Last home game until June 26th. Potentially Lapper's last game. MATCHDAY GUIDE | New England Revolution vs. D.C. United | May 25, 2019 Elizabeth Pehota
New England Revolution vs D.C. United Gillette Stadium (7:30PM ET) REF: Dave Gantar AR1: Eric Boria AR2: Jeff Hosking 4TH: Marcos DeOliveira VAR: Sorin Stoica AVAR: Thomas Supple
Wow. What was that? I have nothing but questions. Where did all those fans come from? When was the last time the Revs played with that much heart? When was the last time Revs scored a man down? Is Lapper a genius? Where did 7 -> 8 minutes of stoppage time come from? Did DCU have a really off night, or do they need Arriola that much? Is the Rev level of conditioning that much better than that of the teams they have been playing lately? Fagundez not even dressed? May troubled dreams haunt Dave Gantar until he makes amends.
Agreed. That performance came out of the blue. More important, that was the first entertaining match in a long while. Until VAR ruined it. Good for them. As for the crowds, it's easy to forget that most of the folks in the stands tonight have no clue about the team's chronic issues, and couldn't care less. It was a nice night out, a holiday weekend, the last home game for a month, and the end of school year for the all important group sales.
Bunbury missed another free header in the box. I think playing him tonight made sense, DC were open to the counter which is where Teal makes sense, but at some point your CF has to at least threaten to score a goal. Turner really butchered that. I think he thought Rooney would get a piece so he jumped. Deserved the red. Not thrilled by the VAR decision but Bye does raise his arm into an unnatural position so it has to be a penalty. It ruined a generally solid team performance with way fewer off target passes than usual. And Penilla from last season made a surprise appearance!
I like Teal, like his effort but I dont see Arena keeping him on for long. He just isn't that good. Maybe he'll survive as a bench player? What's with Diego? Is he trying to get out of here? I thought the Revs looked as good as possible. I thought Farrell, Juan and Gil stood out. Maybe knowing that Arena was taking notes inspired everybody? I really wish Arena would find some role for Lapper. He's done a good job since the twin firings and I'd hate to see him sent packing.
Keep Lapper to coach the USL team the REVs are going to start next season... Of course that means you have to start a USL team next season...
The Arena-Onalfo Galaxy FO started LA's farm team. Maybe they'll pry enough money from the Krafts to get a Revs 2 going....
The Revs looked like a genuine MLS team — given where things have been that is a welcome step up. Caicedo can get pulled out of position but he also had stretches where DC were forced to go to their wings even though they were trying to play central. Hope they can keep up this form on the road.
Missed the game for the first time in a while... and for the first time in a while, I read comments like this in the thread. This might actually be the first time I watched a game that I taped full well knowing the score beforehand. I'm just eager to see my team play well lol
Interesting to see guys playing for their jobs. In national media, everyone is saying only Carles Gil is safe. Interesting that Lapper does not favor Caldwell, Fagundez, Cropper, and now Castillo. Also, Lapper not going with new Caideo either. Clearly trying to distance himself from old-Friedel decisions to try and put his stamp on the game. Not sure I am jumping on the Lapper bandwagon - Revs still tracking at 30% possession against teams. I do like the change in attitude, but that is not because of Lapper IMO, that is because of Arena as the new coach. Feldman mentioned on broadcast that Fagundez apologized for his behavior subbing out previous game, but Lapper said he did not train well during week, hence his not even making the 18. Where is Mancienne - did he go with Freidel?
MLS is so f'ed up if that's what they want the fan experience to be. Fans in the stadium were clueless, for the most part, about the 2nd VAR. No replays, no announcement - just, oh, DC gets a PK for some reason after the Revs were down in DC's box! For whatever reason, Gillette never shows replays of anything that could be controversial. It's like they think a riot will break out or something. Fans are treated like children. I was so disgusted with that game - a thoroughly enjoyable one for 80+ minutes. --------- One big gripe with Lapper - he goes into the late 80's holding 2 subs in his pocket after playing down a man for most of the 2nd half? Caldwell should have been on for Agudelo long before he came in - to add more defense and more possession.
Armchair Analyst: All 24 MLS teams in review | Week 13 analysis May 26, 2019, 5:09PM EDT Matthew Doyle
Random stat of the day: Carles Gil leads the team with 4 goals in 15 games. Chris Wondolowski had 4 goals in one game last week, and six over his last 2 games. Brian Fernandez has 3 goals in only 2 games with Portland.
If acquiring a DP is still a thing, it seems clear at this point (now that the bleeding has stopped) that the DP should be a goal-scorer.
I still think Caicedo can fill this role, given better play behind him. For one thing, they have to get better at playing out of the defense so that Gil doesn't have to come back and do it for them. Then, he can play higher up and be more of a threat himself and at setting up others. FWIW, Caicedo was all set to go in against DC, when Turner 'trucked' Rooney and got sent off. He never got off the bench after that!
Thats very possible but Lapper does not see keen on him. maybe Bruce will If the window goes by and the Revs do not sign at least one starting caliber defender or at the very least a starting midfield destroyer then it will be an EPIC fail on Bruce's part. the Caicedo, Caldwell, Zahibo rotation is just not cutting it in the midfield
Revs/DCU game starts at 4:26 of the video: Was this serious foul play committed on Wayne Rooney? | Instant Replay May 27, 2019, 12:14PM EDT VAR said it was a handball on Bye, Wiebe agrees. I don't. His arm was not away from his body, and it was in the same place it was when the ball was kicked. He had no time to move it, so it should have been ball to hand, no PK.
I agree, a very soft PK. But I'm not too upset about it. This season is toast anyways and I'm not sweating wins/losses - Arena is not going to get us going on a 10 game win streak. I'm more interested in seeing how individual players improve and how the new regime has us playing in the future. From that perspective, this game was encouraging as Penilla really seems to have exited his funk and the team did well to create a number of chances.