That was sobering. What scares me is i think these guys are trying. It's just a massive talent deficit.
I have no doubt they are trying - they use are not good and are coached by an inexperienced, clueless coach.
In addition to not having good coaching during the match, many of these players haven't been truly coached, at the club level, for years. Diego and Caldwell - you have to think, "What a shame..." Strategy Deficit, tactics deficit, coaching deficit, roster deficit. The stats show a relatively even game. I didn't feel that way watching it. Finally, C2 is not looking like the answer after a couple short appearances.
I know Farrell is not the answer but he has to be better than bye. He was terrible today. Mancienne again showed he is the most over paid back in the league. There were better with Caldwell than Zahibo. I'd like to see the new Caicedo get a start next week and bench....well anyone of the other forwards. Gil is the only player worth a damn. Fire Brad now!!
OK Ive had it. We suck... flat out suck. Our coach and his strategy sucks, We have no offense, little midfield and little defense. Friedel's ideas didnt work with our last team and arent working with this team. I wish Friedel would just disappear right now cause I cant see who we can beat like this, Cinn had 4 international players missing while had none and yet they still toyed with us. I have often been negative about this team in the past ,,,,, but the 2019 version... Im speechless. There is nothing to be positive about ... I cant even think of any possible fix with the players Friedel has assembled.... we're just not good enough in any way. something must change. Im going to say it. Lee did the right thing forcing his way out, Rowe, and Nemeth are both luckier today then before. Im sure Diego wishes he could leave. We have a small number of players Id keep. First out my door is that useless CM known as the most expensive back in MLS
Officially "The Season has just started. We'll Revv Up!" Unofficially? We're Wooden Spoon material....
Brad talked about how he wanted to play out of the back. If thats the case Knighton shouldn't be the keeper. For the 2nd week in a row they gave up a goal off of one of his goal kicks, played as a long 50/50 that a CB headed back into the area our CM should be and eventually leading to a goal. Get Turner in if thats your strategy. Speaking of no effort, the defending Zahibo did on the 1st goal was atrocious again. 3rd week in a row he lets a guy get into yards of space centrally with the ball at his feet and create a goal. His only highlights were 2-3 long balls (again Brad said he wanted them playing short passes through the middle). Thats not to say that the other CM were very good, both Caldwell and L Caicedo struggled with their touch and were 2 of the 3 players who switched off on the 2nd goal. Lastly, where was Diego Fagundez all game? I'm not trying to say that the rest of the attack played exceptionally well, heck they hardly had any shots between them, but Diego was invisible for the 1st 80 minutes of the game. What a turd of a game. I'd say this is the kind of result that should spark the FO to urgency to finish those big player acquisitions they've teased, but who would I be kidding. They dont care one bit
No passion, no precision, no plan. They all played like men who couldn't wait to get out of there. If they all hated Friedel, this is exactly how it would look. Of the relatively few fans who went to the game, how many are looking forward to going back?
If you watch the first goal over again, Bye was too far up field and made a lame attempt to get back and cover Saief. Delemea seems to be confused not knowing whether to close Saief down or mark the man that actually scored. Later in the second half when Saief intercepted a pass and started a break at the 63 minute the Revs defenders converge in the box. Delemea, Caldwell, Mancienne, Deigo and Caicedo all get back before Bye even enters the 18 to cover. I know Brad wants a high press but Bye and at some times Castillo were caught up field way too often
Funny, for me it had the opposite effect. I see the various times (not just in this game) Delemea is awkwardly moving into lateral space as an indication that the FBs are frequently not where they are supposed to be, as other posters have mentioned. Also seconding the post that said "if they didn't like their coach, this is what it would look like." There's only so many times during a season that a coach can publicly call out his players & Freidel has already used up his allotment. What's next to be blamed, the refs? weather? travel? food poisoning? snakes on the plane?
YES. You hit the main points I was going to! That first goal was a gift from Knighton - you absolutely cannot just give goal kicks right to the opponents - and he did that numerous times. Knighton is a journeyman, who like most journeymen will play well for a while, then return to their level. The distribution was awful. Zahibo can often play well, but as you point out, often looks lackadaisical shutting down on plays leading to goals conceded - there's no urgency in his game and that's scary in a defensive position, if not anywhere. Diego was so disappointing, especially when he had a clear chance to tie the game and muffed it. Other than that he was remarkably unremarkable. If he can't find a way to benefit from Gil's skill/vision, then ... I don't know what to think. This was my first game of the season and I was really looking forward to it. They can be better, but they need some personnel changes in the lineup. We did generate a lot of offense, so that was good, but we didn't generate goals. Getting out to a lead at home would certainly help things. I think it's pretty clear that Bye and Castillo are supposed to be pushing up the wings - the thing that went wrong is that the keeper is not supposed to deliver the goal kick to the wrong team - at worst he should make it a 50/50 ball, not a clear win (and the dmids certainly should have been better positioned to prevent such an easy pass to get the counter-attack started). I can see what Friedel is doing with the outside backs, and it worked in terms of generating attack in the 2nd half, when our touch with the ball improved. ----------------------------- Best/worst from this disaster: Bad: - Knighton, sorry, not a big believer. I'd like to see Turner, but Cropper seems to be #2 right now, so ... time for a change - Delamea: his steady 2017 season is becoming more and more of a distant memory. Critical mistake last week, strange decision to double on the ball on goal 1, leaving an open attacker. I just don't see his experience making up for lack of pace. Anibaba has been much steadier in that spot. - Sadly, I don't think Diego's game is suited to this style of play. Regardless, playing alongside Gil, he should be able to achieve more - Bunbury: he's just not that good a holding forward and it's not really his primary skill set, so why are we forcing him into that role? - Zahibo: I love his size and calm presence, but his lack of urgency in his own end is killing us. Good: - Castillo: best game yet for him. Still want to see him looking for his shot more - Gil: hard to say in a shutout, but he was outstanding roving all over the field, generating many chances - DaJuan Jones: I don't think he put a foot wrong in his stint. Showed great speed, determination and put in some dangerous balls. I'll take his energy over Diego's lack of. Like to see what he can do in a start.
Only two shots on goal, both came on the same play, when Diego fired into the keeper on a rebound of Gil's shot. 17 shots taken, 15 of them low quality. I said the same thing after the Columbus game, so this is not a one-off.
Honestly I do not think that our roster is as bad as the results have been. Gil is very good, Penilla did not forget how to play in a single offseason, L. Caicedo, Caldwell, Mancienne, Delamea, Fagundez and Castillo (and Farrell) would be starters on many if not most teams in the league. Nemeth got limited minutes here and is lighting it up in SKC. The problem as I see it, is: 1) Players are put in bizarre roles relative to their skillset (Zahibo protecting the backline? really? Penilla on the right wing and cutting in on his left foot? what?) 2) The team as a whole has no idea what to do or how to play together. 100% of that is on Friedel. I was optimistic about Friedel due to Rob Stone's enthusiastic seal of approval. But I can't see any way this team is a success with Friedel coaching it.
Armchair Analyst: All 24 MLS teams in review | Week 4 analysis March 24, 2019, 9:00PM EDT Matthew Doyle and this:
I agree that better coaching would likely improve our results. I continue to think that you/we/many overestimate the starting quality of many of the players you listed. Even if we were to apply better coaching, I feel this roster would find it hard to lift the team beyond the seam between the bottom and middle third of the league.