Revs hit the road heading to the West Coast for a game against PTFC. Revs are 5-3-6 (21 points, 2nd in the East) on the year, but haven't won in their last 5 (0-1-4) and have blown a lead in each. Portland is 5-5-4 (19 points, 6th in the West) on the season. They're 2-1-3 at home this season, with a +1 GD. Most likely the Revs will be without Jermaine Jones, but Lee Nguyen and Chris Tierney will be returning from their red-card suspensions. Portland Timbers v New England Revolution Providence Park (10:30pm EDT) REF: JOSE CARLOS RIVERO AR1: Jeff Hosking AR2: Jeremy Hanson 4TH: Daniel Radford
This game is the start of a test for the rest of the rest of the regular season. All signs point to JJ getting the dreaded adductor injury, which likely means he's out for 10+ games, and Heaps will have to gameplan for his absence. I believe the team is missing Agudelo too due to National Team duty, which makes this an even more daunting game.
And the natural guy to pick up the slack for Jones being out is Andy Dorman, but after sitting out one game for yellow cards, he promptly picked up another in his first game back. Not good, considering how much the depth is going to be tested. Imagine if Mike Burns had the vision and foresight to anticipate this kind of thing and stocked the roster with new players over the off-season. I know, it is such a rare fluke to have key players miss games due to injury, suspensions and national team duty, no one could have predicted that would happen to us.
Dorman has Zero vision. How many times does he see the outside threat, and proceed to play center or back. As already pointed out never shoots.
The main difference between this season and last is the ability to pick up a point in each of the last 5. They could very easily be 5 blown leads for 5 losses, mirroring last season's swoon. Thankfully the east is mediocre and beating each other up, which is helping keep the revs in 2nd. But with JJ possibly gone for 10 weeks, that puts his return in mid August, around the same time he came last year. Nguyen needs to get going as the revs have to start converting draws into wins. I expect this match to be a 1 1 draw as Portland isn't exactly a worldbeater either.
At this point, I'd much rather see Daigo paired with Caldwell, rather than Dorman, assuming he can go at least 60 minutes. Perhaps not quite as good defensively, but much better for possession and attack.
The Revs gave NYC FC their first and only win of the season so far. This week they have the chance to give PTFC their first ever (as an MLS club) three-game winning streak...
I think this game could go either way. Portland is starting to get their offense together again. Adi is a dangerous target forward. There could be several goals in this one. Anyone going to the game?
Came across some stats that give An insight into how poorly Lee has been playing. 27 shots only 6 on frame and 1 goal. Not that any of our strikers are setting the world alight either. Juan has taken 28 shots only 10 have been on goal 4 goals pretty poor return for 14 games played.
Yes - Agudelo is disappointing but seems to be loved based on his 2013 performance. Davies has been scoring consistently but he needs help.
Agreed on Agudelo. Personally, Agudelo is frustrating to watch because I've seen what he's capable of, and it seems like his effort level isn't there, in stark contrast to Davies who is much less talented but works his tail off.
Davies only has 1 more goal (having played 1 less game) than Agudelo...and Agudelo didn't play competitive soccer last year. I like what Davies has done this year but Agudelo hasn't been producing that poorly all things considered. The Revs have also scored 8 goals during this 5 game winless streak (compared to 12 goals in their first 9 games) and have scored 2 goals in 3 of the games. Not sure the offense has been the issue lately for them. It's actually probably the reason why this 5 game winless streak doesn't include more losses.
He played in Holland through May of 2014. All he missed was the fall season last year, not a full year.
So he went more than 10 months without playing a competitive game. That's almost a year. Certainly longer than a full MLS season (including an MLS Cup run!) and more than 3 times longer than a normal offseason.
I think Dorman gets the start rather than Daigo because of fitness. But even if fitness wasn't an issue, Portland plays with a lot of possession. Daigo is better in possession than Dorman but Dorman is better out of possession than Daigo. And if Agudelo is with the Nats already then Diego gets the start.
I am curious why Agudelo is back with the NT but Davies isn't? JK is looking for more cheeky backheels?
I was not too impressed with Agudelo in the last game as well. If Jones is out for a while the Revs will need all the help they can get.
Will be great when he shows some of that potential in the form of more goals. Is 4g2a enough at this point to merit a callup? Or maybe the better question, is the US striker cupboard that bare? Just not impressed. For a NT caliber striker he needs to get on the scoresheet (even assists) more often. Wondo, Dempsey, Davies, Bruin, Rolfe, Jozy (although he's hurt I believe) all are ahead of Agudelo based on form this season. Only Wondo has played more minutes - the rest have a better haul in fewer minutes. So while JA has potential, there are certainly better American strikers that should be ahead of him in the depth chart.
Agudelo has a creative instinct that none of the others (except Dempsey) have. He's also young and athletic, with a big upside. He could improve his work-rate and intensity, but I'm sure Klinsmann will expect that as a starting point.
That's not terrible production at this stage, but he's also had a ton of near misses, exceptional saves and shots off the woodwork IIRC. He's been a bit snake-bitten; with a little luck he could have had 7-8 goals by now IMO.
Let's call it like it is,Juan is alazy player.Doesnt like to break his ass. And as TT said he seems happy with one goal doesn't go for the second.Skill wise,he's one of our best.Work ethic that's a different story.
I don't think Juan is lazy - I've never seen a lack of effort from him on the field. He is too fancy for his own good sometimes (him trying to backheel into an open net in the NYCFC game still makes me groan), but he's usually one of the team's most influential players. Eventually though, his age is going to stop being an excuse for a lack of exceptional production - he's only 22, but he still hasn't hit 10+ goals in nearly 5 fully professional seasons (his season high is 9, split between Chivas and the Revs in 2013).
I agree on the first part of your post, Agudelo does have a creative flair that's rare in American strikers. He is fun to watch when he's on his game. However, for work-rate and intensity - are they really teachable? Seems to me, you either have them or you don't. He's not that snake bitten - his goal against TFC was a little striker's luck. Besides, he doesn't shoot enough to be unlucky. If he works on his finishing he could rapidly become a more finished product. Exactly. I'm tired of hearing "he's young". Maybe I'm just too demanding to be a US soccer fan but at 22 he should be consistently scoring 9-12 goals a year in MLS, with a few assists and game winners mixed in.