Big win last night, but almost everything else broke poorly with both Montreal and DC winning (at Toronto) Oh well
This is the problem with the fans that keep thinking "Hey, we'll get hot late in the year and we'll be fine." It's a BS line, but people keep using it because it worked once or twice in the past.
True enough. If you make an earnest push at the Supporters' Shield then you don't need to worry about making the playoffs. If you content yourself with being just good enough to squeak in, sometimes you miss. The Revs have been fun to watch at times this year. Too bad they didn't aim higher, organizationally speaking.
Too little too late. The points in March and April don't really matter, do they? I mean we always get hot at the end of the season. They even showed a graphic on one of the recent telecasts of the Revs' record in September, which was very good over the last 3 years. But the rest of the year, not so much...
Code: 4) MON 11-10-11(44 pts) TOR, @NER 5) DCU 10-9-13 (43 pts) NYC, @ORL 6) PHI 11-12-9 (42 pts) ORL, NYRB 7) NER 10-13-9 (39 pts) @CHI, MON 8) CMB 8-12-11 (35 pts) @CHI, @NYRB, @NYC Orlando is mathematically eliminated.
The problem is that because it might have worked once or twice, fans all of a sudden start thinking it could happen every year. So we go on a three game winning streak and the "here we go" stuff starts. It doesn't work like that generally. Having to play catch up means you not only have to do your own job, but you still need help from others. That help doesn't always come though. But hey, keep playing with a short roster, continue struggling in the summer, continue blowing points when you shouldn't, and don't worry, we'll sign someone in the summer window and we'll make a run in September like we always do!
To paraphrase Rick Patino, "The next Jermaine Jones equivalent ain't walking through that door anytime soon."
It's more like: "Clint Dempsey isn't walking through that door fans, Taylor Twellmen is not walking through that door, and Shalrie Joesph's not walking through that door And if you expect them to walk through that door, they're gonna be gray and old. What we are is young, exciting, hard working and going to improve..." The issue this season wasn't missing Jermaine Jones, it was the overall quality of players, depth and Heaps not playing the players in a system that plays best to the strength of the squad.
Tell us something we don't know. I'm not sure what your point is - is there someone who thinks points in the spring aren't worth as much as points in the fall? Winning 4 out of 5 is significant for any team in MLS - that is a serious hot streak. It's not like it's in anyone's plan to count on a desperate run down the stretch. And, do you want fans to not believe making the playoffs is possible, when it mathematically is still possible?
It's one thing to know that points retain the same value all season long. It's another to build your team to collect all those points all season long. What the Revs know and what they do are two different subjects. Not really. It's 4 or 5 extra points above what a playoff team should be earning. That's nice, but it's a month or two shy of being truly hot. It becomes your de facto plan when you don't make the necessary changes to be a front-runner. It seems to happen to the Revs a lot. Maybe you've noticed the trend. I'll go back to my first post in this thread: I don't care. Make the playoffs. Don't make the playoffs. Same team either way. What I don't believe is the Revs are constructed to go deep in the playoffs.
Just out of curiousity, I looked this up. All of these teams have done at least that this season: Colorado, FCD, LA, Revs, NYCFC, RBNY (hasn't lost since July 3), RSL, Seattle (4 straight current), SKC, TFC. In Progress: Columbus is currently working on a 3 wins out of their last 4. DC has won three straight, and is 3-0-2 in their last five. Also, PTFC went 9 without losing (4-0-5). So 10 teams have done it (half the league) and 2 more have the chance to do so. But if it keeps happening, doesn't that say something? Sure. You're one point out with one game to go and there are 4 teams between you and the last spot ... you can definitely say there's a chance! But the realist realizes there's a ton of things have to go right (as actually happened a few years ago). But expecting that is inane. This actually reminds me of a person that got all upset when I said our season was done after a home loss a few years ago. As we're about to leave the stadium, I mentioned to a friend "Well, there goes the season" and someone over-heard, told me "I wasn't a real fan, blah blah blah." We were 7 points out after that game, with 3 to go, and 2 teams between us and the last spot. Yeah, I'd rather be a realist than live in that fantasy world where you have to HOPE everything goes right.
The whole "points in March/April don't count" meme is based on the fact that the Revs almost never have their full team ready to go by the first game. They are always waiting for some additional piece of the puzzle to fill out the team, and they almost never have new signings with the team at the start of camp. This is not just a one-off, this is a pattern that we have seen time and time again, going back several years.
We won some games early, we are winning late, we won almost nothing for a long stretch. They basically had the same personnel all season, so how have they not built the team to collect points all season? I think two major, long slumps two seasons in a row without being crushed by injuries points at the coach, not the personnel. This year they had virtually the whole team ready to go. The main exception is Kouassi, who was planned as a mid-season acquisition, something most teams try to do. And, they actually dealt with his injury quite quickly.
We did? In the first third of the season (11 games), we won 1 game. You and I have a very different definition of "some." They had the whole team ready to go and won 1 of their first 11. That's somehow ... ready to go? I'd be afraid to see what our record would be if we weren't ready to go. We won 4 in the second third (11 games). And we have won 5 in the final third (making up 12 games) so far with two to go.
I think the first third of the season slipped under the radar because 1) it's early, and 2) we were getting points (7 draws). Opportunities squandered here for sure. The middle third of the season was deceptively buoyed by the USOC run. Toward the tail end of this third, we really began to play badly. The final third seems to be feast or famine (4 wins, 5 defeats).
The fact that the Revs have a -12 goal differential and still have a shot at the playoffs is a damn miracle.
If they make the playoffs though, it would be with a 12 win, 13 loss, 9 draw record, which is just a very mediocre record.
Oh, I am not by any means happy or even remotely pleased with the current state of affairs. I just think it is pretty remarkable that the team with arguably the worst non-Chicago back line in MLS can still conceivably make the playoffs.
By what standard? I suppose if one considers "ready to go" being largely unchanged from last year, maybe. But while we can give them the Kouassi for JJ swap, all the gaping holes (up front, in back, on the left, etc) evident at the end of last year (and, frankly, the spring before) remained unfilled. I wouldn't characterize that as "ready," myself.
They were certainly more "ready to go" (makes me think of old threads about "gel" -- drink) this year than they have been in most of the recent past, but that's measuring against themselves, not their competition. So I guess you can say more ready to go and be correct, but you're missing the big picture.
If Montreal doesn't beat Toronto on Saturday, the Revs' destiny is in their own hands. That's their, far and away, best opportunity to make the playoffs.