The better team won - they simply dominated and deserved it. It's sad but (now that I've calmed down), I realize that I _liked_ watching this team for long stretches of the season. To my consumer point-of-view, that's an improvement. Their record wasn't that bad, either. A small consolation, but an indication of some improved quality. Funny how Shuttleworth looked a lot like Farrell this match. Kevin D.
I'd argue that the first half was 100% KC, they deserved a few more than 1 goal, but the soccer gods took until OT to finally punish the Revs for bunkering and lack of possession. I really wish the Revs showed more ambition on the counter, as I thought there were several opportunities to have a few breakaways. I think in the face of high pressure, the Revs didn't do themselves many favors by quickly losing possession, leading to attack after attack. I'm also not sure what their strategy was on defense, the seemed to be inviting crosses early in the game, but had trouble clearing the ball, but then later in the game, they were trying to prevent the cross and ended up letting KC run down the end line. Not that its too much to ask of Deigo to defend deep, but that's really not his game. When Heaps saw that KC was going to push their backs up and force Deigo to play more defense than offense, why didn't he get him off earlier? I though a lack of adjustments really costs the revs. Credit to Reis and the majority of the team who played with grit and heart for 120.
That sounds incredibly painful, but in the long run, is that better than an ACL tear which is what most people were guessing?
I've had a torn quad from doing almost exactly the same thing Reis did. He'll be ready on opening day.
tough turnover from diego on the goal. i'm sure he'll learn from it. as soon as they announced barrett was coming in the game i literally yelled "jesus christ, not ********ing barrett!" woke up my wife, she was not happy. it didn't take long for him to ******** up and it cost us the game for all intents and purposes.
I can see what Heaps hopes to get from Barrett, but he hasn't really delivered on it all season. He would have been better off not making any change. To lose Sinovic on an overlap like that is pretty unforgivable for a guy who has come in to pressure and hustle his butt off for a few minutes. And, although Reis was outstanding, he did make the blunder which killed us in the end (kind of like the Revs performance in game one - outstanding play to put 2 in the back of the net, but it was the one we gave back that may have killed us). Would love to see the high angle on Benny's interception to see if he was hiding, Reis was screened, or ? That's a mistake Reis virtually never makes. I didn't think about it until it was all over, but if we came up with a miracle tying goal in the last minute, we still would have been trying to win PK's with Farrell or ??? in the net. Basically, when Reis pulled up, we were done. For KC, Collin and Zusi, in particular, were outstanding. Zusi was the best player on the field by a good margin. I also agree with those who cite KC's superior depth. They were able to bring some good fresh players in, while we went with basically the same crew. Despite being younger, we were the team that tired down the stretch. Caldwell played really, really well. I think he must have needed some rest because he was so much better than his last few games. Agudelo had an incredible season for us, but I don't think he's been the same since his knee injury. He's certainly capable of some special magic, but he's not going to make it in the PL unless he gets a lot more consistent. I thought Farrell was very, very good for us. His ball-handling was very good. His runs up the wing often coincide with some of our best chances. If we can add that kind of threat from the left next season, our offense will be really dangerous, Agudelo or no Agudelo. Say what you will about Heaps, but we were right where we needed to be until Barrett lost his man. Winning on the road, especially in the playoffs, is often going to be very ugly. What marks this match for me is two key errors that killed us: Barrett not tracking Sinovic and Reis making that ill-advised throw.
While these plays directly led to goals, there were a lot more mistakes the Revs made that led to chances, some a lot better than the ones they scored on, that went unpunished. Just a few example, when Barnes tracked inside on a header, leaving another attacker a wide open header, numerous free corner kick headers, uncontested crosses into the box, AJ getting burned on a failed offside trap (or maybe just playing too high). Reis probably saved at least 3 goals, so for him have the bad pass to Diego was tough. Also, Ag-gone-duelo really should have put his breakaway between Nielson's legs or pass to Barrett.
There were probably 3 or 4 clean headers that SKC just missed on as well. Either putting them on Reis or missing the net.
I don't think you can really put a whole ton of blame on Heaps for this match. He has a young, inexperienced team which has been playing (don't call it a) must-win football for at least a month now. They were playing on the road in a tough environment on just 3 days rest. He had a lack of depth to choose from, as opposed to KC who had several solid players who did not play game one appear in this match. Even if our key players (Diego, Agudelo etc.) had played better, I think we would have gotten torn up had we tried to play an all out and wide open game. We would have been worn down quickly and if we had survived to make it to ET, we would have had nothing left. As much as I hate the bunker game, I think a bunker/counter style would have seen us through had we not played so poorly.
By playing bunker/counter, you are actually expending more energy because you spend so much time defending and chasing the ball up top. What killed the Revs was possession, there were too many times they won the ball only to turn it over on the following pass. I said this before but there seemed to be big missed/wasted chances on the quick counter. All said, the Revs would have been better off going for only a few quick counters and just try to hold onto possession the majority of the time. In the second half the Revs had a spell long-ish spells of possession and KC seemed to break down on their assignments. They play a very aggressive kind of D that is easier to break down with patience in possession. I'm sure the wet field didn't help, but if the Revs held more possession they wold have at least cut the KC's chances on goal way down. I'm sure objective observers would say that when the Revs did bunker they got torn up, but were just lucky not to give up more than a goal. I do by the argument that they weren't as fresh as KC who used lots of players who didn't play the first leg, but isn't that part of the strategy? How about he put in Maca in the first leg, then Soares in the second? FWIW, I thought Barnes played out of his skull except for a few open headers in front of the goal. I think its fair to criticize Heaps on his initial bunking tactic, his slow adjustment to a more attacking game and his non-rotation of players given the 3 day turnaround.
I don't think the bunkering was planned so much as forced by the incessant give-aways. As in the first game, it took the part of the team that normally passes well 45 minutes to settle down. Agudelo never got into his groove. It would have helped tremendously for him to have been more on his game.
Does anyone else think Agudelo may have trouble in getting an EPL work permit and actually be back with the Revs next year?
Dose he meet the criteria for an EPL permit? I guess he can apply for and receive and "exception" approval but as far as I can determine he doesn't meet the criteria.
I think Agudelo was the worse player on the pitch that game. he seemed to be a giveaway machine. I joked a few seconds into the game about Imbongo's first give away but at least he put his only chance away and gave Sinovic some fits when he played outside. All Juan did was lose the ball. Honestly after a dozen or so games of watching him I am not a fan of his play and not sad to see him go. I think he dogs it some times and over embellishes every foul.
Lots of normally reliable players looked bad. Did you see Nguyen's passes towards the end? I can only guess exhaustion. So, either we had a bad game or we are just not up to K.C.'s Standard and they exposed our limits.
Nguyen had arguably his worst game of the season IMO. He looked lost on the field, and really struggled to find pockets of space in the midifeld.
Currently he does not meet the criteria, but he'll receive his permit via the exception process. I've yet to hear of a US player being turned down for an EPL work permitm, let alone a 20 year old with NT experience and a bright future.
Bobby Convey got denied when he was 20, had NT experience, and he was definitely Arena's boy. Convey's wiki page Convey looked set to move to Tottenham Hotspur of the Premier League in the summer of 2003,[3] when the London club agreed to a $3 million move with MLS, but the transfer stalled when his work permit application was denied due to his lack of appearances with the senior national team.[4] Then, on July 22, 2004, after five seasons with D.C. United, Convey signed a three-year contract[5] with Reading,[6] who were then playing in the Championship. His transfer fee was around £900,000,[7] the paid by Reading up to that date.
I'm sorry but that was ten years ago and different precedents have since been set. Shea, Ream, and Cameron are just the most recent examples of guys who have been granted permits through the exception process.
Time will tell. You have provided instances of players who have recently gotten USMNT minutes and work permits that looked iffy. I provided an example of a 20 year old with NT experience and a bright future and recent caps at the time who got denied a work permit. Agudelo has 17 caps and will be 21 in two weeks (not that his age matters). When was Agudelo's last USMNT cap? No Gold Cup, no WCQs. Tough case. How much impact will the recent permits (and how the players have fared) play in the Agudelo decision? Will Klinsy fight for Agudelo? Will Agudelo be part of the next two friendlies? Will his presence/absence from friendlies make a difference? I agree that it has been a while since Convey and times have changed, but Agudelo's permit is no sure thing.