P/I/P, Match 12: Revs vs NYC, Sat 9/19/2020 4:30pm [R]

The big questions going into this match are:
1) how is Polster replaced during his red card suspension?
2) What does bruce do to make the offense work, and where does Lee Nguyen fit in that plan?
3) Which regular starters are afforded rest?

 

Beside Caldwell the Revs don't really have another DM. I doubt Bruce would move someone like Senovic, Jones or Mancienne into that role. Bou has not started in two games. Betting he gets a run and Penilla rides the pine. My guess would be something like this.
....................Matt
Bye......Farrell.....Kessler.....Buttner
...........Caldwell....Rowe
.......................Lee
McNamara.........................Bou
Buksa
Possibly Teal gets the nod over Buksa or McNamara.

 

I think Teal will start over McNamara. Im not a big Teal fan but he does work hard and manages to get the ball in the net some. The only other change Id consider is McNamara for Rowe and Teal on the left. Mac also works hard and Im also not a Rowe fan other than a late game sub. He's had a few shots other places and didnt cut it. Only here do they look at him as a starter. Before anybody jumps on me, I realize the same thing could be said about Lee but I think there were other factors in Lees other teams and Rowe is no Lee.. Lee should have gone to the WC in 2014

 

Now that we're on a game-a-week cadence, resting guys is less of a factor.

I don't see any way Bunbury is out - he's in a relatively good run of form. Same with McNamara, he's been a bright spot whenever/wherever he's gotten minutes.

I would say Penilla might sit, but Bruce seems to want to keep him in, so I think he'll find a spot for him.

The back line and keeper seem pretty set, but I keep wanting DeJuan Jones to get a run.

And, for sure, Nguyen will be getting more minutes. Whether that's off the bench, starting and playing a half, ... we'll see. I'm not sure why he's not in 90 minute game shape - he was on a team, in training, getting some bench minutes - what are they doing down there in Miami if their players still need minute-management in mid-season?

I think Buksa and Bou will be in the starting lineup - Arena has to continue to find a way to get his DPs to produce. I am very intrigued by seeing how Nguyen can get Buksa some clearer chances than he's had to date.

Caldwell and Rowe and Fagundez are spare pieces that Arena will insert to complete the lineup. Buchanon will come off the bench, almost certainly, probably earlier than last week.

As I said in another thread, I am very encouraged by the quick glimpse of Nguyen that we saw - he immediately was productive in getting the ball to our attacking players. To me, that was more significant than getting a result in that game. Now, going forward ...

 

A brave lineup to play:
Buksa Bou
Lee
Tommy Teal
Rowe
Buttner Kessler Farrell Bye
Turner

Does Bruce have the stones to put that many attacking players on the field together and actually try to score some goals?

I think other posters are right, we'll probably see Caldwell, Penilla, Fagundez instead

 

I like this line-up, with the exception of Teal as a #8. (I think Rowe is underrated on this board as a defensive player.)

While I suppose keeping the back line consistent takes priority, the player who seems best adapted to pairing with Rowe as a DM is Büttner. I would have been interested in having Jones start at LB with Büttner paired with Rowe, so

Buksa Bou
Lee Tommy
Büttner Rowe
Jones Kessler Farrell Bye
Turner

Doubt we ever see this.

 

I think that Teal certainly has his warts, but his form right now is pretty good. His ability to retain the ball under pressure is something that can add value to a midfield, so I don't think he is totally out of place in this diamond

 

Agree that his hold-up play is underrated, but his passing going forward is (IMO) crap.

 

Revs “sloppy,” “poor decision-making” is right! In spades!

 

The problems are easy to see. Too many unearned turnovers/bad passes in the offensive end. Bye, Tajon, Teal all poor at crossing. Bou is not going to score many headers. Lee had some nice passes but nobody can either stay onsides or finish. The new guys that got in late showed me nothing. Arena needs to keep looking. We have way too any average players that just arent good enough to play anywhere but here. Meanwhile, we carry people that will rarely, if ever, play for us again. Delamea, Sinovic, Mancienne... many midfielders. We need to find somebody up top that can score or we will have many, many ties and that gets us nowhere. Find a way to get rid of players that never play and free up some salary to hire some more useful players. Maybe we could clone Lee?

 

So, unless I'm not seeing it, there's been no discussion of this match here in this board since kickoff.

And/meanwhile, Twitter is also dead on the #NERevs hashtag.

Maybe there's a flurry of discussion and passion hidden somewhere else out there on the internets, but all the indicators seem to be pointing to the fact that this team is not engaging anyone, it's not captivating anyone, it's barely entertaining anyone at this point.

And that's even with 3 DPs, and Arena now in charge - arguably the first widely recognizable name at the helm for a long long time for this team, possibly in its history.

To still not be seeing a significant boost from those, either on the field, or in terms of general interest from the market, has to be a very concerning metric for those running this franchise.

This team is very much "my local" - (I watch every minute of every game, to the the point where I think I mostly know the idiosyncrasies of each player) - but that is **despite** the fact that this is NOT compelling soccer to watch, in any way.

I am at the point where I have to consciously make a mental commitment and say to myself "Okay, I'm going to watch this whole game even though I know there's not really going to be anything fantastic to see here". And I'm thinking this way each and every game at this point. At some point, one has to recognize that there's another name for this - it's called "squandering valuable time."

I offer no solutions, just this observation.

 

On the brighter side, I thought Buchanan played well. It was nice to see LN making passes from the midfield that actually got to a Rev player. We had a few scoring opportunities, we need to finish better and stay onside. As for the lack of social media during the game, I don't think the game time helped (not that I'm on social media). I recorded the game and watched it Saturday night.

 

I am a part of the "meh" factor Casual Fan describes.

I DVR the games and read about the results; I only watch if they win or score at least 2 goals.

But that's a step up: under the previous manager I didn't even do that. Then, I would only listen to Revs podcasts, never any games at all, just so I knew sort of what was going on.

It would all be different if Gil weren't injured: he made every game watchable, even if they lost.

 

Buchanan played well, to the point where as the game progressed NYC seemed increasingly concerned whenever he got the ball. Two markers on him a few times.

 

I share everyone's enthusiasm for Buchanan, and note that when he subbed off for Penilla, the offense sputtered. But to Casual Fan's point, MLS is no longer a developmental league, when the superdraft really mattered, and (hopefully) rising stars like TB were automatic starters. Without more quality in the side, all we are doing against good teams is playing for a draw.

Since we can't cashier Mancienne, Delamea, Penilla, etc., and immediately buy attacking talent, I don't think there is much to hope for this year. That said, there are a number of players on this team that could be part of a really dominant team. We're in need of 1-2 really scary offensive threats.

 

Yeah, the Revs, unfortunately, are not must-see TV this year., though I actually thought they played okay with this lineup. Buchanan was the best player on the night. He's one of the few Revs who can actually take a defender on, But he needs the kind of teammates who can take his openings and turn then into goals. I really didn't see much from Nguyen, alas.

Of course, it helped the Revs' cause that NYCFC was sort of atrocious. If I were a New York fan, it would kind of worry me that the leading scorer on the season is Alexander Ring, with three goals.

 

I dont agree with two things you said.
Buchanan - I think Buchanan has a lot of promise and yes, he does try to take people on. Unfortunately, that usually doesn't accomplish much. Time after time he seemed to hold on too long only to get doubled and lose the ball. I am happy he tries but he also needs to know when to give it up.
Lee - Everybody else, including Arena, thought he had a good game. He was named player of the game. I think playing Bou up top is a mistake... too slow, too unwilling to give up his body to try and score. Lee can't find him if he doesnt move to get open. Lee did set up Teal but he shot it at the goalie. Point is, if Lee is going to be a setup man, he needs people that can move to get open AND finish when they get shots. I want to see Buksa back in there and see if Lee can find him. If that doesnt work, it has to be Buksa's last chance with the Revs. I want to see Diego get a chance with Lee to see if he can bring his career back to life. Finally, I want to see Lee get hungry to score again. He can do it and he should shoot more.
We seem to be relying on crossing from the outside into the box and praying. Bou isnt going to do anything with that.... maybe Buska can? I want to see a ground attack as well and Lee is the guy to create this. Now we need people for him to pass to (that wont turn over the ball)

 

Buchanon had several excellent shots at goal. Now, he needs to start thinking like a finisher and put those shots in better places.

This was a much, much better effort than we've seen from the Revs lately.

After all the tinkering, it looks like the Nguyen acquisition is working quite well. Now, Arena needs to put Buksa and Bou back in their former positions, where they are comfortable and can do damage. Watching Bou repeatedly score goals, only to get called back for offsides, emphasizes that he's being put in an unfamiliar, uncomfortable position. Nguyen should be able to free him up for his bread and butter, top-of-the box shots, while Buksa can/should be the target, hold-up man occupying the center backs.

I think Arena's trying to fire up Buksa by sitting him, but with Buchanon emerging as a threat, Nguyen finally supplying some attacking passes, let's get Buksa back in there to let him fit in with the new big-three.

 

i slightly disagree with the eval. I agree Tajon and Teal are not crossers, but wingers dont really cross in the modern game. In fact Crossing is by and large viewed as a low% goal generation avenue, and an undesireable outcome for a possession. Bye is inconsistent crossing, but put in at least 2 good ones that Bou really sucked on. Not sucked like botched the header, but sucked like made a poor effort to be where he needed to be to even attempt the header. Buttner crossed well all match, but as you correctly pointed out, no good targets.

I agree there is a talent issue, but again disagree about the message. The revs frequently take up the balls in wide areas with a player 1v1 with a defender. 0 of the revs wide players can take on his man and create space and force the defense to bend. Revs wingers only dribble into defenders feet. So teams know they can play to defend crosses, and without Buksa on the field there isnt even a target for them.

However, I will say there is now enough creative ability in the center of the park that dreams no longer go to die there, Tommy/Lee/Rowe enjoyed some success playing through the middle, and although offsides/finishing was an issue the center is no a possible avenue for chance creation and that showed with many more good looks than the last 4-5 games.

 

Plus, where during the MLS is Back tournament we had the sports landscape almost to ourselves, there is now a gazillion TV sports options - maybe more than there has ever been - with the 'winter' sports now in season, along with the summer and fall sports. Plus, annual events have been happening out of schedule: Tour de France, US Open golf, US Open tennis, ...

I think the Revs, in significant part because of their uninspiring/unexciting play, have been crowded off the spectator sports market.