I dont care about stats. What I care about is Boateng is explosive, is scoring goals and exciting to watch. Traustason is slow and more often than not, chokes. I think we do struggle for goals in most games (not lately) If we get two... its a big night!..I'll be interested to see who starts and who plays next game
I think Bou is struggling at the current speed of the attack and he wants to be the man... not just a guy out there.
Revs have scored 2 or more in 14 of 22 games this year. They have scored 8 goals more than any other team in MLS. But don't let facts get in the way of a good rant.
Agree with this all, including the concern about being unsteady on defense. Also, Nicol's 14-man roster was interesting, but they did burn out and they could not handle multiple competitions. I think the winner of each conference regular season gets a spot in Champions league, so unless someone gets ungodly hot and at the same time the Revs totally collapse, the Revs will qualify for Champions league in 2022 regardless of what happens in post season play. And you'd hope USOC returns, so the Revs should be in three competitions. It will play be interesting to see how Arena builds the 2022 roster -- assuming Buchanan leaves, what will Arena add to the squad in 2022? Some guys up from Revs II probably. A few international signings? Any "big" moves? A game-changing attacker to replace Buchanan? An experienced CB? Another quality DM? A promising young Keeper to groom for the day Turner goes to Europe?
And dont let yur stats blind you to as what you see in the field. The latest experiment is yielding positive results and we are starting to look dangerous. Contrast that to us squeaking out a 3-2 win against the worst team in the league, Toronto. Yes... by your stats, we scored 2 or more goals BUT we allowed 2 and did not look good. There are other examples too. Point is, we are looking as good now as we have all year. I do not want to see us backtrack if some of the missing people become available
I never made any claims about the defense. The fact that they have a world-class goalkeeper in Matt Turner, but are still giving up 1.18 goals per game is cause for concern. I just find all the hand-wringing over the offense a bit much. They just scored 9 goals in 8 days, without Carles Gil! To date, this team is the best Revs team ever. The previous best was (arguably) the 2005 squad. They scored a team record 55 goals that year. The 2021 Revs only need 12 more goals in their final 12 games to beat that. In 2005, they won 17 games. They need to win 3 of the final 12 to beat that. 2005 was a fantastic year, which ended in heartbreak. 2021 could very well end in heartbreak too. The thought of losing a sixth MLS Cup scares me, and Seattle getting Nico Lodeiro back scares me. But I am going to enjoy this team as much as I can until then, because this season is unprecedented. They are fun to watch, and never out of a game, even down 3-0.
Of course you're only looking at the offensive side of the game (and failing to mention Traustason's assists).
If struggling with the speed of the game means setting up Buksa with an easy tap-in plus a clean header at the penalty spot, along with other chances, I'm pretty okay with that. The guy has been asked to change his game from finisher to facilitator, with Gil out, and is doing a darn good job at it.
Perhaps this is a function of having our outside backs play forward so much, and now even our center backs! (I said to those around me after the Revs first goal "It's a good thing we scored because the chances of Kessler getting back from the end line on a counter were nil..."). I'll take the 44 goals, as long as we can remember defense come playoff time.
I think he is taking his captain role (in Gil's absence) to heart. I also saw him being very encouraging and congratulatory to the other players, in the tunnel before the game, after goals, and in general. The carrot and the stick.
Yeah he's gonna get some chances and even do something with them. No denying that. But if Tajon breaks down the wing and crosses the ball in front.... its gonna be another fast guy like Boateng that finishes or maybe Buska. I feel we are MORE dangerous due to our newly discovered speed. Buska can get in position to benefit.... Boateng too. Not so much others. Those two guys (Tajon and Boateng) are blinding fast.... I dont expect many to be able to keep up with them but its good to have more than one speedster. Did anybody notice the run that Rennicks made? from the right outside towards the net? Fantastic run. Somebody tried to feed him the ball in the gap (Maybe Bou) but it didnt work. I'd like to see him get a good look sometime. He also looked very, very fast and that was an intelligent run. Give him some more minutes Arena.. give the kid a chance sometime. Lets see what he's got
I'm not disagreeing with you here, just sharing what I have seen. In the Revs II games I've watched this year, I've been somewhat disappointed with Rennicks. Yes, he makes good runs, but his finishing has been subpar. He has 1 goal for R2 all season, and has had enough opportunities that he should probably be leading the team in scoring.
I'm not sure that lull wasn't more of a function of the midfield, coming out less aggressively, but ... I basically agree and I think the most concerned member of the back line is Farrell. Along the way, I don't think he's gotten great training about positioning, using his physicality and recognizing offensive tactics. Basically, he gets caught or out-leveraged too often and too frequently has to save himself with acrobatic plays (which sometimes don't come off). Kessler gets caught in bad situations on occasion too, but I think it's far less often and more expected, given his age/experience level. It's like Farrell could have used some USNT and YNT training along the way to develop more sophistication, but I don't think that's in the cards at this stage of his career (teaching old dog, new tricks).