What the hell---I'm going high since most of these guys have been playing together for awhile and they just might---GEL (DRINK)
Too early to tell . . . let's see how they look in the game Saturday (assuming that's the game where Heaps finally sends out his first unit). Aw, who am I kidding. We won't know anymore then than we know now. I'm going with Robert Browning on this one and predicting that the Revs avoid that puzzling annual mid-season swoon because . . . well because our reach should exceed our grasp, or what's a heaven for? 55 points
Top 4 in the East for the first half of the season. Sell Koffie over the summer, which "coincidentally" aligns with another summer swoon. Fall out the playoff race, make a late season run to get back into it, but it falls just short. 45 pts, 7th place. Burns vows to "try harder" next year.
Why do so many people think we'll sell Koffie midseason? We'd lose his MLS rights and a portion of the fee would go to the Whitecaps anyway. I don't see it happening.
it's more the Revs style to hold on to him to the end, embittering him and warning free agents to come here at their peril...
You may be right, but: 1. The Revs are "up against the cap" and have a DP coming on the books in July (whether he plays or not) 2. Holding his rights while he plays 5-10 years in Europe doesn't do us much good. We did that with Parkhurst, it got us Neumann.
We did it with Agudelo and it got us... Agudelo. Other examples are Parkhurst (as you mentioned) and Noonan. There just seems to be very little incentive to selling him considering we'd forfeit his MLS rights (which have value) and we wouldn't benefit very much financially.
I don't think we're going to sell Koffie mid-season. If you ask Vancouver fans, their take is that he had great potential and had flashes of brilliance, but was too inconsistent. Which suggests he wouldn't be able to play consistently well in a better league. Anyway, in the last two years I estimated too low, so considering I was the guy who started the "Optimism" thread, I'm going to go with 51 points this year, 3rd or 4th place, win the play-in game, lose in the Eastern semi-final series. I believe Nguyen will have a year a lot closer to 2014 than 15, and I'm hoping that guys like Fagundez and Agudelo will also rebound. Davies seems to be starting well, so that leaves right back as our biggest weakness so far.
I went with 46 - 50 points. The Revs the last 3 years have averaged 52 points. I think they should be about the same. But I think the rest of the league is taking baby steps forward, while the Revs seem to be treading water; especially since their DP is likely out for the year.
Agree. The split transfer fee makes it much more unlikely IMO. There seem to be a fair number of people who think he isn't ready for Europe, so I wouldn't rule out the possibility of him signing an extension. If it's a good, exciting season and he likes his teammates (and the 20K+ crowds that we'll be getting ), he might be interested in staying on, rather than risk being buried on a bench in a quality Euro league, or starting in a lower-level league which isn't really better than MLS.
For all you NNN's, an outside opinion: "Revs fans are still right to be excited about Fagundez, and excited about the fact that their team should compete for top of the Eastern Conference. The pieces are in place, and nobody should really be that surprised if they claim their first Supporters' Shield. They're that good." - Matt Doyle, mlssoccer.com
But . . . but . . . but . . . measure once, cut nine times. orange slices for everyone. five steps ahead. he's trying. savvy businessman . . . someone please fill Matt Doyle in on the true state of the franchise.
Matt has been very positive on this team the last couple of years. I'll give him credit for putting that out there, but I'd be willing to bet him (and anyone else here) that this isn't happening. And also, it's measure 9 times, cut once. For all the sarcasm you put into your post, do YOU believe this team is that good? FWIW, Doyle (and the MLS staff) had us #2 going into last season.
damn. measure nine times . . . well that explains a lot. and seriously, to answer your question. I can't figure it out. The team has been consistently inconsistent the last few years. I looked at the data last year and no other MLS team matches the Revs for winning streaks and losing streaks in the same season. I am at a loss to explain how a team can be SS quality for long stretches and then be a non-play off team for equally long stretches, and they have those stretches back to back! I would not be at all surprised to see the 2016 Revs win the Shield or the Cup. I would be equally not surprised to see them streak their way to a fifth place finish. I would be very surprised to see team finish out of the playoffs. Sorry to equivocate, but they are just a mystery to me. That said, I think they have a lot of interesting players -- I think Heaps and Burns have done a good job of using a variety of mechanisms to put together a solid roster, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing what happens this year.
It will be more interesting to me to see the predictions of MLS journalists who do not work for MLS. Last year a few picked the Revs to go make the final (I think). It will be interesting to see where they see the Revs finishing this season. I am not sure what my prediction is yet. I am trying to wait and see what happens with Jones, if anything, in the next week before making a guess. To me, it is close to the same collection of talent that they have had in the past few years. This group has been unpredictable. I "like" a lot about the team, but I am not sure there is anything I "love".
I think 45 is about right. Right now, the team seems to be the same or not as good as last year, and the other teams in the league have certainly gotten better, so theoretically we can't get to the 50 point mark again this year. Of course, its the MLS so who knows?
I happen to agree with Doyle. When a roster is as consistently inconsistent as last years that smacks to me of immaturity. As I posted up top, if this team can play cansistantly to its potential this could be a very exciting year. Thats why I picked them to exceed 55 points.I'll take your bet Monty--a cold one of your choice to a cold one of my choice
Don't think there's a chance in hell that they win the Shield or the Cup (as currently consituted), but fair points...