Revs Offseason 2016-2017

I think Caldwell will be in there.

 

Matt Doyle agrees with you:
Armchair Analyst: 22 teams, 22 starting lineups – for now
January 27, 2017, 12:06PM EST
Matthew Doyle

But I'm with BrianLBI, I don't see Heaps benching Caldwell, who has started 63 of 68 games in the last 2 seasons.

 

I'm not sure where he goes unless they sit Fagundez

 

FWIW, I think thats a strong lineup. How good it is--TBD--but on paper it looks encouraging. Unfortunately I still question our depth.

 

We'll have to see. My impression is that Heaps sits Fagundez significantly more frequently than Caldwell. Without Diego, Lee floats to the left side.

 

We have a nice problem at midfield -- 5 starters for 4 roles. Somehow injuries and/or bad runs of play for one of the ostensible starters will find a way to make this work. Now, it would be nice to have this "problem" in the other areas of the pitch (especially the defense). Other MLS teams seem to have 16 or 18 of what I would think of as "starter quality" players on the roster.

 

Funny how no one mentions Bunbury when talking about the midfield!

I'd be the first to say he had a putrid 2016 - one of the worst on the team, if not THE worst. But, he has been much better and it's not likely that age or injury is an issue, so I think there's no reason to think he can't bounce back to 2014-15 level or better. But, I can certainly understand not penciling him into the starting lineup until he's proven his value on the game/practice field.

 

I was thinking about him, too. He's certainly top 11 in salary, but clearly not a starter on this club. One would think he'd be a good fit for a club like Minnesota. Maybe the Revs will "showcase" him when they play the Loons next Tuesday...

 

We have a ton of flexibility when it comes to the front 6. Assuming we play 4-4-2, default should be Agudelo and Kamara. But we can also push Nguyen to striker and get all 3 of Fagundez, Rowe and Caldwell on the field at once. I personally like Rowe playing behind two strikers as he is more aggressive off the ball with making runs behind defenders - Nguyen checks back to receive the ball so he can make a pass, but Rowe runs behind to get onto a pass.

But we could also play with a front 3, with Agudelo as #9, Kamara wide right, and either Bunbury, Nguyen, Rowe or Diego wide left; backed up by Kouassi, Caldwell and either Nguyen or Rowe. Kamara matched up against a fullback is (as we've seen when he victimized Alston against us a few years ago) a total mismatch.

And, depending on how mobile Angoua and Delomea are, maybe we can look at a 3-5-2 as well. That gets all 5 of our top midfielders on the field at once.

Agudelo-Kamara
Fagundez-Nguyen-Rowe
Kouassi-Caldwell
Delomea-Angoua-Farrell

Really what I hope is that we use all of these looks and are not so completely predictable as least year.

 

We need 2 more forwards, wing speed (other than Bunbury - not a fan), real depth on defense (not post-college trainees), and mental strength/wisdom, perhaps in the form of a player whose role is super-sub, but who is smart enough to change the pace and atmosphere of any game he comes into.

 

This would make a lot of sense to me too.

Bunbury isn't going to bounce back here, he needs a change of scenery. Going home to MN would probably be a great move for both sides.

 

Is it just me or did we play better with Lee and Juan switched? Juan was/is a lot better at absorbing pressure/hits in midfield and retaining possesion

 

The Revs are supposed to kick a ball in anger for the first time this season, sometime tomorrow versus the noobs from Minnesota.

Thank you, Mike Burns, for accomplishing the bare minimum this off-season. You never fail to disappoint.

 

This is the key. Since there are a few variations of lineups we can use and enough decent options to mix it up, it would be really nice if we had a manager who might use one lineup against an opponent that plays this way and swap in a couple of different guys for a different look against a team that plays that way. Or, if the game situation dictates it, bringing on a sub for a more offensive lineup if we're down, or vice-versa. Some teams actually do this, y'know.

It would keep players hungry--you don't want to be the odd man out this week. If Lee Nguyen sees the bench a few times and it makes him more motivated, then that can only be a good thing. No one should get complacent. But everyone would still get a lot of minutes and we would be harder to defend against, since we would throw several different likeups out there. Last year, teams figured us out and Heaps had no answers.

This year we have the chance to be different.

 

And the pressure will be on Heaps to manage this. He has not shown to be good at player rotation(when he has tried) and/or subbing patterns - let alone formation switches.

To me one of the keys will be how does Koussai help cover for the hybrid left-back style Tierney plays.

The positive is there are 4 new faces (including Koussai and Llamosa) in camp that should be a "pedigree" above - positive jolt to the same old-same old

 

In looking at last season our defense was considered the weak link, we gave up too many goals. That is true and the personnel on defense were in flux and we were all over the place. What the Revs have done is potentially address that piece. However, when you look at the stats, we were even worse at scoring goals than we were in conceding goals (at least from an Eastern Conference point of view). What we have today doesn't really address that at all from a personnel point of view. Let's hope that a new tactical alignment changes our scoring rate as well. I'm not really all that comfortable that it is a strong lineup -- unless we fix our scoring rate this will be another mid-table season.

 

I basically agree with you, but: defending is easier when you have a lead and scoring is harder when you fall behind. So, improving the defense helps the offense; improving the offense helps the defense.

 

What really killed us was giving up the early goal and having to play catch up. How many games last year did we give up a goal in the first 15 minutes? I remember a couple of times when we gave up a goal in the first five minutes!

 

I'd like to a start with a starting lineup that's slightly more defensive in the beginning. We had really bad defensive starts last season, we have two new CBs that will still need time to gel, even with a full preseason together. Hell even Kouassi is technically brand new. The core of our central defense is completely inexperienced in both this team and MLS in general. Caldwell has to be out there and be a leader!

4-5-1
...............................TBD
Farrell......Mliner.............Angoua..........Tierney
..................Caldwell............Kouassi....................
Agudelo....................................................Fagundez
...................................Nguyen.............................
.........................Kamara........................................

Agudelo out wide isn't using him to his full potential, but it's either sit Rowe or sit Nguyen in this formation. I choose Rowe.

But given a perfect world where every one has gelled and healthy and playing well, then the 4-4-2 diamond is a natural fit for our attacking talent, and one of Caldwell / Kousassi has to be on the bench (good problems).

 

Fagundez would probably sit, not Nguyen/Rowe. As for the formation, I would be shocked if Heaps strays from the 4 4 2 diamond.

 

Personally I'd start Rowe over Fagundez (although it's close), and put Kamara on the wing and Agudelo up top. I like the combo of Agudelo with his back to goal, holding it up and dishing it to Kamara who is generally more aggressive about getting in behind his defender and shooting. Plus, putting Kamara on the opposite wing from Tierney means Kamara will be matched up against a fullback, going for headers on Tierney's crosses.

More of this:

 

Didn't Heaps get skewered on BS for exactly this kind of lineup last season? Once we went with two forwards, and got Lee out of the ACM role and moved Aguedelo there things got better? I know I'm old and everything, but this lineup formation is exactly what hurt us last year. When the year ended I thought we were more of :

....................Goalie
............four across the back............
.........................Koffie.............................
Caldwell.....................................Fagundez/Rowe
.......................Aguedelo
............Kamara....................Nguyen

Lee was getting knocked off the ball too easily in the middle of the pitch, or dribbling into traffic. Out wide is better for him and for us.

 

anyone else have the feeling the Revs are done adding players until the summer?

 

Yes. I'm assuming we'll sign one or two of the trialists with MLS experience and maybe a draft pick or two.