You left Franchino off your list and I happen to agree with that. Offensively, they looked better after he left the game. Not sure where Joey belongs at this point but he sure was good at defending the left rear. It is surprising that his passing is so bad when his free kicks are so good.
I guess a lot of us think SN has better options than Joey when the squad is healthy. Interestinly, this was the first time I can remember him taking Franchino out---and it was a good tactical move. The midfield immediately looked better and the Revs had a much better second half. Frankly I wouldn't be surprised to see SN doing some interesting change-ups in who plays where as he has more options to play with. He finally has some flexabilty in who he starts and some great tactical options off the bench.
"Interestinly, this was the first time I can remember him taking Franchino out---and it was a good tactical move. The midfield immediately looked better and the Revs had a much better second half..." Agreed. Other quick comments: Rusty looks a game or so away from being fully confident out on the pitch, and seems, forgive the pun "rusty." Dorman's goal was nice, not only in that it was his first, but how he finished it. Looks like he had Cassar convinced the shot was going to the keeper's left, but Dorman had other ideas. Keep Ralston at right back, keep Ralston at right back, keep Ralston at right back, keep Ralston at right back, keep Ralston at right back... it's working. Too many giveaways last night though, and some poor anticipation on passes. Twellman? Let's hope his late goal helps get the monkey off his back, again, because.... oh, nevermind. Brillant can hold the ball well, and can make some decent runs, but you'll find better speed sold on a street corner in a bad part of L.A. The Magpie
glad to hear the Revs win one,,,,unfortunately FSNE carried the Mets game. I live in freakin CT, have cox cable and still can not watch a freaking new england team. THE METS? for god sakes what is cox thinking of!!
Let's not forget that Kamler did at least a decent job plugging a hole in the back line for a while. I think he certainly has a role as a utility player on this team, he at least adds depth on the bench. But yes, Brillant appears ready for prime time. Franchino's sub has to be one of the big stories of this match. I figured that Leonard was in only because of Heaps' benching. Frankly, I thought that Heaps must have been injured since he is a Nicol favorite. So imagine my surprise at the half when Heaps came on and instead of slotting Franchino back to left mid he went to the bench! Don't get me wrong, I liked the change and think it was exactly the thing to do, but I never expected in a million years that Nicol would sit Joey. If Franchino is not injured then I wonder what this says about his role on the team. You have to admit that this is a pretty remarkable first. Unless there is some information I am missing?
Rusty's "pace was not there" because he's been out since April 17. The only way he's going to get back to game shape is if he plays in the games. I thought he did a good job last night. Give him time. I bet after a few games he'll get comfortable again.
I did give Reis his due -- clearly he did what Cassar did to the Revs last time they were in Dallas back in June. However, I thought Noonan was the key to victory last night. Don't underestimate the ability to score, regardless of how easy the chance looks (look no further than Twellman and his prodigal display in front of goal this season.) He looked more comfortable playing out wide than he had before (most notably the Chicago series), and not only helped create offensively, but kept possession well when the Revs had the lead. What's more, he tracked back defensively time and again once Ralston switched to center mid. However, I certainly would not argue if you chose Reis
I would only agree with this if Magpie is suggesting this for the rest of the season given what our roster looks like. But I'm not sure I would say this is the "long-term" answer for the Revs, unless Ralston really likes it and the coaches want him to play there, thus signaling the Revs to identify a solid right mid replacement.
I agree it was pretty alarming to see him get beaten for speed and almost burned by Kreis because of loose marking. But I'm sure it's just a matter of him not really being in game shape yet. I'm still rather surprised that Nicol threw him in there for the start. You do see Rusty make mistakes and clear or give away the ball at times, but it is really shocking to see him lose his man or see people run by him. He'll be fine once he gets in shape, but I'm not sure I want him marking Freddy or Eskandarian yet! I think it was just smart goalkeeping. When a guy is running across the goal and has to extend his body to reach the cross, his best power and accuracy are going to be back to the (now) far post - and I think Reis knew that. It would have taken an incredible touch to place it on the near side. Franchino really struggled in the first half. I'm really encouraged that Nicol recognized that and reacted. It means no one is untouchable and that Nicol feels he has a lot of moveable parts to play with. One of the upsides to the move is that both Leonard and Heaps had to be relatively fresh down the stretch, which was important because they had a lot of work to do. Twellman did really well at times holding the ball up, but also had a lot of giveaways. He and Noonan and Cancela often misread each other on the counterattacks. I would say the passing on the counters was very inconsistent and prevented this game from being a route much sooner. The Revs would string together 2 or 3 good passes to get into the midfield and then 1 bad one to give it right back to Dallas. Twellman seems to have himself in a knot. He's often passing when he should hold or shot and vice-versa. That play where he called off Heaps and let the ball play him was inexcusable. If you want the ball, don't be passive. I'd give Nicol an A+ for substitutions. He replaced Franchino, Kamler and Cancela with the right guys at the right time. How Dallas could be so asleep to 1) not even cover Ralston on the free kick in the 2nd minute and 2) not even track Noonan coming in for the tap-in is astounding! Did they think the game started at 8:30 Central time?
Finally a solid 90-minute match. They did go through periods of just giving the ball to Dallas, but this fits in with Nicol’s style of defense first. But, even when the where giving up possession, they were strong and solid on the last line once they figured out how to contain EJ. Player breakdowns. Reis – MOTM – I hate to say this, but he looked like Adin out there on several saves. He mode numerous reflex saves and was always in good position. He had the look of someone that knew he was not going to be scored on and made sure he was not. Leonard – Solid game on the outside, but let Obrien cut in dangerously many times in the first half. He did a better job in the second, limiting the number of chances from his side. John – Good physical presence. He was able to nicely contain EJ in the second, but there were a few times in the first where he was out of position with Obrien cutting into the middle and feeding EJ. Pierce – His play actually appeared to get better as the night went on. He is not all the way back and was getting muscled off the ball a few times. But, the best thing he did is play his game and was not over-committing to anything. Ralston – This was one of his worst games as a right back, I hope it was just the sun in his eyes. His touch, while still better then most was off and he was letting Quill get a step on him. DM does not appear to be his strongest position as he just faded in and out (but still much better then Franchino). Kamler – He is starting to look old out there. Obrien is best RM in MLS and often makes others look bad so hopefully that is the main problem. Kamler was not shutting down his side and his drives forward where just not there. Joseph – Played a good game, preventing most of the attacks from coming down the center. With the Burn not having a good central attack coming in to the game, I wanted him to step up a little more and prevent Dallas from easily swing the ball from wing to wing in the second. Franchino – Not a good game at all. His marking was not up to his standards. His passes where not accurate or well weighted, leading to a high percentage being picked off. Glad and amazed when he came off at half. Cancela – Continues to play his game of creating solid chances for other but not himself. I was hoping for a little more from him in controlling the game against the second string middle of Dallas. Not sure if stone was marking him that close, but he just did not appear to be in position to receive as many balls as he should have. Noonan – Finally a game where I was satisfied with his game. Not only did he again get in the right position to score, but he was actually hustling on the right. He looked better on the RM then he has before, both going forward on the wing and in defense. If he can learn to take on players 1v1, then this may be the best position for him, especially once Dempsey comes back. Twellman – I thought he had a good game as a solo forward. He was constantly moving and controlled more then his fair share of balls against 2 good central defenders. A large number of good attacks came when he received the ball and held it as the 3 mids came racing up field. Heaps – Played a solid game at RB. His speed prevented Quill from making the dangerous speed runs and was able to help contain EJ better. Brillant – I always like the speed and hustle he brings as a sub. He was making run after run for the time he was in as well as marking up back on D. Just was hoping to see him take on a defender on one of his runs with the ball. Getting better, but not quite there yet. Dorman – Great game tonight. (I was actually hoping for Baker to come in to help on defense at the time.) He just did everything you could ask him to do. Playing his game to take advantage of everything Dallas was giving him and got a sweet goal and a nice meg on the assist. Nicol – Not a single complaint on the subs. Ok, perhaps Dorman could have come in earlier.
I am not sure if I still agree with this. Heaps is not much of a step down from Ralston at right back. Ralston may be best used on the opposite wing of Noonan. Kamler has just not been playing very well and could use a rest this next game. Kamler has not been adding as much to the attack as he should be, and I believe Ralston will add more then Kamler has been. So, I say give Heaps one full game at right back with Ralston getting a game back on one of the wings and see how it goes. As our slightly biased announcers were saying, Ralston may be the best right back in MLS. If this change does not work out, move Ralston back to right back.
"I am not sure if I still agree with this. Heaps is not much of a step down from Ralston at right back." In terms of pushing forward into the attack, no - he's not much of a step down. In terms of defense... Ralston's been a marked improvement over Heaps on the right: he's positionally more sound, less prone to get caught upfield, and isn't likely to overcommit on tackles. Heaps has improved snice earlier in the season, but if Nicol's looking for the right back to regularly push up and overlap, I'd be much more comfortable with Ralston on the back-line. FWIW, The Magpie
I'd wait a few games before getting too worried about Rusty's pace. I think it was just Tuesday that Nicol was saying that Pierce wasn't ready to start yet because he wasn't fit enough to play a full 90 minutes. As for his clearances, he seemed to be the only defender who was actually directing his clearances towards his teamates.
Well, somebody left Reis off their ballot entirely! When I voted, Reis had 14 1st place votes, 1 2nd and 0 3rd. Noonan had 2 1st place votes, so one of the Noonan voters presumably gave 2nd to Reis, but the other didn't even rate him as the 3rd best player of the game! Aidan, was that you? Nice to see someone else come away with the frustrating loss for a change. How many times did we play the role of Dallas Burn in the past: Give up a careless, avoidable goal early on, battle back with some streches of good play and get some really good chances only to be stoned by a hot goalkeeper, then continue to press for the equalizer only to be burned on the counter late in the game to make the score a lot worse than the game really showed. Sound familiar? Tom
If you've voted already, you can view everyone else's votes at: http://www.wykeshome.com/mriders/GameByVoter.php
........Nice to see someone else come away with the frustrating loss for a change. How many times did we play the role of Dallas Burn in the past: Give up a careless, avoidable goal early on, battle back with some streches of good play and get some really good chances only to be stoned by a hot goalkeeper, then continue to press for the equalizer only to be burned on the counter late in the game to make the score a lot worse than the game really showed. Sound familiar? Tom (HILL) EXACTLY. Try running the tapes of the two matches v. Dallas at the same time on two monitors side by side. It would look so scripted one might be inclined to accuse MLS of staging their games. The worm turns and maybe it will focus good attentions on our cause for a while. JIM DOW
Good thing we won. Unfortunately since Chicago won as well, we're still tied in last with them. If we win against DC this weekend, we'll be in third (maybe tied for second with Colombus, who knows?). I'm glad the Revs are gettin better, not like how they were earlier this season.
Please, go back and read the first 3-4 pages of posts. Do those posters sound like they were watching a solid game? And I don't think alot of the giveaways were dictated by defensive style. It looked more like they just weren't in sync alot of the time. They were so strong on the back line because of one man - the GK! Had he not made some really excellent saves we'd be looking at a different result. It was nice to see the win and it was nice to get a couple in the last few minutes rather than giving them up. As to Ralston continuing at RB... with the Steve Howey almost signing it looks pretty crowded in the back. Maybe Ralston will get to move back up to the wing. Of course the whole Howey signing is perplexing. Assume he takes 4 weeks to get a permit and then only half as long as Ritchie Baker to be ready to play... He should be contributing next April sometime.
I realize that my point of view is not meshing with most of the others here, but that happens sometimes. What I saw was a team that was trying to maintain its defensive form even when on offense after they went up in the 3rd minute. It seemed that the 4 backs and 2 DM where almost always staying behind or level with the ball. This limited the number of targets for the other 4 players pushing forward, which lead to several forced passes that ended up as turnovers. Plus, playing with just a single target forward will always lead to several turnovers when trying to start the attack trough him. I freely admit this was far from the best game that the Revs have played, but I still believe it was a solid game. The burn did get 3 good shots on goal, usually enough to generate at least one. I just felt that the shape in the back forced the burn to take several long and low percentage shots. Even though the burn had the majority of possession, they were not being able to link to the forwards except for Obrien over minutes 10-30. It is not like the Revs did not generate several of their own good scoring chances before they got their second. With Leonard hitting the wood, Twellman shanking two good opportunities and Heaps getting called off by Twellman who just messed that up. In my mind the Revs had just as many near misses on the Burn net as the Burn had on the Revs net. All in all, IMHO it was a solid, not good or great and not terrible or poor game.
SN says Howie will be over and training with the team shortly so that he will be ready as soon as his permit is in. Since his game fitness was an issue this will allow him to raise his fitness level as well as get in sync with the other Rev defenders. But you know, you may be right---SN may be looking at Howie as more of an asset for next year rather than 2004. The signing process in MLS is so trunkated and so off sync with the FIFA signing window that he may just be doing his Christmas shopping early
I did not see the game, but I would have to comment that it goes to show that the defend and counter strategy CAN work. I think we can all agree that it is dangerous, especially if you have an aged and/or slow defense. But apparently the Revs were successfully able to let Dallas have the majority of the run of play and wait for quick counters for multiple goals. My other major thought would be this. I hope this will temper some of the doom-and-gloomers' comments. Granted, the Revs season is not bolstered by a single win, nor is it lost on a single loss. The revs are undefeated in something like 6 straight games now (2 wins, 4 ties). We haven't lost since July 4th. And a couple more of those could easily have been wins. So the team looks like it's finding it's form starting at about mid-season. If we can keep this trend going (few losses, points from most games), then things will be looking up. I say this not because it means play-offs (which it might), but because it will speak to how much different our season could have been if we'd had fewer injuries and a little better luck. How many times this season did we have keepers play 'out-of-their-minds' good? Several I'd say. And if those had been different, perhaps a few more wins. Some will be quick to point out that good teams find ways of winning. I'd counter by reminding them that often it is a thin line between good and bad.