Cubo is hot right now, six goals in first four games, including a hat trick against the Pink Cows last week. HOU is 3-0-0 at home, but lost their only road game so far (4-2 @POR).
Injury Report: OUT: D George Malki (torn ACL), D Agus (left hamstring), F Romell Quioto (shoulder injury), M Juan David Cabezas (concussion); QUESTIONABLE: GK Joe Willis (knee injury), Projected starting XI (4-3-3): Tyler Deric – AJ DeLaGarza, Adolfo Machado, Leonardo, DaMarcus Beasley – Ricardo Clark, Eric Alexander, Alex – Alberth Elis, Erick ‘Cubo’ Torres, Mauro Manotas Injury Report: None Projected starting XI (4-4-2 diamond, right to left): Cody Cropper – Andrew Farrell, Antonio Delamea, Benjamin Angoua, Chris Tierney – Scott Caldwell, Xavier Kouassi, Lee Nguyen, Diego Fagundez – Juan Agudelo, Kei Kamara Smith get the start against Torres? Will Houston's attack Quintos? Anyone else find it ironic that a guy name Cabezas with a head injury?
I think Smith starting was to deal with Adi's physicality. Cubo and Manotas don't have that physicality so I think Angoua starts again. Another question is, with Tierney subbing out early each game, does Heaps start Watson or Donnie Smith instead? And, is it Diego's time to sit, with Caldwell and Rowe starting wide?
You can't make that stuff up! Not since there was a White House spokesman in the Reagan days named Larry Speaks.
This love affair with a getting Caldwell and Kouassi on the same field in infuriating to me. I just don't like it. Diego is pretty much the only true winger we have, Rowe a close second. I'd put Bunbury, and Agudelo above Caldwell in the wide midfielder depth chart.
If the Revs revert to the Heapsian 4-5-1 again (hopefully not) it would be useful there behind Lee centrally. But I'm with you when both Agudelo and Kamara are starting at forward.
I swear Caldwell doesnt know how to play wide, and drifts in centrally. Most of that half we were playing a 3-5-2, with Farrell pretty much being a winger.
Three points in the bank. This team is still a work in progress but on the upswing Cobratulations --well done
Agreed. Defense was still a bit shaky in the second half, but it looks like Delamea is the real deal. Really confused about Fagundez getting subbed, as I thought he was man of the match and was dominating the left side. Any coincidence that we played better without Tierney???
The subs were all a little weird. But on the whole, a surprisingly good performance, with no gaffes or really any poor play individually. Cropper looked shaky at the start but grew in confidence as the game went on. Kouassi played really well. All the attackers looked good other than the collective fear of shooting in the first half. A good showing - let's see if they can keep it up against the Schweinfire.
Solid performance front to back. It's hard to complain about a clean sheet and two goals from the run of play by our designated scorers. If Kouassi can stay healthy he's going to be quite a player in this league. He has shown his defensive bite before, but his vision and passing were excellent. I hadn't realized that he had been an 8 with his previous teams. It showed today and required Houston to change their midfield roles to cope. Nice to see him go 90. I thought the defense was solid. It's not realistic to think that a team like Houston will get no looks at goal and they had only one seriously dangerous opportunity. That was as much on the midfield giving up too much space as it was on the defenders. The attack still dries up too readily in the front of the goal but the combination play in the final third was excellent. I haven't seen Houston before this year, but the Revs made them look like the Keystone Kops at times. All in all, several good signs.
Fagundez continues to be our most creative, active and engaged attacking player. I also thought it was weird when he came off, though it became less weird when Rowe was pushed up to the wing. It really does feel like Tierney's days are numbered.
Was everybody else feeling this? Houston went into this game 3-1 with a better goal difference than the Revs. We had no reason to expect that the Revs would dominate. But that was a lopsided victory, with Dynamo never in the game. Kouassi has gotten better every game, and did everything well in this one. Delamea was very strong again, and Smith has clearly won the CB job. Rowe and Cropper had an outstanding game, and Farrell was fine also. Nguyen, Kamara, and Agudelo are still looking for their rhythm, but obviously did enough. Nguyen switched off on D a couple times. Caldwell is getting used to his new role, and seemed a little rattled. For all that, Revs controlled the midfield against a good team. If I were a Houston fan, I would be concerned about the ponderously slow back line and Deric's unimpressive outing. They are probably much better at home.
That's because in Heaps' system the "outside" midfielders have defensive responsibilities inside. It looks to me like he is doing what he is told to do. This is not a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 where the wide midfielders stay outside. This leaves the outside for the outside backs to attack and when they do the other three rotate to cover. I thought the team defense was great. The high pressure forces a lot of Houston turnovers in their own half. Cropper only had to make one save and there were many blocked shots. As much as it pains me maybe it is time to give Burns a little credit. Delamea and Smith have been really good additions and made a big impact on the back line. Cropper is a step up and he is much more comfortable with the ball at his feet than any REVs keeper since Reis. I know it is early but I am starting to think this team has a chance to do something this year.
This combination is still a mystery to me. All 3 are strong but it's not really clicking. Hard to pinpoint the exact problem but if I were Heaps, I would want Kamara to stay in the middle and try and set him up for shots. It seems like when he wanders outside, we don't get chances. Not 100% sure but thats what I'd try. Let the others go wide but he stays home. This line should score a ton of goals if they can ever figure it out
Best description of Diego I've read anywhere. Overrated. On the positive side, while not perfect, this was an impressive win, no question about it and it really starts with the defense. For that back line to shut down Cubo Torres the way the revs did was equally unprecedented and awesome, considering the quality he has. Justin Smith is a beast and absolutely should keep the starting job along with Delamea. He was constantly involved, anticipating trouble, positioning well and stepping up to shut down Houston's attacks. For a rookie 4th rounder, he showed excellent poise decision making when playing the ball out of the back. He was my MOTM, though it must be said Kouassi was a monster in front of the back four. We found our six. The outside backs played well too - Farrell used his size to outmuscle guys off the ball. Rowe did well at left back, keeping that siDr quiet. Then of course, Cropper was fantastic in goal. Taking the ball off Torres's foot in the 61st minute was a massive turning point in this game. Even the subs made sense and had logic behind them. I like Teal as a late game sub. Hope Heaps does not mess with this line up too much. It's effective. Maybe that coaching clinic he attended in the offseason did pay off. I can definitely see Llamosa's impact on the defense already and love it. I know it's early but this result on the heels of stealing a point in Portland has me cautiously optimistic about the revs this season. They have played and gone a respectable 1-1-1 against the top 3 teams in the Western conference. They beat the crap out of Minnesota (as they should). Other than the loss in Colorado they are finally beginning to look like a team we all want them to be. I want to be proud to be a revs fan again, not slinking in the corners, embarrassed. Need to continue the momentum in Chicago next week and get at least a point.
I agree, that comparison with Nagbe is spot on. I'm a little hesitant to pull out the overrated tag for Diego, simply because of age. I'd take a fast, creative young gun who can hopefully grow into a more productive player any day. Nagbe isn't old, but he is older at 26, and I'd expect more production of him. If Diego isn't producing more in 2 years then yea, overrated.
Agree with Kamara staying home centrally but Heaps designed the front 3 to constantly interchange so the defenders never know where they will make attacking runs. Kamara's goal was a solid individual effort and that seems to be where he thrives, making something out of nothing. Seemed like the revs tried to constantly get him in 1v1 matchups against the Houston defenders, which was a good approach. When they did it caused havoc. What needs to happen more is movement off the ball with 2 of the front 3 making runs to the near and far post. There were a couple times if one of the front three had made a far post run, it would have been a fairly easy finish but no one was there and the chance went begging. The second half they looked a lot better in this regard than the first. As good as he is, I still don't think Kei fits here. Just doesn't really seem to be on the same page as Agudelo, Fagundez and Nguyen often enough.
Others have written some very good summaries so I will just supplement: Koussai is looking good. Most importantly for me is he is playing full games. After all that injury delay - it does look like the Revs took the best approach. Nice job Revs Smith is an "older rookie" by most standards - 26 years old, which may be helping him step right in. Regardless he looks like a solid Ralston (even though we didn't draft him), Larentowicz, Dorman, etc late signing that is working out so far. Nice job Revs. Although Rowe was serviceable as LB, Brad made a comment that he really is a more attacking central player, but will do what it takes. BUT, if I am Rowe - I am wondering about my career. Am I going to give it a full on go as a LB for the rest of my career - hey, we don't have many in the US Nats pool? Or is he being "sacrificed" as a team player since the Revs made no backup plan for LB - Tierney is 31, Watson 33. Were the Revs "banking" on Tierney making one more year, THEN, they will go look for a replacement? It worked this game, and it gets 7 players where we thought 1 would have to be left out - a front 6, plus Rowe - but I am not sold on it completely just yet. This said it best, IMO. Looking at our division - it looks like Philly and Montreal are tanking for now, BUT - everyone else is in play so far. The top 6 is not going to be easy - especially with how strong Atlanta has opened.
Really fun game to watch although it was still frustrating watching things break down in the final 3rd. Kamara got his goal when Houston pushed up their D. I still wonder if we can break down a bunkering defense, with Nguyen, Agudelo and Kamara still seemingly not clicking together. I'm guessing Diego was removed for two reasons. First, he's played much more this season than Rowe/Caldwell/Kouassi, so maybe it was his "turn" for the rotation. Second, as good a game as he had, he had let his runner go a couple times defensively. Smith's won the job. He and Delamea look a lot better together than Delamea and Angoua.