Caldwell was terrible today, he gave away the lone goal against to go along with just being generally poor. He and Kellyn combined to be caught in possession 4 times in the 1st half (Teal got caught once as well). I hope Caicedo comes back soon. The attack hummed pretty well. Bou, Pennilla, and Buksa all seemed sharp and were combining pretty well. Imagine what they'll do with Gil there. Kessler might be our best CB already. I dont know if thats praise for him or an indictment of everyone else. Both Diego and Rowe had up and down shifts. Im curious who Bruce will pick, because theyre it for the #8
I have to think that this was very close to the starting team. We looked bad early but got better as the game went on. Actually out best outing todate and Im encouraged. People are slamming Caldwell on that one bad, poorly weighted, pass but I thought he did OK if you look past that. Count the bad passes Bou made and they far outnumber Caldwell's. Bou's job is to score so he gets a pass on bad passing. Caldwell screws up and it's very noticeable. At least no SInovic, Zahibo, or Mancienne and thats GOOD. We'll see if i stays that way
It was a pretty shaky start in the first half, but things started looking up later on. Rowe stood out in a negative way though he did make a nice pass that led to the penalty. Caldwell was not great in the first half but got better. I thought Brandon Bye made some nice crosses. One to Buksa that resulted in a shot just wide. One on Bou's first goal. That is very promising and I hope it continues. Buksa is a keeper. Interesting that Kessler got the start today. Is he getting the start next week as well? I wish we had an injury report so we could know who is playing/ not playing due to injury versus coaches decision. GET WELL SOON, Gil and Caicedo.
I thought we were thoroughly outplayed, yet won fairly easily in the end. I think the positive was that our back 4 actually played quite well - the guys in front of them not so much, which is what make the defense's performance that much more impressive. Of course, we did need Turner to make a LOT of saves ... The biggest takeaway for me was the great understanding between Bou and Buksa. They didn't get much good service, but when there were turnovers, they both seemed of one mind - they knew just what to do. That bodes well for the future, when Gil gets back in there, both he and Bou already had that chemistry. I think this three-headed monster could be very, very good.
I'm totally with you - the guy's a tiger out there. He is not the problem - it's the guys he gets paired with. And, he's not nearly as reckless as he may seem (it is hard to bottle aggressive play without sometimes going over the line). The evidence is that for all the yellows he gets, he never gets a 2nd. So, I think it's pretty evident that he gets it - and I think opponents and referees get that, while he does play an aggressive and physical style, he's not a malicious destroyer out there. He's just a guy playing as hard as he can.
Not sure if Gil is going to play, so I am going with something like ..................................Turner Bye..........Farrell...................Kessler.............Jones ..............Caicedo...................Zahibo Rowe.......................................................Diego ...............Bou........................Buksa
My hope is that with Jones and Buttner, one plays left mid, while the other plays left-back. I will acquiesce to the crowd on Caicedo and hope he plays well. So when Gil comes back that would mean a midfield of Gil, Jones/Buttner, Caicedo, and Bunbury(?). Or a rotation of players depending on who we are playing.
RECAP: Revolution Top Portland Timbers, 3-1, to Conclude Preseason February 22, 2020 11:33PM EST revolutionsoccer.net
I'd be very surprised if Penilla didn't start on the wing. I'd also be surprised to see all 3 of Rowe, Diego, and Zahibo share the field. Despite my own preference for Caicedo, Bruce seems to prefer Scotty Caldwell right now. That doesnt strike me as a sustainable way to win soccer games, but I guess well just have to wait and see. With the exception of Bou, Buksa, Penilla and Turner I dont think any of the currently healthy guys are irreplaceable
I don't expect Caicedo to start as he only played 30 minutes all preseason and didn't play in the last game. Without really exploring the particular matchups and game specific tinkering Bruce might do, I'd expect the lineup to look the same to the Portland game. The only place where I'd guess there could be some changes would be the central midfield. I expect Caldwell to start, but it wouldn't surprise me if Rowe didn't start. Everyone else who started vs Portland will most likely start against Montreal.
Probably right about Caicedo. I wonder about Rowe too - against Portland, I felt he was subbed out because he was ineffective. I feel like Rennicks is coming on - just not sure if BA is ready to start him. I also think it's possible that Arena has been saving Gil for the regular season. It's hard to know, since no one seems to be able to get much information (it's a foot injury, but considered 'minor' ... yet he hasn't played a minute?).
For what it's worth, ESPN's preseason power rankings have the revs #7. https://www.espn.com/soccer/major-l...toplafc-no-2-inter-miami-has-a-long-way-to-go
Little love for Gil and Matt. https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020...layers-every-position-ahead-2020-greg-seltzer. No Revs in 50-26. Though I expect we see Matt, Gil or both in 25-1 https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/02/25/top-50-mls-players-2020-season
So per the Pod Cast it sounds like Caicedo, Buttner and Delamea are close to 90 minutes fit. Gil is still questionable and is not in full training. Some good news I guess
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020/02/25/top-50-mls-players-2020-season Gil #8 and Bou #14. Only two keepers that I saw on the list, Frei 34 and Hamid 46.
Paul Mariner replaced by Charlie Davies: Revolution Announce 2020 Broadcast Team February 27, 2020 10:41AM EST revolutionsoccer.net
I'm a Mariner fan. I'm very interested as to why Mariner is moving on. Or, "being moved." Does he have some other avenue he wanted to pursue? Or, was there some sort of "fit" problem - e.g., did he cost too much?; or, he was too objective at times with his commentary? etc. Jeff, what's the official word on why fans will hear less of @Paul_Mariner?(His less-varnished narrative helped keep broadcasts balanced, and made for good #NERevs listening. He knew whose payroll he was on, but nonetheless avoided flat-out "rah rah".)(Also: Charlie's great.)— A Casual Fan (@A_Casual_Fan) February 27, 2020
A paul/charlie team would have been fun, if unstructured. Brad, like many holdovers from the burns era, needs to be replaced
Eureka moment. Since 2013 I've watched most Revs games on tv or in person, listened to the revs podcasts, read message boards... and I just realized Jeff Lemieux and Brad Feldman were different people. Familiar with both names so never really thought about the fact that the person I thought was a singular person had two different names. Just a very strange realization after years. And I also really liked Paul Mariner and will miss hearing his commentary.
That was my hope when I saw the headline. Maybe Davies will improve over time, but I see it as a step backward initially. Mariner has seemed pretty reluctant to criticize the Revs even when it seems pretty obvious. Davies has been critical of the Revs, at times - we'll see if he's able to be do so in this role. FWIW, the announcement said that Mariner will still be involved in some games. Maybe somewhat like the Tommy Heinsohn role with the C's.
It is long past time for Brad to pass the torch. I still can't believe we went from Derek Rae, to Adrian Healey, to ... Brad Feldman? HTF did that happen? Only my fellow old people will understand the following words, but I'll always have a soft spot for Adrian Healey due to his time on FNX. My band once opened for his band way, WAY back when. Good times.