Kouassi signed

Discussion in 'New England Revolution' started by patfan1, Feb 1, 2016.

  1. Feldspar

    Feldspar Member+

    Nov 19, 1998
    Boston, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    My worry with Herivaux is that he's simply not grown up enough yet to have the physical tools he'll need. It was one thing to have a 120lb teenage Fagundez on the field, since his style isn't about physicality. But with a similarly teenage Herivaux being a bantamweight playing MLS defense (be it in the backline or midfield), he'll likely get thrown around like a rag doll, however good his positioning or other skills. Unless he's the second coming of Parkhurst, he's going to need to bulk up.
     
  2. a517dogg

    a517dogg Member+

    Oct 30, 2005
    Rochester, NY
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    I agree that's a concern. But for me it's less of a concern than starting Watson and Samba together in central defense. And there's a bigger longterm payoff.
     
  3. Feldspar

    Feldspar Member+

    Nov 19, 1998
    Boston, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    True, it'd be great to get him in the mix. The only other question is whether Heriveux's up to the mental pressure at this point too, as he'll likely screw up quite a bit. That's natural for rookies and youth of course, but I wouldn't want to damage his psyche by throwing him in the deep end too soon. Maybe he'd understand that it'll only get better as he bulks, but kids, you know....
     
    metoo repped this.
  4. VTSoccerFan

    VTSoccerFan Member+

    New England Revolution, Vermont Catamounts, NCFC
    United States
    Jun 28, 2002
    Cary, NC
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I would like to see Herivaux get more minutes as well.
     
  5. metoo

    metoo Member+

    Jun 17, 2002
    Massachusetts
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    I couldn't agree more. It's not like this team has been solid on defense as is, taking a kid who's a couple months into his pro career, and throwing him into a team that's lacking leadership and been poor on defense, seems like setting him up for failure, even if he was a perfect specimen, never mind if he's lacking size. You want to put young players in positions where they're more likely to succeed, not in situations where the team is failing, and he's expected to make things better. I'd love to see him play, but I don't want to force things.
     
  6. rkupp

    rkupp Member+

    Jan 3, 2001
    I've wondered about that too, but I think his weakness is passing - you need a high completion rate at that position and his passes into the attack seem to fail more often than they succeed.
    I'm okay with Samba in the middle - just give the kid some time to settle in - one mistake in one start shouldn't send him back to the bench. And, even though his blunder was right out in the open for all the world to see, I think he had a much better (less bad?) game than Farrell did.
    I'd love to see that - and I'd bet he'd show us something. But, I'll be shocked if Heaps doesn't go with Rowe and/or Daigo in some combination with Caldwell.
    Herivaux has never seemed overwhelmed whenever he's gotten a chance to play. He looked pretty comfortable in two seasons of Desert Diamond Cup games and looked good when he came in late (with plenty of pressure) in our USOC game last year. I think he's a lot more mature than people realize.
     
  7. VTSoccerFan

    VTSoccerFan Member+

    New England Revolution, Vermont Catamounts, NCFC
    United States
    Jun 28, 2002
    Cary, NC
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree that we want him to develop and not hurt his confidence/growth, but how can the Revs put him (and their other young players... Neumann?) in a position to succeed given the current state of the Revs structure. That is, no reserve team/league, no USL Pro team, etc? How will these players get minutes? How does a young player on the Revs avoid being a one year bench rider and then get released?

    Not expecting answers, but these are questions the Revs should ask themselves.
     
  8. RevsLiverpool

    RevsLiverpool Member+

    Nov 12, 2005
    Boston
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    With Kouassi getting closer to a return, I'm REALLY curious/anxious/excited to see him on the field for the revs, whenever that day comes. He's the right age, pedigree, price range and position. Just the standard questions remain for new international coming into MLS:
    Can he rebound from a significant injury to get back to where he was before?
    Can he adapt to the style of play?
    Can he handle the coast to coast travel?
    How will he fit in with Heaps' system and style of play?
    Does he have the vision to not only break up passes but also dictate play, peak Shalrie style?

    Looking forward to Kouassi answering these questions in the near future.
     
    ToMhIlL repped this.
  9. ToMhIlL

    ToMhIlL Member+

    Feb 18, 1999
    Boxborough, MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    From his highlight reel, he sure looked like the kind of guy who could do it on both sides of the ball. A classic destroyer who reads the game well and can spot the instant to jump in and cut off a pass, and then from there, move forward and make an intelligent "playmaker" pass to get the offense going.

    Hopefully he will be completely recovered from his injury. I don't expect to see him play this year, but it would be nice if they could find a time for him to get in for the last 15 minutes to close out a game.
     
  10. A Casual Fan

    A Casual Fan Member+

    Mar 22, 2000
    Let's see how well Heaps is able to figure out how to integrate Kouassi and maximize the "Kouassi Effect".

    Let's hope that figuring that out takes Heaps less time than it took him to figure out the formation change.
     
    RevsLiverpool repped this.
  11. patfan1

    patfan1 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Aug 19, 1999
    Nashua, NH
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
  12. Minutemanii

    Minutemanii Member+

    Dec 29, 2005
    Abington MA
    Club:
    New England Revolution
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I didn't expect it back when it happened.

    Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
     

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