Well I've had enough of this crap. We can't beat the worst team in the league. What does that make us? Hey Brad, YOUR TEAM STINKS and Im gonna say it... YOU STINK too. You're just a hair better than Heaps and we need a lot more. Can't wait to hear the excuses for this failure
I have to say I'm disappointed. Two games against teams that had won 3 out of 13 games at home prior to our matchups and we come away with 2 points. I get that it's better than 0, but this team just doesn't know how to put away a game. And while Teal's been on a hot-streak, I'm now going to keep an eye out for him (thankfully the team has 2.5 weeks off), because he also goes on cold-streaks. That was a thoroughly disappointing game from him. He had a couple of great chances, and returned to "Damn-it Teal" again. Great finish on the FK by Diego. Not sure if he or Nemeth get my MOTM, but probably Diego. Nemeth though was instrumental on both goals. The Revs/Friedel definitely made it a point to get the ball out of Turner's hands and into play as quickly as possible. Overall I thought his distribution was pretty good. But wasted points... again.
We don't stink, that's just hyperbole. What we are is slightly better than average in MLS. We are a decent side, but far from a contending one. I suspect it's going to be a struggle to stay in one of the last playoffs spots all season. In this stretch, we've had golden opportunities to pick up road wins, but weren't good enough to do it. I don't think we need to be *that* much better to get over that hump, but we do need to get better. ------- As for the game, we wasted too many golden opportunities, especially early. Diego, in particular, had several chances to get off a quick shot from the 18 straight out on top, but chose to try to make plays. The chances were there for a player who can get off a quick, quality shot. Bunbury was given enough chances that he should have had one. Penilla had chances, similarly, but he converted. Nice free kick from Fagundez - been a while since we've benefited from a quality kick like that. Rowe was the goat of this match - bad turnovers in the middle (although Turner didn't exactly make it easy for him, with a defender closing in). OTOH, great outlet by Turner leading to a super-quick sweet, counter goal by Penilla. They made it look so easy that you're wondering why they don't do that a few more times each game. Wondo is still a handful. Zahibo looked very rusty. I'm not sure he's suited to be a sub - he seems to need more touches to get into a rhythm. I'm ready to go back to the Zahibo/Caicedo pairing and find some other role for Rowe. Agudelo continues to look good, but accomplish nothing. Nemeth was involved in some really clever passing in tight spaces to spring attacks in the first half. Farrell still scares me (not sure if he was at fault on the 2nd goal, but ...). Delmea had two heading chances in the area and flubbed both. One, I can understand, defenders don't get that many opportunities, but when you get a 2nd chance, you have to bury it.
2 well taken Revs goals - although I am not personally a fan of Brad's forced "Equadorian Delorian" - I cringed because I knew it was coming. I expect the Revs to upgrade this summer and make stud additions - no excuses with the $$$ and a new coach that is saying "Him and his staff" have lists of players they want (ever notice that is how Brad always talks in interview - me and my staff, my staff and I - hehe). It seems every time the Revs backline shifts like on the sequence leading to the 2nd SJ goal - it does seem like they all miss marks - especially Farrell. I am expecting Friedel to address that as that will be a definite observations opponents will key on.
I thought Diego had a great game - setting up his teammates in really dangerous spots, not losing the ball very often, and even using his left foot a couple times. He should have scored from close range in the 11th minute, but it was a good save. MoTM for me. Penilla's goal was one of the prettiest all season, league-wide. Rowe wasn't done any favors on his turnover by Turner's distribution - hard throw directly at him, forcing him to turn back to goal rather than run with the ball, while he had a defender coming in on his back. Overall Rowe had some good switches to help attacks. Overall I think it was an OK game from him. We had one successful cross all game (Nemeth) and 13 unsuccessful crosses.
After the break, the next 3 games are all at home: DCU, SEA and LAG. That should be an easy 9 points for the taking, which would give them enough cushion to stay above the red line for a while. After that, though, 10 of the final 15 are on the road, with a particularly brutal stretch in September. They will need some roster additions this summer if they want to survive that stretch.
I don't know what to say about this one. We score two pretty goals, and give up two goals on mistakes, tying a team that is clearly - apart from their underrated forward Hoesen - crap. Caicedo continues to excel. Fagundez is working hard and gradually improving. Turner continues to look good, other than his part in the first goal. And yet, two brain farts, and a list of missed opportunities cost us the win. I agree with dogg, that first goal is not all on Rowe. He again had a mediocre game though - passing better than Bunbury and Penilla, but worse than Caicedo (of course), DF, and Nemeth, who is improving game by game. He's such a puzzle, because he is one of the few Revs whose skill and vision is clearly better than average, and yet he is often not on the same page as his teammates. Where is his head? If nothing else, Rowe continues to put in the work defensively.
Farrell may have made an error on the 2nd goal, but Somi was atrocious. All of the highest quality attacks came down the SJ right side (Revs left), and they designed it that way for a reason. Somi was routinely burned and outmaneuvered, and Rowe spent most of his time on the pitch trying to cover for Somi's defensive gaffes. Honestly why is the CM doing the defending in the left side corner. I still prefer what Rowe brings to Zahibo. Zahibo doesnt have great vision, and doesnt feel involved going forward. For a person his size he should at least be more disruptive than a 5'7 guy he often plays next to, but Caicedo is just a better all around player in every phase of the game. Still finding a quality partner for Caicedo should be on the shopping list this summer, because it doesnt feel like any of the 3 choices we currently have (Does Caldwell really count?) cant get the job done. I agree that Nemeth looks like he is finding his stride. He played like a $1M man, and I hope this is indicative of a new found form. He is making it hard for Agudelo to get on the field. Maybe Brad should consider trying Agudelo as an 8, based on his clear lack of other options for the position. My summer shopping list would be: 1) Defender - Ideally a FB who can play a bit on either side. Somi is blegh, Bye isnt ready, and Farrell gets regularly exposed by players with pace. Dielna has looked serviceable, but there arent any other players behind him, and either he or Farrell are probably our best backup option at CB. 2) Partner for Caicedo - It doesnt need to be Pirlo, but hopefully its someone with some play making instincts 3) a 9 or a 10 - Both Diego and Teal are putting in great efforts up top, but eventually their overall lack of technical skill lets us down. Diego being younger and homegrown has a better chance of continuing to grow into the role, but on the other hand might benefit from some tutoring at the hand of a more accomplished player. Finding a 10 who can play there now would also improve our wing depth because then Diego can move back out wide in a pinch
People are cutting this team way too much slack. The result against San Jose is just not acceptable. It should have been an easy 3 points and we leave with only 1. No excuses, no this one or that one did this or that. The Revs dropped the ball and its not the first time. Maybe it Friedels lineups? Maybe a general lack of talent or maybe he's a lot of talk, no action. All I know is Im tired of watching an underachieving, low talent, team and I have no faith that any help will arrive. Burns simply will do nothing.... as usual
Teal is too slow and you're spot on about Diego. He isnt good enough as center mid. The one that was good enough is now on the west coast
There are no easy wins on the road in MLS. That was a team that was embarrassed in their last game and desperate for a home win. OTOH, yes, I agree - they underachieved. They came in at halftime where they wanted/needed to be and were shutout in the 2nd half and gave up a pretty inexcusable goal. While they are much more competitive on the road then they were under Heaps, they continue to leave points on the table with all these ties.
You just played two of the only four teams in MLS that are under .500 at home. If that's not set up for an easy win, then we should just basically give up any expectations on the road.
This. If we're turning road losses into road draws this season, we may squeak into the playoffs (we were that bad last season), but we cant claim to be ready to compete in the postseason.
The compounding problem is that we're less competitive at home than we were under Heaps. We've already got as many home losses as we had all of last year, and almost as many home draws. Remember, we won like crazy at home last year. If this year's pattern continues, we're going to end up needing all those points from away draws to make up for the missing home wins. (And heaven help us if we have a traditional summer swoon!) Honestly, as this season progresses, I don't see this as an improved Revs team. Just a different one. I don't think we're worse than last year. But I don't see much indication that we're better, not yet, anyway. Maybe this year will prove to be a necessary lateral move that we build on. But I think we're still a solid "meh" team this year, whose playoff chances are decent mostly because of the sub-"meh" competition we've got in the East.
We are thoroughly mediocre. It takes a daring sense of hope to call us "slightly better than average", but we shall see what happens as summer straggles along into August. And, yes,it will be a struggle to stay in one of the last playoff spots all season. In short, this Friedel era has a long way to go before it can differentiate itself from the Heaps era.
Yes, this team is mediocre, but I'm looking at it as the first year in a rebuilding process. I expect that this team is going to continue to evolve. The first test of this will be the summer transfer window.
I think this is probably the right way to look at it. We won’t really know if the team has changed with Friedel at the helm until after the summer window or the next offseason at the latest.
Then a Good forward would get 30 because he misses some fairly routine goals. Im not saying throw him away but I would like to combine him with a speed forward. Teal really can't beat a lot of defenders ... even if he gets a good feed. Im saying we need another option that can stretch a defense and score too
What the Revs need is more production from the other guys. A few more goals from the midfield would make a world of difference.
Bingo. Teal is the perfect guy to stretch a field and score goals. It's guys like Nemeth, Diego, Penilla, Rowe and Agudelo who need to pitch in goals consistently. I also would love to see the CBs chip in a few header goals. When the revs are able to have multiple threats, they are the most dangerous because teams can't key on just one or two guys like they could with Nguyen. Having the speed of Teal, Penilla and Diego on the counter is vital to the success of this year's team.
That all comes back to the summer window as a big key. The team is paper thin, pretty much everyone starting right now is at least palatable but any absence from them means over exposing the cringe worthy reserves (I know a few people will point to Agudelo and Zahibo as players who may be on par with the starters, I respectfully disagree). Adding quality starters means diversifying the attack and gaining depth by way of adding the former starters to the bench and putting additional distance between the reserves and meaningful minutes on the field.
What have we ever done during the summer window? While I would like to see some starter grade players signed... Burns just won't do it. Other teams will pay more and are easier to deal with. Why would anybody that has a choice come here? Crappy turf, crappy management, coach in training, weak team. There is no good reason to want to come here or even want to stay here when they can leave. I think Juan should be starting. We look better when he's on
You're absolutely right, our home form isn't quite as good as a year ago. Conversely, the revs have already earned more road points than they did all of last year. I expect a couple more road wins at least so with solid home form the rest of the way, that should counterbalance those early losses, which were to 2 very good teams by the way. Maybe it's not better from a wins and losses perspective but, for me the mentality is better. The way this team sees out games is better. The attack is better. I like this back 4 much better than a year ago. The mids with Caicedo and Zahibo are ballwinners and able to spring attacks. Teal is among the league's top scorers. If they can fine tune some things, add some higher end talent and maybe some depth, they have something here. Not saying we are hoisting MLS Cup come December but making the playoffs is a fair expectation even if it's Friedel's first year. I'm just more confident in his decision making and he doesn't make me cringe like Heaps did, going off about refs etc. I respectfully disagree with you here. The east is the better conference this year. NYC, Atlanta, the Red Bulls are consistently good this year. The revs are 1-0-2 against those clubs which is always a good sign. Then you have the defending MLS Cup champs TFC who are starting to get it together after a tough start. I think the standings are accurate and the revs deserve to be above the line so far. The west has really just SKC and Dallas in terms of elite teams. The revs are 1-1 against those teams. LAFC, Portland are solid and Seattle won the west last year so they're factors, however I think the east is competitive top to bottom. I guess I am more comfortable with the process under Friedel even if I don't expect the revs to win this year.