Bruce Arena dishes on "my son's first babysitter" as Bradley's LAFC up next July 31, 2019, 1:00PM EDT Jason York
I'll be interested in seeing what Arena comes up with to stop Vela and secondly.... Rossi. I watch LAFC quite a bit and Vela is quite a handful. I just dont think Castillo is strong enough or fast enough to come close to containing him. This matchup will be interesting. Im also excited to see "he who shall not be named" return home. Lately hes been coming on at about 60 minutes to help control the game. Be interested in seeing if this is the plan from Bradley this week as well. This will be a true test for Arena's team.... maybe a little too much for them right now ?... but well see how well they do. Im hoping for the best and would be happy with a strong showing... no matter who wins.
Hello all! I will be going to this game solo, as an lafc fan. Is it cool if I can join one of your groups at the stadium? And how can I get in contact with the group. I come in peace! Thanks a lot!
You're welcome to stop by the Midnight Riders tailgate pre and post-game. Our tailgate location is here. You can't park in our lot, but park as close as you can and walk over. There's a tent with a large "Welcome" tent where anyone can stop by. In stadium, the preference is always not to have a visiting fan in the supporter's section (for everyone's sanity).
Referee Crew for #NERevs - #LAFC August 3rd 2019REF: Rubiel VazquezAR1: Andrew BigelowAR2: Jeremy Kieso4TH: Elvis OsmanovicVAR: Geoff GambleAVAR: Claudiu Badea— Jake Catanese (@JCatanese43) August 1, 2019
I wonder if Arena starts DaJuan Jones at fullback to manmark Vela. I worry Castillo will get caught upfield leaving Vela 1 v 1 with Delamea.
Certainly something I've thought about as well. Could also see Zahibo being a liability in the middle due to his lack of pace
Great (not)....... Arena better do something special or Vela will run wild. For lack of a better plan, Id switch Farrell to left simply because he has the pace and strength to mark Vela. Either that or put in Caldwell and make it his job to not let Vela touch the ball all night. That might actually be the best plan. If Arena does nothing, Vela will beat us
Fun match. LA are just a bit more precise and threatening when they go forward, but we are having our chances. The goal was a brilliant chip by Rossi with Bye caught upfield. Great play by Farrell to keep it 0-1.
What does the lower bowl of the stadium hold? Looks like a very nice crowd tonight, hope your owner has realized that if he shows he cares, this could be the norm.
Im sorry but Teal has to go. He gets an A for effort and a C for results. In a tight game like this, we can't afford his 2 or 3 misses per good chance
Is there, in MLS, a procedure for teams to challenge a referee’s calls as incompetent, imbalanced or biased? And do MLS rules enable a game result to be challenged for poor reffing and/or have a deficient ref. severely, meaningfully disciplined? While it appears to me that LA has had the better play so far in this game, the ref’s calls appear to disproportionately favor LA (not calling the Rev takedown in the 18, just for one)... just ask’in...
Teal was far better than Penilla, who was the killer of dreams in the first half and invisible for his portion of the second half.
Was in the fort for the game. Bunbury and Penilla chose the wrong game not to show up, and neither Gil or Bou could be super heroes with 2 defenders on them. Ill have to watch the broadcast tomorrow to see if what I saw holds. Rossi's goal in the 1st half looked more like a mistake than brilliant. Like he hit a cross toward the back post and it just swooped in. I liked Bruce's subs but he made them in the wrong order: Penilla should have come off around 50 min. He was bad. Bring on Diego or JFC and shift Teal to the wing. I thought maybe Teal should have come off but I dont mind Juan being lifted to shift Gil inside. 65' Take off Caicedo for Zahibo to add some last ditch attacking punch. Makes sense, but should have happened much later in the game. Without Caicedo LAFC just put on a clinic in the center of the park and Zahibo did nothing to stop it. Thats where their 2nd goal came from
It was, generally speaking, a good game. The game wasn't one sided, the Revs were competitive with LAFC. The Revs need to upgrade some of their midfielders in order to beat teams like LAFC. Penilla had 2 good chances and didn't get off a shot. It wasn't that he didn't score, he couldn't get off the shot! One time he looked like some of the young kids I've coached where they trapped the ball and then...if I can put it on a tee and take 3 steps back and run up I'll score. Well imagine that, same results no shot on goal.
I was pleased with the effort but I agree that Teal is not the CF of the future. He belongs at an outside position. I really hope Arena upgrades at that position ASAP. I also think we need a better option at AM and another defender or two before we can move to the top. Maybe a new AM and move BOU up top? Were heading in the right direction but are still a few players away from what we need
The Revs needed this. 11 undefeated was amazing, but you need to know where you are against the best, and now we know. The Revs made a game of it but LA deserved the win. Let's see what the club does in the offseason to fix the mess it created. It was a very close game and Rossi's goal was either a golazo or incredibly lucky. Outside of that LA slightly edged the game, especially as the Revs were completely incompetent in the final third, and it was very close.... But it was over once Luis Caicedo had to leave. Caicedo did his usual thing, hustling and walking a fine line, harassing LA and cleaning up messes and repeatedly asking the ref for a yellow card but luckily none ever came. I often criticize Caicedo because he usually looks sloppy and makes poorly timed challenges but last night he was the best Rev on the field and the ref let him be physical. Zahibo was hot garbage. The ref had zero impact on the result. He called an even match and let a few things go on both sides. Both teams could have had more yellows and none of the PK calls deserved a whistle.
First, appreciation for the crowd. That was impressive, and impressively different. This was bitter medicine after a really fun past 2 months, but the fact is that LAFC are the best team in the league right now, and we are not. It's those little details - how consistently they were able to unbalance the Rev defense, how often they came away with loose balls, even though they had fewer players in the scrum, how effectively they were able to pressure without losing their shape. There were far too many sloppy passes resulting in giveaways in the middle third, and every time, it seemed, those giveaways resulted in a scoring chance for LAFC. It's not that we did not create chances, but in the attacking third, we always seemed to go with the pass or shot that the LAFC defense anticipated. Nobody for me was unexpectedly bad. We've come so far, and I don't feel that this game was a disaster so much as a reality check. Everyone's level was seen in the context of a level of competition higher than what we have been used to watching. If we want to play at this level, we need more talent.
I think you guys did great! LAFC is just on on another level right now! By the way...beautiful stadium and wonderful people you guys have there. It was my first time in Massachusetts and I was impressed. Hope your team forgets about this lost and continues with the winning!
Upon rewatching a few thoughts: 1) the defense was excellent. Turner, Bye, Farrell, Delamea, Castillo, and Caicedo all put together above average or better performances. 2) Gil and Bou seemed half a step off. Good things were happening, but not enough in a row 3) Penilla started the game well, but faded after 25 min. He and Bunbury really made scoring difficult 4) I still hate Zahibo. The 2nd goal was 100% his fault. He is tracking Blessing, and then at the top of the 18 just stops and passes him off to no one. Too much switching off for a player in his position. 5) Neither Diego or JFC had time to grow into the game (and playing with only 10 didnt help) I think they should have come on earlier 6) LAFC swarmed ball carriers all night. NE did a poor job adjusting and switching the point of attack to punish the aggressive defending