As you can tell from my post count I can be considerd a newbie. I won't lie and say I've followed soccer for more then a year or two, and I don't watch English or Itialian or any other soccer leagues other then MLS. So I'll throw that out right there in front. But as I watch the Revs I get a sense of a lack of passion for the game they are playing. I know this team is made up of veterants with little to prove in the regular season, that they are old and save themselfs for the postseason which is the only place they can advance their carrers at this point, and that the front office doesn't care enough to give a MLS worthy wing to challenge Khano to improve... But rarely do I see a good hard tackle as more then an abberation in the game by teh Revs [Avery,John: I said "good" hard tackle]. I rarely see moments of inspirtation or creativity. I don't see the will to dominate possesion, or the anger to respond to bad plays. In other sports that I do watch, NBA/NFL/NHL, I wouldn't be suprised that after blowouts or bad performances that the home fans would boo certian players for their actions. Even throw things on the field to show their passionate displeasure of the product on the field. Last year I became a fan of this team, and I'm not going to lie, beign one of the best in the MLS had something to do with it. But brining toughness in Franchino, creativity in Dempsey, never give up runs on the wing by someone called "Dorman" that was a MAJOR part of it for me. I watch the MLS because I don't think it is something of a league where I should be just happy it exsist. I watch it because I believe it showcases the best contortion of American talent in the game today. And I believe that the players deserve to the game, and the fans, to try hard every game to dominate, to become better at what they do, and most of all to win. Again, I'm new so maybe I'm missing the stubleties of the game, or an accepted philosophy within the Revs. But this is what I see.
Well you're pretty much dead on. You could see it at the end of yesterday's game. When it was 3-2 they were slowly pushing up the field, not being agressive to win balls etc and we went down 4-2. Then they seemed to give up, just started playing without any desire at all. It's frustrating, but they're smart and know that they don't really have to try all that hard to get into the playoffs. However, if they put that crap on the field in the postseason, I doubt we'll be continuing our run of Eastern Conference finals/MLS Cup appearances.
I think you're totally off base. You've never seen Heaps or James Riley argue a call with a ref? Really? After DC's third goal, Khano Smith was arguing with the ref for about 2 or 3 minutes and was subbed out so he wouldn't get himself in trouble. And our coach got tossed. I suppose he was only going through the motions? I guess you can blame MLS fans for not being drunk idiots.
Why would our coach take out Khano because he was arguing a call? This isn't high school or rec soccer, you don't get to come back in. If I'm not mistaken, Khano got an assist last night too. I think Mariner took him off because he saw it as his opportunity to finally give someone new a chance.
Bitching/whining at the refs after a call, and passion and determination _while playing_ are not the same things. I'll take a team full of Steve Ralstons anyday. Don't talk, dammit ('specially AFTER a call where NOTHING is going to change), but DO! Kevin D.
I agree with the above posts, there is a difference between arguing a call and standing up for your teamates, and mouthing off, which is something Khano does CONSTANTLY. Maybe he is a real passionate team guy, maybe he is just immature. I would take a team of Steve Ralstons and Mike Parkhursts over a bunch of whiners. And even if Avery does make bad fouls, that is his game. He has probably played like that since he was 4 years old, and I like it in a way. It shows a sense of fearlessness, even in the world cup.
There are times when I wish Khano would put as much energy actually playing the game as arguing with the ref. The original post is spot on. Simply put, the Revs have no depth. There are essentially only 3 subs (Cristman, Riley and Thompson) that have proven they can step into the starting XI and contribute without a significant drop off. So that means essentially that Parkhurst, Heaps (!), Shalrie, Lawrentowitz, Dorman, Ralston and TT are basically guaranteed starting spots no matter what they do (barring cards). Their game is predictable. Spray the ball wide to Rally and Thompson/Khano who put in crosses. The only semi-creative player is Khano. The 25 percent of the time he's on his game, the Revs tend to look good. The other 75 percent... Well-organized defenses will eat that our predictibility, as the three MLS Cup finals demonstrate. I don't want to say they're complacent. But at the same time, everyone knows the MLS regular season doesn't mean anything. It's not a great way to draw people into the stadium.
I believe that one source of the "passionless" play is the complete lack of competition for playing time. This is the responsibility of the front office that seems to only care about what is going on with the Patriots. When players are competing for minutes there is always passion. Our bench is so weak that the starting 11 have no concerns. Look at DC's player additions (Emilio, Fred etc) and bench and it is not hard to see why they are the true MLS leaders. True "Passion" for the game must run from top to bottom in any organization and as long as the Revs are owned by "invertors" the ONLY thing keeping them competitive is Steve Nichol.
Noonan is the only player we have right now with anything that resembles creativity. Clearly players like Twellman, Joseph, Ralston and Dorman are skilled, but they are pretty direct players.
I think all of the Rev players care very much about their performance/results. I do not think a lack of effort or passion is an issue whatsoever. Too defensive a midfield and over reliance on long passes is our problem at the moment. Asking midfielders to defend deep and then get forward in weather this hot is unrealistic. But as the weather cools that will change and I expect our prior ability to cut apart teams that attack us will return.
The loss of Dempsey is really showing now that Dorman isnt playing well. Like soccertim said, they have no creativity on the field, and that's what helps most when things arent going well, thats who busts you out of a slump.
The ownership is sabotaging the team. It's probably difficult to feel "passion" under those circumstances.
This is very true and hits it on the button...just as Soccertim said "Noonan is the only true creative player on the team". I began to write my heart out about the passion that this team began with in 1996 to the doldrums of the late 90's..to the excitement of the last 5 years...only to delete it all because...just that..even to me, the passion is beginning to wane. You can only clap so many times before your hands start to bleed. You can only scream so loud before only swallowing whole cubes of ice will soothe your throat. Hopefully others can remain passionate and continue the cheer...it's getting more and more difficult to cheer.
Noonan doesn't exactly exhibit passion on the field. He seems to glide around like an apathetic ghost at times. He only seems to score when the opponents give up on him and he pounces on the opportunity. Larentowicz more than makes up for Noonan's lack of passion, though.