Some issues with COVID in Columbus right now. Source: Columbus Crew has an eighth confirmed COVID-19 case, awaiting follow-up test on inconclusive result on another player #Crew96 https://t.co/wlwzLlJIl3— Jacob Myers (@_jcmyers) December 1, 2020
Is there a protocol for a playoff game for MLS to declare "this team has now reached the threshold of too many sick players" ---> Mandatory Game Reschedule Or will they figure this one out on the fly?
I havent seen Columbus play that often but did watch the other night against Nashville and I have noticed one thing. I have seen two occasions where somebody chases the ball to the end line, then drops in in the center area for someone to have a hard, shot on goal. In both cases, a goal was scored. Arena better get the DMs to get back fast and pick up people in the middle, just inside the goal area. If they dont, BOOM big shot, maybe a goal. All in all, Im not all that worried about Columbus and if they keep testing positive for Covid.... who knows who they'll field?
New England Revolution coach Bruce Arena: "A one-off can favor the underdog" December 1, 2020 5:07PM EST Ari Liljenwall mlssoccer.com
National TV: ABC MATCHDAY GUIDE | Audi MLS Cup Playoffs | Revolution at Columbus Crew SC Elizabeth Pehota revolutionsoccer.net
At first I thought this was a 9th player, but it looks like just the official confirmation of the case Jacob Myers tweeted yesterday (posted above by @patfan1 ). Columbus Crew SC announce one additional positive COVID-19 test among players December 2, 2020 11:12AM EST MLSsoccer staff
Quite a climate change from one game to the next: 80's in Orlando, low 30's in Columbus. Still, I'd prefer the cold weather - once the game gets going, nobody should be affected by the cold. Cold weather games always remind me of my college teammates from Africa and the Caribbean: they couldn't stop shivering in November practices in upstate NY, no matter how many layers they had on!
Now the Revs have a player testing positive. Multiple sources tell ESPN that another #NERevs player (not Alex Buttner, which @TaylorTwellman reported previously) has tested positive for #COVID19. The latest positive was reported to team last Sun/Mon. Revs think cases are contained, but they will know more on Friday.— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) December 2, 2020
FWIW on Crew COVID updates. 1) We have had 8 players test positive since Nov. 22nd. 2) 7 last week and 1 this week. A 9th player was inconclusive and then tested negative. 3) 2 players tested positive last Sun/Mon (tested/announced), 4 more midweek, 1 on the weekend, and 1 after the Nashville game. 4) CB Vito Wormgoor, who is on the DL, is the player who tested positive on the week-end. The six who tested positive previously are: starting GK Eloy Room; starting RM Derrick Etienne; #2 LB Waylon Francis; Reserve CM Sebastian Berhalter; Reserve GK Jon Kempin, and reseeve F Miguel Berry. 5) All 7 positives from last week were asymptomatic positives. In theory, some *could* test negative befoe Sunday. 6) The player from this week is out for certain.
This player was not on the roster vs #OrlandoCity https://t.co/iPVmweDiZr— Taylor Twellman (@TaylorTwellman) December 2, 2020 Forgive me, I've not embedded tweets before. Taylor said the player wasn't on the roster against Orlando City.
If NASA, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or CDC has any surplus biohazard suits lying around, I humbly ask Messers. Kraft to send the Patriots jet post haste to procure them and wrap our boys up tight.
Crew supposedly has cleared one of the earlier positives to return to training today. Another on schedule to return tomorrow. Scuttlebutt is the 8th positive is a reserve winger, Mokhtar, which deprived viewers of a possible Mukhtar (for Nashville) vs Mokhtar battle last game. He had a good start of the year for us. Got hurt. Never really regained his form.
The Revs played well against Orlando on Sunday and won a difficult game on the road with heat and humidity. And none of the Rev’s starters played badly. So, it probably would be a good idea for Bruce Arena to start the same line-up against Columbus that he did against Orlando. So, the line-up would be this: ------------------------------------------Turner---------------------------------------- Buchanan----------------Farrell-----------------Kessler--------------------Jones -------------------------------Polster---------------Caldwell-------------------------- Gil----------------------------------------Bou-----------------------------------Bunbury --------------------------------------------Buksa-------------------------------------------- Given the Columbus Crew's situation with COVID, they could well start the same line-up against the Revs that they did against Nashville. Here is what the line-up could be: ------------------------------------------------Tarbell-------------------------------------- Afful--------------------------Mensah-----------------------Williams------------Valenzuela --------------------------------Nagbe-------------------------Artur------------------------------ Diaz--------------------------------------Zelerayan-----------------------------Pedro Santos -----------------------------------------------Zardes----------------------------------------------- I’ve watched the first half of Columbus’ game against Nashville. Here are my thoughts: 1. When the Crew High Press The Crew often press with both Gyasi Zardes and Lucas Zelerayan. In fact, when Columbus is pressing, Zelereyan often moves forward from playing underneath Zardes to playing about parallel to him. This can make it difficult for Columbus’ opponent to play out of the pressure. For the Revs, it’s important that, when Columbus presses, the Revs at least not least turn the ball over in their own third of the field. Otherwise, they could get scored on. In addition, when trying to break Columbus’ pressure, it’s important for the Revs to think quickly and focus on passing well. The Revs can break the press and maintain possession in the middle third—and even attacking third—of the field. Obviously, any time the Revs can get the ball to Carles Gil, it will help them break the press. He’s hard to dispossess and is and is an excellent passer. Matt Polster can also be helpful in breaking the press. He has good skill. But he’s got to stay focused. Sometimes it seems like he’s not fully tuned in, for instance, when he gave up the penalty kick against Orlando. 2. When Columbus loses the ball When the Crew lose the ball, they often try to recover it right away, within three second. In fact, this is a hallmark of Caleb Porter's teams. So, when New England wins the ball, it's important for them to pass crisply and smartly and know that they are likely to be immediately pressured. Moreover, if the Revs can break the immediate pressure, they may have an opportunity for a counterattack, because Columbus' might have their players forward and their momentum going forward. 3. Pedro Santos is a good crosser with his left foot Pedro Santos is left-footed and a good crosser with his left foot. And Gyasi Zardes is a good finisher, including in the air. The Revs should try to keep Santos from getting wide-open crosses. And if he is right about to get off a cross, the Revs should mark their men well, especially Zardes. Moreover, Santos has been productive for the Crew. This season, he has 6 goals and 8 assists. 4. Luis Diaz Columbus’ Costa Rican right-winger Luis Diaz is young (21) and seems a bit hot-headed. Against Nashville, he had a reckless tackle against Alex Muyl in the first half that should have gotten a yellow card. Perhaps Diaz could lose his cool against New England. 5. Nagbe Darlington Nagbe is terrific at maintaining possession in the middle third of the field. He may be the best player in MLS at doing so. He’s hard to dispossess. However, the Revs might be able to make it so that most of his dribbling and passes go sideways or backward rather than forward, including passes that break lines. By applying defensive pressure on him, teams can make him play conservatively. As good as he is, he’s not Diego Maradona. Also, although Nagbe scored MLS’s goal of the year this year, historically he has not been a great goal-scorer or provider of assists. For example, he had only 1 goal and 1 assist this regular season, though he does have a goal in the playoffs. 6. Artur Artur, who is Brazilian, has a good positional sense and is a good tackler. Additional Thoughts 1. Penalty Kicks and Red Cards Against Orlando, Matt Polster giving up the penalty kick to Daryl Dike was a big mistake. Dike was not at all in a dangerous position. Dike was at the edge of the penalty box with his back to goal and two Revs players (Andrew Farrell and Henry Kessler) in addition to Polster between Dike and the goal. Here’s a link to Polster’s foul: https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/m...s-new-england-revolution/details/video/250214 And my understanding is that, at the pro level, penalty kicks are converted about 75 percent of the time. So, Polster should have made sure that he did not touch Dike. And there’s a lesson here: The Revs should be very careful not to give up penalty kicks. Penalty kicks are converted the vast majority of the time. And it’s generally harder for a player to score in the run of play than with a penalty kick. This is especially true of the Revs because they have such a good goalkeeper. On shots in the run of play, Turner is really hard to beat. Red cards are another easy-to-avoid mistake that can hurt a team. This season the Revs have had only two red cards, one by Scott Caldwell against DC United on August 25 and one by Polster (it was two yellows) against the Philadelphia Union on September 12. Here is Caldwell’s: https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/m...s-new-england-revolution/details/video/234300 Here is Polster’s: https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/m...s-new-england-revolution/details/video/237919 The Revs are a good team, with one of the best goalkeepers in the league and one of the best field players in the league (Carles Gil). They can beat Columbus. If the Revs don’t get any red cards or give up any penalty kicks, they have a good shot of winning Sunday’s game. 2. Should Arena have parked the bus against Orlando? Against Orlando, Arena had the team play very defensively starting no later than after Orlando’s Mauricio Pereyra got a red card? Was that too soon for Arena to have the team go into a shell? I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, the Revs were up a goal and up a man. And there was reason to believe that if they played defensively, perhaps they could get out of the game with a 2-1 win. Moreover, in the Revs’ previous game (against the Philadelphia Union), Arena had the team play very defensively for most, if not all, of the second half. In fact, at one point, Kelyn Rowe, who was playing left midfield, ventured out a little wide so that the Revs’ were less packed in defensively. Arena yelled at him: "We’re killin' the game off, Kelyn! Stay inside!" And it worked. The Revs stayed defensive and compact and beat the Union 2-0. But the game against Orlando felt a little different. When the Revs went into a shell, they were ahead by only one goal and they had an extra man. So, should they have pushed forward more than they did to try to have a good deal of possession in the middle third and attacking third of the field? It’s not as if I think they should have pushed everything forward to try to score. But should they have pushed forward more and been more committed to maintaining possession in the middle third and attacking third? The idea being: If the Revs have possession in Orlando’s third, it could make it harder for Orlando to score than if the Revs just concede two-thirds of the field to Orlando. Orlando didn’t have to work much to get the ball and their players all the way up to the Revs’ third of the field. Moreover, the Revs’ strategy almost didn’t work. Polster conceded a penalty kick. If Nani makes that kick, Orlando would have had a good chance to take it to a penalty kick shootout at the end of overtime. And a penalty kick shootout is a crapshoot. So, perhaps the Revs should have played moderately more offensively after Pereyra’s red card. Perhaps the Revs could have gotten the ball and their players forward and Orlando’s players back, which might have made it harder for Orlando to score. What ended up happening is that the Revs played American football-style "prevent defense" and conceded the ball and two-thirds of the field to Orlando, when the Revs were up a man. However, in soccer—arguably unlike American football—"prevent defense" often works. For instance, it worked for Greece in the 2004 European Championship, which Greece won. And if, in the 1982 World Cup, the great Brazil team had played less offensively against Italy after Brazil had tied the game 2-2, then perhaps the game would have ended in a draw, which would have enabled Brazil to advance to the semifinals. Instead, Brazil played too undisciplined, attacked too much and allowed the Italians to get a third goal in the 74th minute and beat them 3-2. And Brazil went home. It was a tragedy. Here’s an article on the famous Brazil-Italy game from the 1982 World Cup: https://www.esquire.com/uk/culture/...y-was-one-of-footballs-greatest-ever-matches/ Here are (blurry) highlights of the game: So, there’s a fine and important line. But was Arena’s team on the wrong side of that line against Orlando? Nani easily could have made that penalty kick, which would have tied the game 2-2. Then Orlando would have played super-defensively and perhaps scored on a counterattack or taken the game to a penalty kick shootout. And if Arena did play too defensively against Orlando, what can the Revs learn from it for the game against Columbus on Sunday? It’s a tough call. But if the Revs have a lead against Columbus in the second half, perhaps they should be careful not to play super-defensively too soon. The Revs are good enough in possession that they don’t need to play like the 2004 Greeks to win. And conceding so much possession and territory to Orlando made an outcome like Polster’s giving up a penalty kick a possibility.
I have some additional thoughts on tomorrow's game. First, on twitter, it has been said that Columbus Crew starting goalkeeper Eloy Broom and left back Waylon Francis are listed as questionable for tomorrow’s match against the Revolution. Here: #Crew96 list Eloy Room and Waylon Francis as questionable for Sunday’s game against #NERevs. Sebastian Berhalter, Miguel Berry, Chris Cadden, Derrick Etienne, Jon Kempin and Vito Wormgoor are all “medically not cleared to play."— Patrick Murphy (@_Pat_Murphy) December 5, 2020 Broom has quick reflexes and is good at blocking shots. In the quarterfinals of the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup, Broom played well for Curacao against the US. The US beat Curacao only 1-0. Here is a link to highlights of the game: Broom’s quick reflexes are on display at the end of the sequence starting at the :17 minute mark. However, sometimes Broom might be a little too slow to come off his line. This is visible in the sequence starting at minute :29 of the above video. Broom also will spill the ball from time to time and allow for rebounds. Here is a link to an example: https://matchcenter.mlssoccer.com/m...namo-vs-columbus-crew-sc/details/video/245882 On a different note, in watching the Crew's Eastern Conferences Semifinal game against Nashville, I noticed that one of the Crew’s two starting center-backs, Jonathan Mensah, seemed to be significantly better at playing the ball out of the back than Josh Williams, the other center-back. Although Williams is a physically strong player (6’ 2”, 192 lbs.) with good athleticism, passing is not his strong suit. He often passes conservatively or kicks hopeful balls up field. So, perhaps the Revolution should pressure the Crew in such a way that Williams (and not Mensah) is more likely to have to play the ball out of the back. In other words, when the Crew is playing the ball out of the back, perhaps the Revs should mark Mensah much more tightly than Williams, so that Williams gets the ball. He then will be forced to pass it out of the back. His passes are more likely than Mensah’s to lead to turnovers. It would be similar to in American football: If an offense has a great running game and a poor passing attack, the defense generally should put eight or nine players in the box and force the offense to beat them with the pass. Finally, there have been some good articles written on tomorrow’s game between the Revs and Columbus: 1. Here is a link to an article by mlssoccer.com’s Matt Doyle in which he provides a tactical preview of tomorrow’s game: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020...al-preview-mls-cup-playoffs-conference-finals Doyle emphasizes how good the Crew’s Gyasi Zardes is at making off-the-ball runs. Zardes has good timing and switches up his runs: He zigs when you think he’s gonna zag. Zardes also has good endurance and never gives up. He tries very hard. And, obviously, he is the Crew’s most dangerous player. This regular season and playoffs, he has 14 goals in 23 games. The three next highest goal-scorers for the Crew this season (regular season and playoffs) together have 19 goals. So, it’s vital that the Revolution mark Zardes closely, stay goalside of him on crosses and challenge him on crosses—whether the crosses be on the ground or in the air. 2. Here is a link to an article by Austin Lindberg of espn.com on how the Revolution has managed to make it to the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals: https://www.espn.com/soccer/new-eng...wn-to-arenagilbou-and-owners-willing-to-spend Lindberg details the steps that the Revolution has taken—from hiring Bruce Arena, to acquiring Carles Gil, Gustavo Bou and Adam Buksa and to building a new $35 million training facility—that has helped the organization improve significantly. 3. Finally, here is a link to a nice article by mlssoccer.com’s Charles Boehm on the good relationship that Arena has with Columbus Crew head coach Caleb Porter: https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2020...land-columbus-coaches-have-great-relationship The two coaches respect each other a lot.
Since my wife won't be home to laugh at me, I might drag out some of the old Revs stuff that I don't fit into anymore (had season tickets back in the 90s) for my one-person watch party. Let's go!