This is a game to focus on the takeaways, not the unflattering scoreline. Agree 100% that a rusty Tierney should not have started, that blew back on us in a big way. Goncalves was also rusty, and cost us a goal, but improved as the game went on. Soares, now... I think I'm done with him. Not a great defender, and his default is just to hoof the ball up the field. Barnes was actually our best defender tonight. I'd rather see him at CB than Soares. Shuttleworth, though he was a bit of a disaster on corners and free kicks, made four amazing saves in the second half. He's got world-class reflexes. Though his GAA is positively benthic at this point, it would be hard to say that a single one of the goals was his fault. Interesting to see if he gets the next start. I like the combination of Kobayashi and Caldwell. As suggested upthread, sitting Kobayashi a bit deeper might be the way to go. I really like the set of attacking players we have, with the obvious exception of Bengtsen. In the second half particularly, they were putting together some very effective combinations, and really pressuring the Houston defense. The scoreline suggests the Revs were just totally outclassed, but I didn't see it. They hit the post twice, Bengtsen missed a sitter, and a couple of other decent chances went awry. Bottom line: goalkeeping is not the problem, the attack is not the problem, but the back four and DM need to get sorted out pronto.
After the catharsis, finally, we get to the real issues. The question is how we got so shockingly exposed, so early. Mariner, who is already the best color commentator we have ever had, said most of it during the game. We started the game with a very aggressive posture - a high line, with Kobayashi and Rowe both cheating forward. This was presumably to throw them off balance, because we were never going to win a game we had to grind out through the midfield. This could only work if the D was razor sharp, and if Mullins and Fagundez were able to transition effectively. As it happened, Gonçalves and Tierney were rusty, and neither KA nor Soares were able to carry the back four on their backs. Mullins was a deer in the headlights, and DF was uninvolved. Give Houston credit. They punished mistakes the way professional teams should. But I don't think watching the game is going to tell Philadelphia how to beat us. My biggest concerns are Soares and Tierney; they are just average at best. Soares's long balls have improved, but he does not manage pressure well. Adding Farrell will help, but not solve the problem, unless Woodbine turns out to be the answer. But if Woodbine is the answer, why did he not play yesterday? Other posters have brought up the Parkhurst for Neumann question. Assuming Parkhurst was willing to come here, the question is whether attacking or defending players are easier to find? If Heaps's calculation is that our best chance to win the cup is in two years, it makes sense to invest in a kid who has the potential to be great, rather than a defender on the down slope of his career. I think you can make a legitimate argument either way. Mullins should not have any complaints about seeing the bench. Nor should Kobayashi when Nguyen returns. On the bright side, fluffing the sitter aside, Bengtson looked good, Sene looked good, and - again overlooking blown chances - Shuttleworth, Rowe, Fagundez, and Bunbury looked great.
Last season, Nguyen would spend whole matches as a defacto defensive midfielder taking up space next to Caldwell and collecting the ball from the back four in order to then shuttle the ball forward to the attack. It was an in-game adjustment, and a subtle one, that would make a big difference in team shape and the Revs ability to match up in the center of the midfield. I'd guess that Kobayashi doesn't know the system yet to make that in game adjustment.
There's only one Chris Tierney There's only one Christ Tierney For the love of God, Jay Just let someone else play...
I hope that it was just the lingering effects of his injury and the lack of preseason time but something was seriously off with Goncalves. The number of flubbed clearances alone was troubling. They need to get him right because he was a major reason behind the stingy defensive numbers from last season. Also, the wrong club looked like it was introducing a new CB tandem. Was this the worst game Caldwell has played for the Revs? I seem to remember a stinker or two later on in last season, when he just needed to sit, but I don't recall a game where he was a traffic cone while committing a number of bad passes. Part of the passing issues fall, as others here have mentioned, to Daigo not dropping back into spots where Lee typically shows. Teal definitely needed someone to play off of but I'm not sure why anyone, never mind Jay, would think of Bengston? Ying Ying. Other than AJ's header off the post, the offensive set pieces were pretty poor and continue to be an issue for the club. Finally, while some here are dogging Mullins, I'm okay with where he is at this point. From what they showed in preseason, both he and Neumann look like pros to me. If you thought Mullins looked lost yesterday, go back and watch Rowe's first match. His play should rank VERY low on the list of concerns at this point.
Pretty awful experience being at the game. Shocking to say the Revs didn't acknowledge the away support. Again. Amazing. Disappointing lineup by Heaps, shows he still isn't there. As much as I'm not a fan of Bobby, he really had no chance on any of those goals. He was left out to dry by the defense, which I was repeatedly told was extremely good and very deep. Hopefully we see a rebound next week. Because they can't play this bad again, can they?
I'm just going to hope that last night was the low point of the season. We gave up 4 goals 3 times last season (two of which were started by Shuttleworth, the 3rd was ended by Bobby after Matty was red carded early on). Hopefully, this is just one bad game. If we move on from this and rattle off 3 straight wins the rest of the month, we can chalk it up as a learning experience. If this kind of performance has become habitual by the end of March, then we should be in full panic mode and calling for heads.
I used to think Yuengling was great and would seek it out. But, if you really taste it and look at its properties, you can find much better beers. Jacks Abbey in particular is a great local brewery with comparable prices
In 2003 the patriots lost their opener to Buffalo 31-0. Belichick had a great quote that I remember: "the 2nd game of the season is more important than the 1st because it shows how you react to your first loss" something like that. pats won the Superbowl that year obviously.
Not saying its bad... its just a very average beer in the bud, miller vain. I dont order any of these on purpose and seek out a nice IPA as often as possible
And they had a stifiling defense, not swiss cheese. Passing on Parkhurst is akin to cutting Lawyer Milloy - we will see if it works out the same way.
"Any sufficiently long discussion of soccer will turn into a discussion about beer" - The Curran Conjecture
Careful. When you start comparing lagers to IPAs, it's akin to comparing major religions. They all have true believers and detractors. For the time being Yuengling is being sold at a bit of a discount. It has a bit more taste than your standard bud/miller brau. However, Maynard has the right idea - support your local brewers - whether you like lagers, ales, IPAs, stouts, porters, belgians, etc.
corollary: The time for the discussion to move onto beer is directly proportional to how poorly (should that be "pourly"?) your team plays.