No Watson please, and Koffie needs to exercise a bit of self control. We won't get three points playing a man down for 60 minutes.
Saw a replay and it was a deep run. Angoua kept him onside - then quit on the play. Lazy defending. Hope Josh Smith gets another shot at CB.
You know, as I watch the goals and replays..... I keep asking myself, why in Tierney never never anywhere to be seen as they score from our left side? or in fact almost anytime?
Frustrating game for the Revs. I felt like they had a good game plan, and were on the front foot most of the day. They didn't give away too much on defense, but got burned both times they did. Could have been another lopsided win, alas.
Very frustrating game and I see two areas of concern. 1) Kamara - I am having less and less use for him as time goes on. Big $$$, little production. I've seen enough at this point and vote to trade or sell him for someone else that is useful. 2) Defense - Mostly looked good except for the usual few lapses that lead to goals. We cannot score enough to overcome that. Looking at the personnel playing it comes down to Tierney in my mind. He is a defensive liability and often absent when goals come from the left easide. His famous left foot/crosses have mostly disappeared plus using Lee as a forward is not going to result in many head shots. Kamara can head but he seems to be everywhere but in a position to head on most attacks. Suggestions - Tierney has to go. Find another left back from the bench or move Rowe back there. We need more speed, better defense. Period. Move Kamara for another forward that actually scores. We're wasting money on him and need another in case Juan gets hurt . Get Juan on the field more. We always look better when he's on. Quit messing with Caldwell. He had a good game last night and is the first sub all the time. I hope it was because he played a lot of minutes on Wed but IDK. Heaps seems to like pulling him. Will Heaps do anything? Nope. However he stands a good chance of being down two starters during the Gold Cup. He better figure something out
With even marginal finishing we would have won that game 5-2. That was painful How many open net shots can a group of professional soccer players miss?????
It's interesting that some noticed Tierney MIA on the defensive end - I was wondering where he was in the attack. He always seems to be arriving late and rushing his crosses. It's really hurting us with two backs so ineffective. offensively.
In Tierney's defense he was jogging back on both goals . We seem to have 3 decent to good defensive midfielders but no left back. Kamara did set up a sitter that Diego somehow missed, and of course he wasn't the only one, hard to believe we lost with all the chances we missed We really miss Kouassi. He provides a good outlet for defenders and helps keep possession. For the first 70 minutes of so Schweinsteiger played that role for Chicago. I don't think either Rowe or Aguedelo made much of a case to be on the final Gold Cup roster
Yeah I don't blame Tierney for the first goal, that was on Angoua. He kept the goalscorer onside then jogged back and effectively gave up on the play once he was beat. Delamea tries to slow the guy down and shield him outside but Cropped put the rebound right back into his path so it was an easy finish. The second goal I fault the entire midfield for getting sliced open so easily. That was a perfectly executed counter by Chicago so not much more you can say than that IMO.
The biggest impression I took away from that game was what a difference Schweinsteiger made for Fire. It turns out that he is only 32, and he still wants to play. So we have team Giovinco in 1st, Fire in second, and team Villa in 3rd. Clearly, the supporting cast has to be up to it, or you are Orlando. So here are the Revs, the solid supporting cast without the touch of genius. We are so mid-table. I'm starting to think that it's not the offense or the defense, or the coach for that matter. We just don't have enough good players. Any of the players currently playing could be replaced by someone much better, and the team would visibly improve.
There is definitely a lot of validity to that point. Schweinsteiger broken up more passes and read more plays than I could count. When he wasn't actively involved in the play he was marshaling the defense to block passing lanes, sniff out attacks and frustrate the revs. Just with Dax McCarty they'd be better but Schweinsteiger brings them to a whole different level. Then there's the revs. The revs are missing that true game changer - the JJ of 2017. A savvy veteran who has seen it both at club and international level and has a great soccer brain. Someone with vision - the current revs lack this piece. Don't get me wrong, there are lots of solid MLS caliber players but no one with the requisite vision to take them over the top. On paper Kamara should be that guy but the reality is he's not. He doesn't fit here with the way Heaps wants to play. Agudelo, Rowe, Diego, Lee - all solid players individually but just not enough to score goals and win games on a regular, consistent basis. Last night was a perfect example of how they are not coordinated and seem to rely on a fortunate bounce and the ability to pounce and score from inside the 6. There's really no plan going forward or sense of attacking as a unit; it's all haphazard, slow and reliant on individual plays or a mistake. Until the talent level changes, the revs will play up to what they are talent wise - a mediocre MLS team.
Great posts. My only slant is that I still do not think Heaps knows what to do with the existing players. I think he is still as much of the situation. I wrote before the season - they will win some, lose some - be average. Even Mariner in his broadcasts is so average (almost getting annoying listening to him) Committed to winning MLS Cup - not even close.
Wow --- two days later and not much posted -- do I sense a touch of apathy creeping into the Revs fans? I have certainly been there for some time now.... Agree with the sentiment that we just don't have the tools/players to be a better than mediocre team. We have NOT kept up with the talent race in MLS. While some may question whether Jay has the technical acumen to get the most out of the team, IMHO that is looking at the second biggest problem, not the biggest problem -- our front office is not getting the talent needed to succeed -- pure and simple. We are a game away from being halfway through the season -- comparisons to last year: Year-----Goals Against/Game-----Goal For/Game----Points per game 2017 ----------1.44-----------------------1.69---------------------1.25 2016-----------1.59-----------------------1.29---------------------1.24 So...we've marginally improved on defense, gotten worse on offense and are basically in the same spot we were last year: out of the playoffs. Technically we are 9th on a PPG basis. BUT not to worry we have roster flexibility to add people when it is too late to make a difference in the standings, but early enough to say we tried to do something as an excuse to keep our front office folks. Why do I feel like it's deja vu all over again? In watching the whole game -- Diego was the only bright spot for me, regardless of his miss, he's the one who is the most dynamic and incisive.
Well, we continue to make the same observations over and over, but nothing changes. Like the proverbial frog in the slow-boiling pot, the KADs have been assimilated to the truth about the front office short-comings, so there is no one left here to debate the point. We have accepted our fate that this team will be hovering around the red line for years to come, as long as the FO remains the same. The Jermaine Jones era seems like ages ago. Full-scale apathy has set in, and nothing short of a firing or two will shake us free from it.
I'm one who doesn't post anymore, but I am not at all apathetic about the team. I was there Saturday night and I throughly enjoyed a fascinating (albeit frustrating) game. I am apathetic about most of the discussion on these boards, and about the "same observations over and over." I do stop by to read, now and then, and I appreciate the kind of information gous posted -- curious though . . . it looks like our offense is improved, too, or am I reading it wrong?
proof that those 3-5 TAM level players that they brought in during the off season made a huge difference! oh wait it was only two.