Preview | Revs return to Gillette Stadium for highly-anticipated rematch with NYCFC By Jeff Lemieux revolutionsoccer.net
NYC is a much tougher task at their place - their road record is not good. I think we'll come out flying for this one. I expect Ema back at left wing.
Will be interesting to see how much involvement our international guys have. I'm 50/50 on whether Turner starts, and think both Buksa and Tajon will begin this match on the bench No updates on Bou's injuries but I will be surprised if Gil doesn't start
Looking forward to my first in-person game since COVID started! New York will have several players returning from international duty (Sands, Callens, Chanot, Thorarinsson) and Maxi Morales their playmaker is on red card suspension Traustason also suspended but I'll take that trade.
A lot of defenders have a sophomore slump, but not Kessler. Really surprising in retrospect that he spent much of the early season on the bench. Right now he's one of the best central defenders in MLS. Almost nothing gets by him, and tonight he made play after play. And Polster had another quietly excellent game.
Some additional praise for Bruce Arena. In years prior there would have been football lines on the field during that game, sending the not so subtle message to the team and the fans that this is just the ownership's side hustle. It's got to be close to impossible to get full commitment from your team when that's happening, and last night's game would have been a trap for some dropped points. Yet apparently they can do a quick turnaround on the lines. Bruce's zero tolerance for pointyball lines hopefully is something that stays with this club forever. It's a small thing that makes a big difference. That was running through my mind when we were singing the line "26 and still the same" last night. Nope, not the same at all. Vastly different and better for it. These aren't the can't-do, also-ran Revs of the past. This is an organization after a better class of player, paying attention to detail and ready to fill up their trophy case.
I compare Kessler to Sands and just dont get how boneheaded Gregg beerholder would call up Sands and not Henry. Maybe its the same mentality that kept Pepi on the bench for two games. GB wouldnt recognize talent if it hit him in the face. Kessler is the real deal
Another nice comeback win after a defensive lapse put the Revs in a hole. A few thoughts: agree with RevsRule about Kessler. He really has been solid and a great addition to the team. I don't think we would have won as many games without him. I don't understand the Boatang sub as I think he was one of the better players on the pitch. Is it a fitness issue? Teal brings little to the table and frequently generates turnovers. Hope we can find a better option than him for next year. What a huge difference when Gil and Buchanan came on. They didn't seem particularly dangerous up until they point. Excellent work from Gil on the assist and real nice finishing from Buchanan. It is some much more fun watching the Revs this year - something we haven't experienced for a while. Nice to see almost 20k in the stands. Imagine what that would be like in our own stadium...
The good news, another win!! The better news, the gang is almost back to full strength for the final push. My only complaint is that I had to listen to Brad and Charlie last night. Do they ever have a clue on what is going on down on the pitch??
The only possible reason I can think of is that Sands can also play a central defensive midfielder role. Berhalter seems to like that.
They said on the broadcast that Gil for Boateng was planned for halftime all along, and it wasn’t a reactive move. So I don’t think there’s anything to read into it re: Ema’s performance. Bruce had that switch drawn up from the start.
Different players with different strengths. Kessler is a back 4 CB. We've seen him play in a back 5 a couple times, and it usually looks poor. Sands is not a back 4 CB, at least not at a high level. Hes also not a #8. But he is a very capable #6 that plays well between 2 real CBs when they go 3atb. Different players with different strengths. Picking Pines over Kessler is the bigger issue, but I think that might have been related to how much we needed Kessler for our games during the GC window.
This. For me Polster was MOTM. For a guy whose persona on the pitch is that of an enforcer, he's much smarter and more technical than I had initially recognized. Very few errant passes.
I could not agree with this more. It was always something they COULD have done. They chose not to because it was inconvenient, and why would it matter, the soccer team can just play on the football field and like it. Well, it does matter as far as perception is concerned, and perception is reality. They've been getting better about this in recent years, and it says a LOT to me about the organization's commitment to the team. Of course, it would matter less if they hadn't done the other things they've been doing. Such as investing in the facility, a front office, a team that has top end talent and depth. But it's all connected. And it feels really strange and really good after many years of shouting into the wind.
Chasing 2005: Before this year, the Revs best season was 2005, where they finished: 17-8-7, 59 points (1.84 per game) 55 GF, 37 GA (+18) The 2021 Revs have now matched that win total (17) and GD (+18), and are only 4 points away from 59, with 9 games still to play. * * * Six paragraphs on Tajon: Saturday Takeaways: What we learned from Week 24's action By Steve Zakuani Sunday, Sep 12, 2021, 02:40 AM
I don't know when exactly they stopped, and yes it was pre-Arena that they started the transition away from it. But it took WAY too long for them to stop, and I feel like even just a couple years ago in the Friedel/end of Heaps era, we would have seen football lines on Saturday. I bet if we went back through the threads we could find out when they stopped.
Completely agree and all this was definitely not lost on me Sat. night. Bruce pays attention to detail, operates with professionalism that garners respect. I completely believe that all of these (important) details were agreed upon in writing before he committed to Kraft. Bruce knows what it takes and I'm sure he demanded of Kraft to give him what he needs to succeed.