He is good but did the most he could do here. Even if Colorado wins the Cup with JJ getting MVP or the game winner, really, it's time to move on to younger players. Any questions, ask Bill Belichick.
Paul Mariner's 3 keys to the game "Defend, Score and Win" Gee..thanks for adding your in depth analysis. Interesting lineup - with Kei on national team duty, Nguyen is up top along with Agudelo.
13 minutes in - Agudelo's shot kisses the far post and goes in - 1-0 to the good. Finally, a bounce goes the revs way!
Colorado winger Badji just ate Farrell for lunch, made getting around him look far, far too easy. He then crossed it in with pace for Dillon Powers, who missed wide. Revs get off the hook there. 18' Revs dodge another bullet with an unmarked Powers getting a good shot off from 12 yards - with a strong save by Knighton. Our CBs are asleep - playing with fire. The defensive shape is all wrong and they are taking advantage of it. It's a matter of time before Colorado breaks through.
32' nice defense splitting pass by Caldwell to Rowe right down the gut. Rowe's long touch leads to a pk and a yellow card on the Colorado keeper. Lee then hits the post on the ensuing pk and the revs lose an ideal opportunity to go up 2 goals.
Lee is combining well with Agudelo and Rowe up top, though he (Nguyen) drops too far into the midfield for an alleged forward. He's not the weak link - if anything the formation needed to be swapped up.
49' Revs strike just after the half. Tierney with a nice finish off a good pass from Fagundez - 2-0 to the good.
The revs are playing much better in the second half. The pressure, the urgency, passing and confidence on the ball is on display. Lee is making the attack go. Colorado is clearly missing their 5 guys but still, for as crappy as the revs have been all summer, this is nice to see. 60' Powers left open from about 10 yards and Knighton makes another strong save on a header on-frame. That's 3 gilt edge opportunities for him tonight and Knighton has been up to stopping each of them - impressive goalkeeping.
From a USMNT perspective, I really hope that kid Powers gets a look. He's been really dangerous tonight creating chances and putting shots on frame - sort of what Lee used to do back in the day. Throughout his career, Powers has had better numbers than Nagbe - seems only fair to give him an opportunity to show what he can do for the Nats.
87' Steve "Gamechanger" Neumann on for Rowe, who put in a good shift. This was one of Rowe's best games of the year, if not his best IMO. He was involved in almost every single rev attack and combined well with Nguyen, Fagundez, Agudelo etc
Solid performance tonight across the board by the revs (for the most part). Knighton would be my MOTM because his 3 key saves preserved the points. It could have easily been a draw if Powers scored on any of those opportunities. Offensively, the attack was flowing with Rowe the fulcrum and involved in virtually every movement upfield. It was clever, quick movements and flicks from Nguyen-Fagundez-Rowe that really gave the revs the upper hand. Agudelo was involved and played well. Having Kamara and Bunbury unavailable ironically helped open up the offense. Maybe there's something to this lineup. The Koffie-Caldwell midfield axis really bossed it tonight, especially the second half. Caldwell's penetrating ball to spring Rowe led to the penalty (which Lee missed). That's the type of vision and pass the revs have been sorely missing. More of the same please. Defensively, the clean sheet was great to see. However, the first half had some scary moments defensively. Powers was left open in the box multiple times and would have bagged a couple if not for some strong Knighton saves. The defense, especially the CBs still need to clean up and mark closer but they were bailed out by an outstanding GK. The subs were fine with Femi holding the ball up, while Neumann and Daigo just helping to eat the clock up. Although I don't think the revs will make the playoffs, it was a good performance that was direly needed. Well done tonight, boys.
Who was that team in the Rev uniform and where have they been all year? We looked pretty good last night. Far more attack than usual. Lee was involved. Juan too. Should we read anything into the fact that we looked better without two starters? Had to laugh that the pk was a result of Rowe botching the dribble on the breakaway. guess that's better than missing the shot.
Only saw the second half last night. I thought Fagundez was the difference maker. When he got the ball he was looking to attack. He didn't just pass it back to the defenders. As I'm typing this, it dawns on me that Lee hasn't been Lee since his call up to the Nats. He use to get the ball and attack, like Diego did tonight; now it's pass it back to the defenders. Wonder where he learned that!
Agree with much of the above. On the bright side, Knighton, Rowe, Koffie, Tierney and Caldwell looking strong. On the minus side, Nguyen looks so tentative, so hesitant; such a contrast with Rowe who is enjoying his football. My anti-JoGo feeling is solidifying. I feel that by now, he should be a leader, an organizing force. He is neither, and his passing out of the back never improves. Woodberry is a project, who may be great in time, but there is no way he should be starting in MLS.
Happy for the 3 points, agreed with the comments above, and great atmosphere, but.... Paul Mariner at end of broadcast said, "We should invite Taylor Twellman to come every week as that is the best this team has played in a long time". Taylor has a huge national presence and there was a huge positive vibe in the events he was hosting leading up to Saturday night. I just wonder how much it takes something external (Twellman night, external media pressure) to continue to motivate this team instead of the coaching staff and some real leaders for players, especially when things are not going perfectly. Plus - Agreed. Even if Jones did not play - the other 4 guys are a big deal to be missing. Real question will be what this team is really made of in the next 2 weeks with the following 3 games that will decide the season: Sat game home against Villa, Lampard, and NYCFC who are flying high. Tuesday game against top team Dallas in a one off championship Sat game away to Montreal All to play for boys! #ProveIt
On SiriusXM Counter Attack, a journo from Denver Post was previewing this game and made the following comment: Reporter was saying even if Jones was available he might not play because at Jones' first press conference - the main point that Jones wanted to drive home was how much he hated playing on the turf there in New England. Anyone remember this? I just did not. Granted he made that comment while it was the worst turf in all of MLS and before it had been replaced.
I was on the fence about watching this game but ended up deciding to watch it, and I'm glad I did. While I agree that we got some luck to keep the clean sheet, let's remember that Nguyen also hit two posts. This game could have been 4-0. Powers looked great for Colorado. I wonder why he hasn't gotten a look at the nats, playing like that. He's already mid-twenties with 100+ professional appearances, and has a European passport. I wonder if he's headed abroad at some point. Farrell really did get beat by Badji several times, which was pretty worrying. It looked like Farrell's first step was just very slow. I wonder if we can continue this momentum. This really felt like 2013 all over again, in terms of the flair and little flicks and tricks that our attacking players were pulling off. A combination of Twellman in the building, and Colorado playing their B+ team helped us, but I wonder how much of that was just due to Agudelo being the focal point of the attack. He loves that stuff, and he did well holding the ball up (I love Femi, but it was a reminder of how much of a rookie he is when he wasn't able to continue that holdup play).
I'd struggle to call that much more than Colorado's C team considering they were missing three Jones, Howard, Gashi, and Pappa.
2016 Team of the Week (Wk 26): Chicago Fire dominate Union front to back September 6, 2016, 11:30AM EDT Benjamin Baer Rowe, Farrell in the eleven, Knighton and Tierney make the bench.