I certainly didn't think that us singing in the Fort while the girl was is disrespectful at all. Quite frankly, it's something more Americans should do. Ever watch a full international with two other countries? Ever notice how just about EVERYBODY sings the national anthem of their respective country? It's an amazing sight (and sound) when you have literally thousands of people showing their patriotism, but for some reason we as Americans would rather sit back, be quiet, and let some rich celebrity sing it for us. Please, if that's all you have to gripe about the Revs must've played a good game
I took it as a subtle nod to Aalesund. This was a historic moment, IMO. Our team has never, ever had flank speed like Nyassi has. He is going to scare the urine out of opposing teams. I have to think Wells Thompson had a restless night last night. Even TT will have to bring his A game Way too much Castro-bashing - no, not bashing exactly - but his game and Nyassi's game aren't the same. He will be judged ultimately on how similar he is to Ralston, not Smith or one of the other flyers. I doubt he has ever played a game at a temperature within 30 degrees of the one he played last night, and I thought he got stuck in well enough. He holds the ball well, and there were very few errant balls, whcih is more than I can say for SJ or JL. SJ continues to be the one (sorry, Taylor) indispensable player on the team. If anyone on NER deserves a DP salary, it is he. I'm all for hanging a huge Gambian flag.
Gambians - already discussed, and agreed. Seeing them live now shows they are ready for this level. Castro - for a 1st comptetive game, pretty well. Remember his first touch was a laser shot on frame in the 2nd minute that Onstad had to kick save. He clearly faded, and as long as he doesn't get injured trying to get match fit, he will be a good find. If we had Khano or Wells, Castro would have come off at about the 75. (And no one should be amazed that we did so well without Wells or Smith - they were average players, who will now find themselves to be good off-the-bench guys) Shalrie and Ralston - Really were monsters all night - playing the entire width -were really the engine that allowed us to attack so much. Defense - Parkhurst was his usual stellar self. I agree with the comments that our def depth being questionable - Heaps and Albright are the type of players that need to know they have someone nipping hard at their heels for their starting spot. It really was a fantastic game. My only complaint (and of course there has to be one): When did everyone start getting their numbers changed to begin with a "7"? What do you say? That was a "1" with some really annoying font? Ralston's number is not "74"? Oh Okay? I guess I can live with it.
I can't add much to what's been said before except to reiterate a few points and generate some Random Thoughts... That was a dominant performance with our leading scorer on the bench. Its pure speculation, but if a healthy Twellman were out there instead of Christman, we might have had two more goals. And as long as we are quoting movies, I kept thinking of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid..."Who are those guys ?" My opinion is that Castro did fine. He and "Nasty" were asked to play alot of defense and they did. The 19 yo clearly was able to keep up the pace the whole game, however. Both made some fine defensive plays tracking back. Compared to Nyassi, Castro didn't look as good but think back about how Wells Thompson looked in his first start last year The backline was terrific. Heaps was not beat 1 v 1 at all. The header clearances were mostly solid. By the way Ralston was walking off, it looked like a separated shoulder. At best 2 weeks out. More likely 4-6. If this is not the first one he has had, he may be facing surgery if the ligaments are lax. Taylor tweaked his knee in practice two days ago. Its "day to day" as they say. Props to the Fort...you guys sounded great ! Its only one game, but Stevie Nicol looks like a genious again, doesn't he ?
Love the kits, hate the font for the numbers.... For a team that seemingly didn't do much except lose players in the off-season, the looked like a very different team.... exciting not just efficient... Heaps impressed me on the left.... made some real shut down plays in the first half... No TNT was a surprise.... but Ralston's injury worries me more.... New ref uni's were brutally ugly. Kinda like some of the (non) calls.....
Well, that was awesome. I disagree about all the hating of Castro. He put in good crosses and is at least as good as Khano. My worry is that he "sold" some fouls and i really don't want a Ruiz on our team. The Gambians...what can be said that hasn't? I agree Christman was great, but i still think Mansally should get the spot with TNT. the 2 are too similar, and that's one reason why he did well yesterday, no TNT. the Fort had some early trouble, but we were rocking after the 1st goal on. But where was the Super-Revs banner?
ok-I am a Houston guy but I come in peace with questions: Cristman-is a F or a M naturally and what the heck was playing last night-he was all over the place? What happened to Parkhurst-was he Europe bound, did he have visa problems? Is Kano still on the roster-it got hard to concentrate with who was coming in and going out since I was in a sports bar
SANCTUM REPORT CARD #1 - Houston Dynamo @HOME - 3-0 Yes, there are a lot of A's handed out this match. When you win 3-0 against the reigning champs minus your star striker and both wings, you are more than doing your job. Cristman - A- If you are a striker and you score, you are doing something right. Just a poacher goal, a la TT. And you know, Cristman hasn't scored in a real game in a long time, he must have been happy. He looked good on that breakaway where he stole the ball, but he should have scored. Mansally - A Great speed, excellent start to hopefully a great Revs career. He has pushed Cristman to the bench when TT is healthy. Ralston - B+ A solid effort from Steve, hate to see him hurt. Joseph - A Dominated the midfield, was critical on defense, and had a lot of nice passes, as well as possessed the ball and settled the team when recovering from a Houston offensive. Larentowicz - B+ His defense was stunning again, but I would have liked to have seen less giveaways. Nyassi - A+ The consensus man of the match. Really looked fast and covered the whole pitch. Has just knocked Thompson to the sidelines Castro - B He did hold the ball a little too much, but his skills were clearly evident, and he drew some great fouls. Seems like a very smart player. Agree with others that putting him at AM with Ralston probably out is an interesting idea. Heaps - A The whole defensive line looked very solid. Jay had a good game. Parkhurst - A He is da man. Albright - A- Maybe the weakest of the three, but the Revs looked good on defense and held Houston at bay for the grand majority of the game. Reis - A What a great save! That was one of the best plays of the game. A clean sheet for Reis-Parkhurst-Heaps-Albright. Nice job defense, although much of the credit goes to Larentowicz and Joseph shutting everything down and the whole team hustling for every ball and winning most of the 50-50s. Nicol - A+ Coach knows how to pick players. Outstanding opening game, the team looked they were in a different league from the Dynamo.
He isn't as fast as Khano, once Khano gets up to speed, but he looked equal or better than Khano in every other aspect. And, there is something to be said for NOT taking 15 seconds to settle the ball and get up to speed. IIRC, Castro was not given 15-20 yds of free space like Khano usually is. I wonder why...
Cristman is a forward, and that is where he was playing last night. Parkhurst opted to play out his contract, see what happens next year. He holds an Irsih passport through his father so visa's and work permits shouldn't be an issue if he opts for Europe. Khano is still on the roster, not available last night due to Bermudian National team duty.
Not sure what Cristman is "naturally" but he's generally considered to be a forward. Parkhurst is an American citizen who also has a Republic of Ireland passport. He's playing out the last year of his contract at present. Not sure exactly what you're asking, but he may go to Europe next year. He was on the field, if that wasn't clear. Count me in among those who thought better of Castro than some here have indicated. While I think he faded a bit (probably mostly fitness-wise) I think he showed good skills, a surprisingly good understanding with Ralston given how little they've played together, and the ability to recognize when things should be slowed down. The rest of the team has not typically done that; it seems to me that they play at top speed until they run out of gas, fade for a while and catch their breath, and then charge full speed ahead again. I have always hoped that they would get to the point where the players on the field could recognize when it's appropriate to play calmer possession for a while before turning on the jets again. Now, Castro's trying to do this all by himself is not a good thing, it has to be in conjunction with everybody else. But I did think it was intentional a few times, and not just fear of attacking, or not knowing his teammates (although those were likely factors as well at times). Oh, and it was pretty freaking cold out there when the wind was blowing. Not too bad when it wasn't. I was a little surprised at how good the crowd was. Sure glad I went, though!
I don't think having an opinion on his play is being hard. I do think though that his apparent style (to be confirmed) will land him on SN's bench. He's very much a Cancela type of player and we all know how SN likes them. Holding the ball, having good skills and drawing has Cancela out of the league today. It seemed that on more then one occasion, we'd have a good break going until he decided to dribble instead of move the ball quickly, and the break evaporated. It's still Smith's position to lose. Wells on the other hand is going to have a big problem I am very high on the Gambians. This was the most exciting game I've seen the Revs play in a long time. SN must find a way to keep the kids on the field. Their speed will open up so much for the Revs and TnT must be drooling to get in there. Somebody said in an earlier post that SN was down playing their development? WTF is that all about? They're great and they will boost his average a lot.
You'd have to think SN saw something else in him. I just can't imagine SN saying to himself, "Hmmm, I think I'll go out and pick me a Cancela type player..."
Must resist excessive optimism. . . Must resist excessive . . . Must resist Oh, WTF . . . What makes a successful team? Solid defense. A strong spine. Unpredictability in the final third. Good team chemistry. Defense -- Parkhurst was spectacular yesterday. Ching and DeRo alone make that a difficult team to defend. Michael played like he was reading their minds. He was cutting out balls effortlessly because he was always two steps ahead of the Dynamos. Albright won't be able to play a 3-5-2? I don't think so. Very solid outing for a player in a new position. And Heaps? Great job on his off side. Reis was a rock. That save on Holden was up there with some of his best ever. Spine -- As someone said earlier, Shalrie was a man among boys. But people, one of those "boys" was DeRo, one of the best in the league. Shalrie's D, distribution and calmness on the ball were a delight. Rallie was solid in the middle. Has the smarts to unleash the speed of the Gambians and manage the attack. I agree with Dr Jay that it looked like an AC separation. Let's hope it's minor and the first one so he's back soon. Unpredictability -- OK, so the Gambians are fast. And the Gambians have skill. But what about the pass to Shalrie breaking to the byline late in the game. Do you mean to say that, at age 19, Nyassi also has vision. Sheesh! I agree that Castro was playing a different game than the others, but, for someone new to the team, it's not a big surprise. Meanwhile, he's got pretty impressive ball skills. First shot on target. (Anyone remember Khano's acccuracy issues?) I didn't notice it at the game, but the FSC guys pointed out that he was taking right-footed inswinging corners. Nice to have a truly two-footed player, especially if he's going to have to move to the middle while Ralston's out. Chemistry -- For a new team, there seemed to be very good interaction and a lot of enjoyment of the success. (Easy to have when you win 3-0) Mariner gave Mansally a big hug when he came off -- I don't recall seeing that before. Did others see the smile on Shalrie's face when Nyassi came over to him after he scored. He looked like an overjoyed big brother. Hope it's real and lasts. Issues -- (Besides the fact that it's only one game) Where was TnT? I know why he wasn't playing, but I didn't see him on the bench. First game of the season. Even if he was hurt, he should be supporting the team. (I admit that he could have been there. It's hard to see through the plexiglass and everyone was bundled up. Please correct me if someone saw him on the bench.) TnT needs to be on the field, but I worry that the team needs to move beyond just providing him service. Part of what made our attack unpredictable was that we had several players threatening. If the game reverts to lots of players trying to get the ball to Twellman in the box, it won't be good. Ralston out for an extended period could hurt. Castro needs to have some time to get up to the speed of play here. He's not going to get it if he's in the middle of the pitch from now on. Could be a fun season. Can we backdate our point predictions?
Just got done watching the highlights - as I couldn't attend last night - and I'm shocked that one of the biggest stories seems to be going uncommented on: Did Heaps cut his hair ??!! I did find it interesting that neither Albright nor Heaps got much discussion in the post-game comments which is a good thing as both were playing new positions. For all of the comments that 9 of the 11 starters are back from the MLS Cup, we tended to overlook that in last night's game we had 6 field players either new to the starting role, or new to the position they were playing. Shows you the value of having the 'spine' of Parkhurst, Joseph, Larentowicz and Ralston in place (not to mention Reis.) Oh boy, this is going to be an interesting MLS season once again! GOOO REVVVVVSSS!!
One other thing -- am I just caught up in exuberant overenthusiasm or did the Revs execute way more through-balls and good off-the-ball runs than they typically do? The team seemed a lot more fluid, although that may be a function of not hoofing the ball all the time, although there was a period in the second half where we started playing a little Route 1. And let's not forget that we have a Costa Rican U-20 international coming in on Tuesday. He didn't have the spectacular U-20 WC that Nyassi and Mansally did, but on the positive side Nicol liked him enough to pay a transfer fee. Another young guy to be excited about?
After last nights game this is what I think the Starting lineup should be with everyone healthy: -----------Reis---------- --Albright--Parky---Heaps ----Larento-----SJ------- Nyassi----Ralston----Castro -----Mansally---Twellman---
It's just one game, but I have the sneaking suspicion Steve Nicol pulled off the heist of the decade signing these two Gambians. Immense potential. Castro will be fine. He's got 10X the skill of Khano, and when he gets on the same page with the rest of the team, Smith can stay in Bermuda. Heaps looked pretty good on the left, like he'd been playing over there for years. Match Day 1 and no worries. Enjoy it.
I'd much rather have Castro in the AM slot. Khano's speed on the wings, paired with Nyassi's, is going to be lethal. Castro played effectively, but often sat on the ball and waited to try and juke someone out and deliver a ball in. He's much more of an AM in my opinion. Only problem with that is where to put Ralston when he's back? I really really really want Khano on that left wing, he had a great pre-season and his speed is still effective in the league.
It was mentioned SEVERAL times in my section (by me??) about how handsome he looked. I guess he did alright on the field too??? Our defense was solid, but it has been for a couple years now with Heaps and Parkhurst. I'm not going to rush judgment on Albright until we see more games. I didn't really miss Twellman at all which saddens/surprises me. The new guys proved they can handle starting positions. I really hope Ralston is alright. His shoulder looked gross. I also feel super important with the new tickets/lanyards that season ticketholders get to wear. On occasion I flashed it at random people. Immediately following I realized how incredibly lame it was and only did it like two or three more times. I also wanted to say that I love the new signs/banners in the fort area with the pictures of the players on them. I was far away with poor vision so I could only make out a few of them, but the ones I could looked awesome. I may need the Khano one made into a t-shirt.
This is the best Revs game ever, and after this game, I know its the most exciting team we've had by far. The Gambians and Castro add what we were missing. I think they should open the lower deck completely around the stadium and keep the other endzone closed as it is right now. Glad to see a team that now people will go and watch.
Khano's attack-killing brain farts will be lethal to the Revs offense in that lineup, he wouldnt be able to keep up mentally with the speed. I know Khano has loads of speed, but the game would be so high-paced that I think his WTF? moments that we've become used to would double, stick with the midfield SN started with last night IMO.
Khano was easily one of our best players in the playoffs, and was 2nd in assists on the team overall last season, behind Ralston. I don't see why people continue to doubt what he can do. Yes, he does occasionally make some weird ass moves, but he gets the job done and produces. If I'm not mistaken, he was our 2nd leading goal-scorer in the preseason as well. His goof-ups can't be any worse than Castro diving for a free kick.
I will take responsibility for starting the anthem. I wasn't thinking great patriotic thoughts, just ********ing cold. Yes, the test will be whether we can repeat this performance against a team that wants to play, not just bump into people for body warmth. Who did we have in the past that could run onto a through ball? Darren Sawatzky. Would you want to play a ball to him? Cristman, please take notes on how to finish a 1v1. We all looked bigger due to the 18 layers of clothing.
For every time he makes a play that helps the Revs win a game he makes 4 that kill an attack or lead to a goal for the other team. Khano will make a nice substitute, but after what I saw from Castro last night(and I appear to be in the minority) I think he should be the starter.