I'm talking about overall quality. On the stream they mentioned one of the Louisville players is a part time accountant. My point is if you're a 20-23 year old pro soccer player like Herivaux or Femi you ought to shine against a team with part timers.
Given that we are playing so many fringe and bench players, why isn’t it the highlight of the season for them? A win helps ensure more playing time for them, more looks by the coaching staff, and more opportunities to prove they should get MLS minutes. For most of the guys playing it should be very significant. If it isn’t... I will grant that they had an away crowd.
Thanks - exactly. If nothing else, they win and it's more USOC minutes. There's no excuses why a young guy wouldn't rise to the occasion if they have legitimate MLS aspirations. Crowd or no crowd. Never bought that argument and never will.
Exactly. They are professionals playing for a top division side. They should show up and play regardless of the circumstances, and the players werent ready. Their work rate was low. Thats a huge indictment to every player who no-showed, and a black mark on the quality of the roster in general
I never suggested it was significant or not for the players in the lineup. I was responding to this specific assertion: if you can't show your talent against a (good) USL side, you're not going to show it in MLS My point is that it's a different style, different type of games and it's going up against guys (and a home crowd) for whom this is the highlight of their season. IMO this didn't prove that these guys can't "show their talent" in an MLS game. To me, what it proved was that a side of 11 players who have had very little game/practice time together as a unit are a bad match for a group of 11 who have. I didn't mean to imply that; just that we shouldn't be shocked when USL or other league teams beat MLS teams. It happens just about every year. Personally, I was pretty nervous about the Revs chances going into this one for a number of reasons. I figured if we could get past this one, our chances would improve, but when I saw 80 degrees and humid, I knew this would be tough sledding.
I agree. I almost always felt this way about Twellman's caps with the USMNT. To guys like him, there was so much pressure on your performance given your lack of opportunities. I felt like his opportunities were handicapped because his opportunities were shared with others who were also getting their infrequent opportunities at the same time. The result was a bunch of good players who never played together trying (unsuccessfully) to stand out in a positive way with the weight of the world on their shoulders. It was difficult to make much out of those games and difficult to make your case as a player. In some ways, on a much lower quality level, I imagine that the MLS combine is like this. Bringing it back to the Revs, I would like to see Heaps try to sprinkle in some of these guys with the starters in MLS action. One at a time. As close to a "controlled" test (one independent variable/change) as you can make. If it is not working out, make a sub. I understand that points are at stake, but these guys are professionals. Treat them as professionals. If they are not ready for MLS minutes and there are not other options to get them minutes, then the Revs are doing these players a disservice. If they are not ready for MLS minutes, then we need a USL team where they can get dedicated coaching and minutes together (as we all know).
The Rochester partnership ended a few years ago (not that any of us could tell the difference). Instead of replacing them with a new partner, the Revs chose to negotiate individual player deals with other USL clubs (like Segbers loan to Orange County SC). Since Burns is SO good at negotiating deals, this method makes perfect sense.
Good post by @VTSoccerFan though I don't buy the "never played together" argument. These guys train together every day.if you're good, that will show in training and you'll earn minutes. I think Friedel does this more than Heaps ever did, hence why we see Bye and Herivaux occasionally. The twi bright spots from the USOC game was Samayoa and Wright who IMO earned more minutes. The question is where do they play? With Teal scoring consistently and Nemeth/Agudelo both available it's hard to find minutes for Wright. Samayoa is a solid choice at CB and would be a good fill in for Dielna this weekend given he's suspended. At the bottom of the roster, I wasn't as impressed with Herivaux (though I want to be). Femi shouldn't even be on the roster, he provides nothing. They're both more of a late game/blowout sub. Somi gets minutes because the revs have very little depth at LB with Tierney out. It will be interesting to see what Friedel does with the back end of the roster. Agree they could use minutes in the USL but without a team or relationships, that seems to be a nonstarter.
Freudian slip, or are you going to get on the phone to Birmingham City? I remember one time in the Nicol era being surprised to see Leonard Marshall in the starting lineup. He had only seen sporadic minutes as a sub and had never started before. There were no obvious injuries or suspensions either. He wasn't spectacular, but he didn't make any obvious mistakes either, which is good for a defender. After that start. he featured more or less regularly for the next several years. Sometimes you just have to give these border-line guys a shot--never mind that the horse is blind, just hitch up the wagon and go! A full roster would help too!
Samayoa went off injured against Louisville. Do we know if he's available to play yet? What will happen with Dielna out (IMO): %75 chance: Somi at LB; %25 chance: Bye in the lineup, with either he or Farrell switching sides.
Thanks I missed that injury somehow. Can almost guarantee this back 4, mainly because there aren't many other options sans Tierney and Dielna; Somi-Delamea-Anibaba-Farrell
I meant to say Friedel earlier, but was trying to post in a hurry and slipped on the name. The Marshall Leonard example above is a good example of a positive outcome. Thanks!
He seems to be just starting to hit is stride in midfield, so that's why I think it's unlikely, but it's an option.