The exodus out of the Fort was something to behold. People couldn't take it. Wasn't because they lost. Atlanta's a got a good team. It was that they were outclassed to an absurd degree.
I have to agree - at minute '75, it didn't seem like there was much hope and the final minutes didn't do anything to rebut that.
I left with a friend who had come up for his weekend from DC. He's a long-time Barra member and United fan. He was just sympathetic after watching that debacle. He and I left, and I was surprised by how many others also left before the final whistle.
I added the bold/underline. I legitimately wonder if Revs management treats the club the same way that the Pats treat their team. If the Pats weren't winning, would their be lots of former players complaining? The way they are prevented from being themselves (See Gronk) in public. The way players are allowed to come and go aside from Brady. But maybe because the Pats keep winning, they're willing to accept the stuff they don't like.
Ugh, Lizz Summers, I haven't thought about her in years. Easily the most openly incompetent comms person (at least in sports) I've ever seen, and she never got even a slap on the wrist for it, let alone fired - she left on her own for another job and I don't think it ever got filled again. Anyway, at this point I really am stumped what's wrong with the Revs - the player acquisition seems to be *slightly* improved (Gil, Penilla even if he's apparently significantly regressed this season), and even with the busts they seem to be looking in the right places. Friedel seems to be tactically incompentent and the players don't seem to like him much, but I think this even goes beyond coaching. It kinda seems to be a pre-2018 Cleveland Browns/current Buffalo Bills situation at this point, there's just so much institutional rot that it bleeds over into everything. Years of no accountability, mistreatment of players, and ignorance of changes within the league has led to a situation where there doesn't seem to be anything to enjoy now or look forward to in the near future. It's hard to feel like the Revs are even *part* of MLS anymore - rather the Washington Generals to everyone else. I don't think the Krafts are going anywhere - MLS is a steadily appreciating asset and there don't seem to be any potential ownership groups/investors in Boston willing to make the Revs work. Best-case scenario is Billelo, Burns, and Friedel all get fired, and the Krafts invest in someone with significant soccer experience to rebuild the operation from the top down.
Gonzalez, Delemea, Coin-flip... even when they make a “good” signing, the first year is the best year and they go downhill from there. Whatever is going on here, it is destroying players. I think Fagundez, Farrell, Aguedelo, and Caldwell suffer from it too. They aren’t getting any better. STAGNATION and ROT defines this organization. This time next year Gil will be drooling and passing to the other team...
Kraft hit the jackpot with Belichik as the professional who would get things done while Kraftopia played and drank and rolled their stones. Robert's franchise NFL team would have been something very different otherwise. The closest we've come to a Belichik with the Revs was when they lucked on Stevie, and he didn't have the need nor the temperament to make that schtick a lifelong deal. When it came time to find their own soccer equivalent of Belichik, to be the serious operator in a dysfunctional clan, they just didn't care enough to bother.
I remember when someone floated the idea of Bruce Arena taking over the Revs. As much as I don't care for the man, that is the type of guy they would need, the closest thing to a "soccer Belichick" we could find. But there is no way a guy like that would ever find himself here, for several reasons. Remember before Belichick there was a guy named Parcells who had success elsewhere and changed the tone of the organization from top to bottom? He clashed with Kraft and eventually left. Belichick and Kraft seem to be on the same page, and it could be that Kraft now recognizes (like he didn't with Parcells) that these guys know a whole lot more about building a team than he does. The problem with a soccer guy like that is that he would demand certain things--not just money for DPs and support resources, but a cultural shift. I remember the story about Vermes taking over at KC, and he left a piece of paper next to a trash can and waited to see how long it would take for someone to pick it up. After no one did 3 days later, he ripped into everyone. That's the kind of culture change we need here, but Burns and Billelo, the guys at the top would be the ones walking past that trash can 4-5 times a day, expecting someone else to pick it up, assuming they even noticed at all. The right guy to turn things around would never get hired because he would be an apple-cart-turner-overer. And we can't have some disruptive influence like that here while we strive to "almost" make the playoffs again!
He basically has left Belichick alone to do his thing for almost the last two decades. But even there, he's supposedly caused some issues (see the Garoppolo trade). But Belichick has enough power to still control most of what's going on, while no Revs coach has ever had anything resembling that kind of power.
Caldwell is, to me, a particularly puzzling individual to be on anyone's team. I haven't watched that often, but each time I do he seems absolutely clueless. I'm reminded of Rusty Pierce and Brian Dunseth, two particularly inept Defenders from the bad old days.
Wow, I'm not sure where that comes from. Caldwell is very conservative-minded, but I don't think he's clueless at all. On the contrary, I think he's a pretty smart player, even if not particularly incisive. As for Pierce, I don't think his problem was intelligence, it was temperament. He let guys get under his skin and, out of frustration, I suspect, sometimes played like an individual, rather than part of a defensive unit. As for Dunseth - we hardly knew ya.
Caldwell seems smart and plays with full effort. He does not seem to be particularly skilled at passing, and im not sure thats good enough for a full time mls starter anymore
I wouldn't say that Caldwell is clueless, but both he and Zahibo play at a very slow tempo. It takes them forever to pick out passes and react to what's happening on the field.
Yes, absolutely - great point. I think it is (and has been going back before Friedel) a problem all over - they are simply to casual and too sloppy with the ball. Watching a guy like Barco on the field with the Revs showed how effortlessly and perfectly he took advantage of his touches. The Revs are incredibly sloppy - the majority of their traps of simple passes lead to bounces that need a 2nd touch to control, simple passes either don't lead a teammate in the right direction or pull him away from where he needs to look/go. Taken as a whole, they make the team slow and plodding - very rarely able to catch a defense out of shape.
I think it more systemic than any individuals - even routine floor passes between defenders are either a bit off the mark or aren't handled/set up with a single touch. Those are things that should be close to perfection at this level and should be routine. When a class player like Barco comes in, you can see how brilliant he is at the tiny things - and how much of a difference it can make.
Of course, that class player's transfer costs to Atlanta would make up about 3 seasons of the Revs salary cap.
well we better get use to Gil because he is probably the best we will see. At time he looks like he is surrounded by High School players
We've had USDA Select players (Reis, Noonan, Ralston, Shalrie, Parkhurst, JMM) and a few Choice players in Jones, Dempsey and Twellman but I'm still waiting for the Prime player or two. At the present this roster is made up mostly of Select and Standard and commercial grade players
Some ground beef is Standard and commercial grade. usually when its mixed with butt holes and chicken lips