I guess no one else has started it, so I mine as well. Obviously a tale of two halves...the first was just boring and lethargic, but the second was riveting once play opened up over the whole field. thought Ralston played well but looks real frustrated without the assistance of a true play-maker in the midfield.
This is my first post, although I've been reading this board for some time...my first reaction was massive relief...thought the first half wasn't half bad (excuse the pun) because there was some semblance of a passing game and they weren't behind at the half. Have to agree, though, the second half was massively entertaining...very good goals and Ruiz is sharpening his acting/thug skills. This team can play well when it wants to and today it did....I thought no one had a bad day, but Adin looked a little shaky...can we blame travel fatigue or the new ball? Does anyone else think LA's defense is overrated?
Even a boring first half was HUGE improvement over 4 HORRENDOUS halves to open the home season! A solid win, well-deserved...Twellman coulda had 4 but Hartmann impressed...he had no right to get a couple those shots he stopped. A happy camper tonight!
What a difference a game makes. Score the first goal and you're (*shudder*) Real Madrid. Give up the first goal and try to play catch up against the soundest team in the league - boo the bums. Not to put too fine a point on it - but LA tonight looked like NE did last week. Maybe the fans should develop a more long term outlook. This year as much as any in the MLS, first goal tells the tale. SIDE NOTE: Colorado/Dallas: "Ya know, we really could use a guy like Hernandez..." NE: And you are...?
Great result in the end. During the first half the REVs were playing their usual stuff, 1-2- lose the ball. There were some great individual plays gone to waste for lack of continuity. The passes were too late, too short or just plain stupid. JMM inaction is showing. His markmanship is quite bad now. He also has now a "fominha" (too hungry) attitude trying to score when there are players better situated. He also was guilty of being not quite there for the passes. Adin Brown had buterfingeritis but was able to recover in time, except on the rocket that was saved on the line. In the second half the REVs came back playing wider and realized that the Galaxy was no Juventus or Real Madrid. They are missing the distribution and play making of Cienfuegos and Cobi was just running around like a dizzy cockroach. Soon the REVs are going to the right with Heaps and Raslton give ans take, TnT is able to open the game to the right because there are blue bodies there and the REVs became an offensive power missing enormous chances for poor finishing or Hartmann defenses. Great result in the end. BTW was Hernandez the lucky charm? MTM Rusty,Joseph and TnT
An excellent win by you lot... ...I figure Fat Sigi cleaned out the gallery on the flight back to California.
nice win for you guys - im just gonna say this: if steve ralston will play with the confidence he showed today, i say arena needs to start him against wales in hejduk's place PERIOD
quote:Originally posted by Jim Dow It is a long, complicated way of documenting the fact that when the Revs penetrate and pass or cross they win, when they don't they lose. Response by RKupp..... All true, but I think it all comes back to scoring the first goal. Well, we both were right! Congrats to the Revs, a wonderful win in style! JIM DOW
You have just described the Galaxy's first 5 games, except you left off uninspired, lack of flair, orange cones instead of midfielders, and nothing resembling intensity or attacking soccer. My God, I sound like a Rev fan.
I'm trying to figure this one out, and I'm thinking that LA stinking was a big part of this. Those guys can't score with Ruiz and Jones? It's almost like...us not scoring with TnT and JMM. Neither of them looked sharp today, again (compared, say, to the Dallas game.) The D looked very solid, but I agree that AB seemed subpar. Shalrie Joseph continues to get better every game. Even if he didn't improve anymore this year, he'd be a find. I was 38 minutes late for this one and had to listen for the first time to Meterparel. You guys weren't exaggerating. he is vomitrocious. Ironically, color commentarist Mike Noonan was excellent. So the team wins, and DH is now the answer? I'm still interested in the team locating a center mid or a left wing who can accelerate the attack.
A few thoughts on the match: -At the half I thought to myself "This was the best half I've seen the Revs play at home this year". And as boring as it was, I was right. The second half, well it just blew me away, and entirely different team than the one I had watched play the 2 1/2 games before. -One of the biggest gripes after the first two home games was the passing. True, the passing was poor, but in the first half today they came out and were able to string together a few passes, nothing much came of it. In the second half, they addressed what the real problem had been up to that point: They ran. They ran with the ball, they ran without the ball, they lost the ball and instead of stopping ran after it, they ran to space, they ran to mark. A team that runs is not only a team that will win, but it's a team that is fun to watch. Today we ran. -When Hernandez came in for Cullen...There was a pretty decent ovation for Leo as he came off the field. Why? Is it just me, or has he worn an invisibility cloak every minute he's been on the field this year? With the exception of his save on the goal line today, I haven't noticed him at all this season, good or bad. -The answer is Shalrie Joseph. I'm not exactly sure what the question is, but Shalrie's the answer. AMid perhaps? He's certainly creative on the ball and for the most part is finding teammates to give the ball to. If Hernandez can play like he did today, those two would certainly make a nice combo in the center of midfield. As I mentioned above, Leo has seemingly brought nothing to the table thus far. With that in mind I'd like to see Hernandez and Shalrie start together in middle and see what happens (or might that sacrifice too much in the defensive midfield). -Final thought...The sun absolutely killed me today in 108. Praying for rain, or at least clouds, on 7/12.
As boring as that first half may have been, the Revs still had the better of it. It was nice to see them dominate in the 2nd. LA's got more problems to weed out than we do. I think Joe Max and Twellman are going to get better and better together as we go along. Hopefully the Revs have put the lethargic efforts behind them and will now string together some wins.
Pheonix like nice work. after watching NE digging the grave for mls on the duece twice, the revs finally showed they can play an attractive attacking brand of football. keep it up!
Re: Re: LA-Revs Post-match No, y'all out in LA are amateurs in this realm. You'll have to practice for a few more years still before you even start to sound like us.
what you've been missing is what cullen does quietly, pick up anything joesph missed and put it back in.
The best effort from 1 to 11 that I have seen from this club in a long time. Usual whipping boys Cullen and Heaps had their best games of the year simply because they got involved in the attack. Heaps did a nice job of switching off with Ralston at the right times, and he set up Kamler's goal with a nice run. Ralston set up several nice opportunities that just weren't finished. Captain Joey still can't pass, and Shalrie Joseph is still the only one on the team who can win a 50-50 head ball, but not much else to complain about (except that I lost my big RevsCup battle with Cervejas Frias by 3 points...). Should be an interesting game in KC, they are scoring tons of goals right now.
I've found the comments about Cullen interesting. Most say he;s invisable but then isn't that just what a good DMF seems to be when he's doing his job well? I think the above quote says it all. Please note SN's comments about Cullens work rate. I think Cullen will be starting for quite some time to come. That having been said, I also would like to see DH and Joseph get a start together. I don't think we will see this any time son though because we would be giving up a little too much in defense. In KC I expect we will play a conservative defensive road match and inject DH is we need a spark in the second half. George
Re: Re: LA-Revs Post-match Not that invisible. Cullen has a good touch and decent vision, but he is a no-show at pressuring the ball, does'nt tackle, and almost never wins 50/50 balls. If you watch him he spends a lot of time guarding space - although it was nice to see him guarding the space at the far post. None of these qualities cause for ringing praise for a DMF. Nicol knows his guys well (look at Kamler dammit!), but Cullen is just not an MLS starter.
Well I, for one, am aghast at the way the team played yesterday. They clearly need an attacking midfielder and a whole new defense and a coach who prefers another system. I mean, sure, they won, but it really looked terrible, and I'm probably going to give up my season tickets and just watch pro-lacrosse from now on. I can't put up with this stuff any longer. ;-)
Ralston was given MOTM, but I think Joseph was MOTM. I'm glad Hernandez made those comments or we probably wouldn't have tried Joseph a D-mid yet. Joseph had a very solid game. All in all a very good game for the Revs. BTW, what's wrong with the Galaxy this season? They only have 3 points and they didn't lose anyone from last year as far as I know.
We're still trying to figure it out. Underachieving? Bad karma? Missing Cienfuegos? It's really puzzling. Obviously you're talking about NE, but for a moment, I swear you were talking about LA.
I think LA is struggling b/c "The Little Fish" isn't producing. And why? Because the refs know he flops and they're not giving him the calls he so desperately wants, and the defenses around the league are doing a good job shutting him down. The Revs D did a fantastic job at keeping Ruiz out of the game. And Adin Brown made some great saves as well.
easy, figured this out in the offseason, just wasn't sure if it would be this bad. no offense - cant rely on Ruiz, Revs would have had this problem if they didnt sign Moore, but i think Twellman is a better player then Ruiz anyway. i think they are doin worse because of hong. they expected a lot from him and is getting crap.
It's a little thing, but I liked Llamosa coming forward a bit more than usual, distributing the ball from the attacking side of the center circle. If nothing else, it seemed to push Cullen and Joseph forward more (Kamler too) with obviously good results. Apparently, someone performed an exorcism on Jay Heaps. His play was 180 degrees opposite last week. His willingness to move into the center of attacking play clears space for Ralston nicely. Brian