Pathethic defense, a seriously home-favoring referee (missed blatant DOGSO, two bad foul calls led to the second and third goals, missed a red against Dwyer for Stoichkov'ing Zahibo). Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?
One of the things that annoys me most about these sorts of matches is when Paul and Friedel come in at the half and say that the team should be winning 4 or 5-0 if they would clean up their mistakes. And yes, that's true in a narrow sense. But it's also a trap, because it looks at the match as a single variable event, with only the Revs being changeable. The problem is, there's a second variable: the other team can get better too. The Revs only scored twice in the first half because Orlando made some bonehead plays on defense. Take those out, and we really weren't that much better than they were. That's not to say it wasn't good that we didn't punish their stupidity - it was. But if you aim to play just a little bit better than you were playing when you were only outplaying an utter shite team, that's not going to be enough if they start playing adequately. And the Revs don't seem able to handle adequate.
Well.... to say the least the two games against Philadelphia will be huge. And there are a number of desperate teams chomping right behind us. And most teams in the East are showing signs of drive, of ambition, of building towards the future. We may or may not luck into the playoffs this year, but in substance we are, at best, a marginal team. At worst, an irrelevant team. As Stevie Nicol might twaddle, over a pint of bitters, "Auld Lang Syne".
...And most teams in the East are showing signs of drive, of ambition, of building towards the future..[/QUOTE] Good observation, IMHO. In my view, apart from Diego & Scotty & Andy F. who exhibit consistently “drive ... ambition,” this Revs team is, at best, indolent... Too bad
No one has even mentioned Diego getting wrestled to the ground with the ball, facing the keeper in the area. I may need an intervention. I'm not sure after all these years if I can keep watching this.
The Revs remind me of an old Malcolm in the Middle episode where the older brother Francis and the head of his military school get into a pool competition where they both want to lose.
Great points. And I am personally finding Mariner more and more challenging to listen to. The only good thing is all the teams below us keep losing or drawing so far too. Basically there are 3 really good teams in the East, then Columbus, and everyone else. So your point is a good one that of those remaining 7 teams - anything can happen in terms of final finish. Interesting that Rowe and Dielna do not travel.
He's paid by the Revs. He wouldnt last long if he says what he probably really thinks. I wonder if they're getting the Lee treatment? No way Rowe is not good enough to make this bench unless theyre trying to move him? I find it strange and questionable that Brad doesnt seem to value him but it does seem to resemble the last days of Lee I don't like Brad but I still think Brad is not being given the tools to succeed and its going to take a lot more than a player or two. Im thinking the list of keepers is shorter than the list of cuts at this point and I have no doubt that not enough will ever be done as long as Burns is involved.
Part of Brad's decision is based on work ethic in training as well as attitude. Rowe comes across as smug, though I'm sure he does work hard in practice. I noticed Herivaux made the 18, while Rowe didn't. Would be interesting if the explanation was any deeper than "performance during the week in training".
And maybe that decision works in the UK where you have a bunch of people, all of which are interchangeable. The Revs are not very deep so while its nice to have completion for minutes, you also can't paint yourself into a corner where you have to not dress a more talented player while taking a hard worker in practice. Im thinking there's a trade in the works. Brad's system simply isn't working. We are not getting better and continue to make stupid mistakes on defense. Orlando has been beat by almost everybody. Everybody but the Revs. There is no excuse for the marking errors week in and week out. Not sure Brad is up to this job? Little better than Heaps at this point. Saw little of the new kid... seemed invisible to me
Machado hit the field very late, and it was first MLS/Revs appearance, so I begrudgingly give him some benefit of doubt - but - ...his two visible touches consisted of a.) a short back pass that he inexplicably lifted off the carpet that ended up shin-high once it got to recipient; either adrenaline had hold of him, or he's yet another MLS player whose technique is such that he can't keep a garden variety pass on the ground. b.) the 2nd touch I saw was a non-thinking "ambitious" attempt to play it forward to (Agudelo?) with a flip of outside of right foot - right into one of the multiple defenders he was somehow thinking it would magically pass through or around. Lack of vision? Underestimating the defenders in front of him? Adrenaline? Who knows. But - all in all, either due to lack of composure or lack of technique, it was a display that shows he's not going to be any sort of instant "difference maker", so no one should pin expectations like that on him. "Harsh" some of you are thinking, I know, but Revs need difference makers, not more nibbling around the edges of the roster. Otherwise, as others are saying here and on social media, SSDD.
Revs at 35% possession, but was at more like 29% at halftime. Twice as many fouls committed as Orlando (23). Orlando with better passing accuracy percentage in all categories. Stats don't tell the whole story - and the Revs were on the road - but had a 2 week break (Orlando did not). Those are not the stats of a top team - let alone a team that is built to win MLS Cup.
Man that was a tough one to watch. Some thoughts: Man im glad we signed a cb, becuase the two playing today were far and away the worst players on the pitch. I rate delamea slightly lower, because anibaba made a few nice plays covering for his boneheadedness whereas delamea did not return the favor. Id pick highlights for their mistakes, but its really just the whole of the game. Dielna didnt travel, i hope he hasnt picked up a knock. I wish we could fuse zahibo and caldwell into 1 player. Zahibo had a few nice passes, while caldwell is an effort merchant. Meanwhile caldwell's technical ability is abysmal and zahbio feelsnlike a loiterer Turner had a forgettable game. With the exception of a nice save early against dwyer (courtesy of a delamea gaffe) he seemed to be a bit shaky. Was it just me or did bye look ok at left back? Both he and farrell felt decent, which is a nice change of pace for revs defenders Penilla was far and away the best player on the pitch, easily the man of the match. The revs were great when the play was going through him, im curious why they went away from that. Diego had a pretty nice game too. I kind of thought he started to fall off around the 55th minute, and was looking for bunbury to come on for him, but he kept working and maybe should have stayed on until the end. Speaking of teal, what a spark in the 74th minute! Finally, damn that was a poorly officiated game. Id rehash it, but the other comments feel like they took care of it
The worst part about last night is how unsurprising it was. I'm sure everyone turned to their friends at some point and said "Let's see how we can screw this one up". I said it at 2-0, and again at 3-2. I don't know how you coach players to stay mentally prepare late in the half, but Friedel obviously doesn't have the answer.
Ouch! https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2018/08/05/armchair-analyst-josefs-binge-nycfcs-donut-more-week-23 New England are now winless in five, have one win in eight, and are 4-6-7 since April 14. Only Orlando, San Jose, Colorado and D.C. United have fewer points since then
As Orlando was setting up the free kick for their second goal, I said to the group gathered at Boston Billiards, "You know the tying goal is coming." Seconds later, in the net. This team is predictable. 28% possession at the half was the first sign that things were going to unravel. Couple of beautiful goals by the Revs, as Penilla's strike and Teal's move/goal were wonderful to see. But the defense ... I'm just running out of comments on how bad they are. @rkupp ... you've basically jinxed Anibaba now. He was bad, and late in the game this team just chose to give the ball away. No pressure on Anibaba twice and he just gifted OCSC the ball. I wanted to see a replay of the potential DOGSO call as there was another defender right there, I felt. But they zoomed in on the replays, so it was tough to tell. I don't think the Ref was good, but I also thought we played pretty physical in that game. We can bitch and moan all we want about the call leading to the third goal, but considering where the Orlando player was on the field, why are you even letting yourself be put in a position where a call could be made. There was literally no danger there. The Revs have now blown leads in 5 of the 10 games they've led at the half. While good teams (and we know the Revs aren't one) usually put those away, the Revs have gained 4 points out of those potential 15. If/when we miss the playoffs, this has to be a talking point.
Truth sometimes isn't pretty. Brad can try to distance himself from it but this is HIS TEAM and theyre bombing
The first goal was just terrible defending by him. I believe the second goal two guys were left unmarked in the middle. Not sure if one was his mark or not
Surely, pure coincidence? So, the Revs defenders seem to be able to play pretty well *most* of the time, but they all have a knack for falling asleep or doing something mind-exploding at a critical time. First goal, Agudelo switches off and doesn't track his man on a give and go. Second goal, Zahibo (who otherwise played a fine game) lost his man on a free kick, third goal, I already forgot who lost their man, but it looked like about 3 players were bursting free. Just mental lapses in concentration - Friedel must be going bonkers. Some really soft calls on the two free-kick goals - and no review of the DOGSO play or Diego getting shoved aside in the penalty area? Two verrrry similar shoulder charge plays in close sequence with the Penilla bundled over with no call, then the Revs whistled for a very similar charge? MLS makes itself look very amateurish with the level of homerism in refereeing. I thought Bye looked pretty good on the left - being young and athletic, with lots of potential, I'd like to see him get an extended run and watch him improve. Dielna can defend, but doesn't have the pace to get into the attack, Somi is the opposite. Maybe Bye is the answer. Farrell made a number of really amateurish plays. Trying to dribble out under pressure and losing the ball a few time, a leaping/hitch-kick clearance that totally failed, ... He should be much, much better. I thought the Revs were pressured into too many 'clearances', leading to them having to defend way too many attacks. They were dangerous just about every time they advanced the ball out of their own end, but failed to do it way too often. Also thought Turner looked more and more nervous and erratic with the ball at his feet - yet the Revs' defenders kept playing it back to him. This team!!
To me, this is the most telling stat. Just that lack of concentration and attention to detail at key moments is mind numbingly frustrating. Good teams get ahold of the lead and then don't relinquish it. The revs really need to get those details right, especially in the dying moments of the game.
I thought that the Revs were far and away the better team. How else could we have seen one of the worst refereeing performances I've ever seen in terms at the professional level (counting number of mistakes, impact of mistakes, and one-sided bias of mistakes), and yet the game still ends in a tie? Turner made two good saves (1 on Dwyer, 1 on Kljestan) - it wasn't Turner keeping us in the game. Once we got the ball away from the feet of Anibaba, Delamea and Farrell, we dominated. With an average MLS referee (and VAR crew), by half-time we've scored our two goals, plus a penalty, and they've been playing 40 minutes with 10 players. If we learn how to defend set pieces, we get more points - pretty simple. Replacing Anibaba with Mancienne will result in a huge increase in level of play. I like Anibaba's clearances as much as anyone, but he panics with the ball at his feet, he got outmuscled by Dwyer on the first goal after inexplicably keeping him onsides, and can't maintain possession. I would not be surprised if PRO had decided that they needed to throw Orlando a bone after that penalty decision went against them last week, and ordered no penalties and no red cards (the Yotun ejection was essentially meaningless and I still have no idea what it was for). It's either that, or the VAR crew was at Disneyland the whole game. Maybe we get the same number of pity calls against Philadelphia next week. And honestly, it's too bad about the lack of red card and missed penalty, but what really is infuriating is the lack of protection. Penilla took a hit from behind when the ball was out of bounds from Kljestan, no foul (should have been a yellow). Caicedo was hammered all 2nd half, no cards. We are super lucky there were no injuries.
Im kind of surprised how much of a pass delamea is getting from this board. Anibaba made some big mistakes and deserves his criticism, but delamea made 4 or 5 that were just as bad. The difference is that they either didnt end up in the net (2 big saves by turner and 1 nice block from anibaba) or goal hapoened just enough after that he doesnt show up in the replay (the free kick on the 2nd goal, how wide open both guys on the 2nd and 3rd goals were). Im excited for mancienne, but i hope he is paired with dielna. Both of the current cb stink.