed to disappear the second Shalrie got traded, which I suspect was not a coincidence. He can operate in open space behind a CM who absorbs the pressure, but when the high press comes after Simms, he cracks. Goncalves - mystifying what the team thought he could bring to the table.

 

This team is unwatchable. I'm done.

 

Among the issues I've got:

1. They seem to be relying on Toja to be the primary playmaker. I don't think that's his game.

2. As a team, they don't take on players one-on-one... they try and pass around them. Only really work if the defenders end up overcommitting.

3. Can't think of any wide player on the roster that I'd classify as a good crosser of the ball.

4. Nobody's really that good at taking free kicks.

5. They don't stretch teams vertically because they lack pace.

6. Their midfielders don't win balls back once they lose possession... with the occasional exception of Toja.

 

Maybe it's just me but I've never been a fan of playing with just one forward - it's too defensive a line-up, especially at home, and makes for boring soccer. I agree that Heaps has no clue about how to build and manage an attacking soccer team. I feared that was going to be the case when he was appointed manager and it has, unfortunately, proven to be the case.

 

You guys still think I'm an asshole for calling this the worst roster ever?


This team was no good even by MLS standards. But damn, they can't keep the ball for more than 1-4 seconds at any given time! It's just awful to watch, and even worse to be passionate about. There is just nothing on that field worth cheering for. I could not find a single point of todays match when I replayed it in which the Rev's didnt look like shit.

No sir, I don't like it!

 

I think the team itself is average. In fact, a good coach could probably get these guys into the playoffs.

The number one issue is tactics and team deployment.

 

Playing with one forward is generally more offensive than playing with 2. Every team in the Bundesliga plays with one forward and its the highest scoring big league in Europe. The dutch league is high scoring as well and theose teams play with only one forward (wingers =/= forwards).

Tactics dictate how "attack minded" a system is, not formation.

 

Totally agree here - he was just running around. He was high pressuring when the ball when into the Dallas backline when no one else on the team was around to support. Dallas simply played around him, and now Guy was no where in shape with the rest of Revs.

I do not see Heaps fascination with Guy at all.

 

QFT

 

Agreed. Since Heaps made Simms captain, her can't bench/sit him so I think that is kiss of death for the season unless Simms is ejected or hurt (or partnered with Cisse?) Again questions Heaps overall decisions...

 

I love his passion and don't question his commitment but he simply doesn't have the chops to be a successful coach at this level, at least not yet.

 

And this is a big part of the problem.... player assessment. Who was responsible for letting Benny go? He is exactly what we are missing. Toja isnt a replacement. Benny was one player I looked forward to watching... on this team...there are none I can get interested in[/quote]

My impression from watching and reading was that Benny was not happy with the Revs, either on the field or in the locker room; between that and being hacked down like a logged tree every time he touched the ball, he was not fulfilling the role mentioned in the Ives article. I always wondered how Nicol/Heaps should have handled that situation. The Revs shipped him, but it seems like in other sports other managers/coaches have built highly successful teams that featured a prima donna/unhappy player...stroke the ego, make them feel appreciated, surround them with players that complement them. So I am never sure if it was good riddance of bad rubbish or a blown chance to maximize the talent that seems to lurk in Mr. Feilhaber...

 

• The core of the unhappiness is the fact that we have scored 1 goal in four games, and none in the last three. What's worse, it's hard to imagine where the goals are going to come from. What makes us think we are going to score away to Seattle or NYRB? Leaving BS and the hard core aside, it begs the question: what are Bilello and Burns willing to tolerate? After all, how can you sell tickets to see a team that never scores?
Logically, B+B can blame themselves for not having acquired adequate talent, or they can blame Heaps. Given that the s__t always rolls downhill, you would think that JH is a short-timer. Balance that with this organization's singular gift for mute, stony-faced inaction, and who knows?

• JH must have a lot to learn about attacking soccer (From whom would he have learned it?), but it is also true that he must know something about defense. If my math is right, we are #1 in the league in defense for the second week running. For anyone whose memory goes back to the bad, old days, watching the Revs play good team defense gives a warm, fuzzy feeling.

• People are very unhappy that JH seems to have adopted a Nicol trait - preferring players on the basis of hustle and heart without regard to what they accomplish on the field. For me, it will depend on whether he continues to do this into April and May.

• I am not persuaded by the player acquisition complaint. I am very impressed with both Farrell and Gonçalves; the only negatives being that they make Alston and Soares look a little shabby by comparison. I was ecstatic when Feilhaber came to the Revs last year, but given every chance to lift the club, he blew it. He has one good game for KC, and people get misty about him. He is not what we need.
The problem isn't with whom we got, and whom we let go, the problem is that we stopped 2-3 players too soon. [broken record]We still need: A forward who can score against any MLS team, and a veteran goalkeeper (if Reis can't stay healthy.)[/broken record]

 

It's one thing to lose. But don't bore me to tears while doing it.

 

I'm with you 100%!

We've seen amazing talent arranged into a National side without a coach to pull their strength together..! (Any Dutch side from the 90's anyone)
And while these guys are nowhere near a side I would equate to being even "good"..their value in an MLS side that might backdoor into the F%$&ing playoffs has tiny bits of merit.

But when the coach is a former player that we used to cringe at when he touched the ball longer than a boot upfield! This is what we get...!
"We're all are part of Heaps' army....." BULLSHIT!!! Stupid song for a stupid coach that I didn't like from day one...and NO we didn't have to accept it..and shouldn't!!

But, due to many many many pathetic factors..we accept..accept..accept..and keep giving that bastard POS Kraft more pennies to stick in his shoes..while he laughs his ass off..!!!

#FBK

 

Do I think you're an asshole, no, but a) I think you're wrong, and b) I don't care where they rate in terms of best vs worst rosters, it's just a silly conversation to me at this point. Nobody thinks they're playing well, but if a team doesn't have to be the worst evah to be considered not good. For me, it may not be great, I don't think the roster is the problem.

I am not sold on Heaps, though I'm also not yet ready to say fire him, as there are many examples of coaches who struggled at first only for things to turn out well (Fergie being one result away from getting sacked is a famous example). I can't say I'd be thinking they made a big mistake if they were to let him go, but I'm just not ready to stand on a rooftop proclaiming that this needs to be done.

I see a team that has some good players, but I don't see them playing like a team that knows what it wants to do. Do the players know what their roles are? We always hear how the Pats' players say "do your job", well do the Revs' players know what their jobs are, or do their jobs make sense? What we see from them collectively on the field hasn't made much sense.

I also think that I have a better chance of winning a big Powerball lottery than there is to see them get rid of Heaps any time soon. Even if they do believe that he's their man, what I would hope the FO would consider is bringing in an experienced coach as an assistant, one with lots of actual experience in the professional game. I'd expect that would have to come from above, as I wouldn't think that Heaps would ever consider doing such a thing on his own, as it could feel like somewhat of an admission of failure.