I didn't say anything about the quality of the reserves play. I was talking about the approach to the game.
A few points. Nani is a twit. I would have preferred a win, but I loved stealing a point from this team. It means we are in their heads, which may be useful down the road. Traustason had his typical knuckleheaded game. I do like how he mixes it up with the opponents. Again, it’s useful, because Orlando is prone to losing control and focus. Bell looked a lot better once we made some substitutions. I think Arena overdid it with the rotation. I kinda wished we had started either of Pollster or Tommy Mac.
Revs did more than steal a point -- they came really close to getting 3. Polster was unavailable due to card accumulation. The rotation was to (1) decrease chances od injuries to key players; (2) get game minutes for backups who may be needed in playoffs; (3) give first 11 a rest. Look for first 11 to start the Colorado game and the Miami game. The point in a season record factors zero into Arena's squad management. He is solely focused on havinfg hrte team ready for hte play9ffs.
Of the 3 final games, this one made the most sense to play the B team. Now the starters have a full week rest (minus sub minutes last night) to play COL on Wed. Can't rest players for the MIA game or they will be idle for a month before the first playoff game, which isn't good. Buksa now one behind Kamara for the Golden Boot.
All of them dont need rest. Buska I think doesnt. Gil and Tajon dont..... Bou yes - rest... Teal - rest forever... he needs to retire. TMac can go...... This isnt football. In Europe the often play weekend , Wed, weekend and dont rotate anybody
yes... he is now mostly useless. Like playing a man down when he's on. Can't believe Arena will keep him next year so In my opinion... he's a stiff. I dont think Im alone on this either. Look at other comments about Teal. He's a good team guy and all that but he can't play with most of these guys
Polster was suspended due to yellow card accumulation. Agree with the overall point though. Neither Maciel or Caicedo provided the consistent outlet option for the defense that Polster has really excelled at dropping back to offer this year. Other random thoughts - Liked the chance to see Buchanan again at RB. It was hard to keep track, but I think it ended up being Bunbury ahead of him? I thought Kaptoum really grew into the game. For whatever reason, he really frustrates me with his speed of play and nonchalant dribbling/ball protection. I thought he was doing much better by the 2nd half (however can think of at least one time he almost got sucked into a midfield turnover that would have had Orlando breaking at us with numbers) Buksa was probably a foot or less away from sealing the 3pts on his header into the side netting. Wow.
Supporters' Shield-winning New England show quality in comeback at Orlando By Jonathan Sigal Monday, Oct 25, 2021, 09:38 AM
I thought the 'B' team did about as well as could be expected. When, in our history, could we have done better starting backups at 9/11 positions? Easy - never. It doesn't really say anything about the quality of your depth. Changing 9 players is just so disruptive to the team chemistry. I thought they actually over-achieved for the first 30 minutes. There was a stretch of 10+ minutes where we held and moved the ball around and hardly let Orlando play at all. Unfortunately, we not only couldn't sustain it, we couldn't alleviate the pressure that Orlando brought. But, to me, the big takeaway was the incredible ability we have to overwhelm teams with our attack. Imagine the situation: on Orlando's field, their weather/climate, they desperately need points, have bossed the game for 60 minutes, have a 2-0 lead and know that our attacking subs are coming ... and still can't do anything to stop us. They were lucky to hold onto a tie by their fingernails - it was a miserable result for them. I love that Arena could care less about records - and will probably end up with the points record because of it. Yes, our 2nd team isn't good enough to beat other team's 1st team - whose is? But, players need rest and bench players need playing time, different players need to learn/practice playing with each other and coaches need to see players in different situations. We accomplished all that PLUS an inspiring comeback. It wasn't what I was looking for going in, but I ended up being ecstatic with the end result. Our unbeaten streak is alive and we're coming home to take on a Western Conference team finally. We haven't lost a game in almost 2 months (and only one loss in over 3-1/2 months)! We're on a 15-1-4 run.
We haven’t won the Cup yet, but Bruce has. How many times have we gone into final on the back of eleven or twelve players who couldn’t finish out a big game. Getting a large group of players meaningful playing time and giving the stars a break are clearly part of Bruce’s playoff prep strategy. How are we looking? Home field advantage through MLS Cup No worrisome injuries. At least a half of rest through the last tight part of the schedule for all except Turner An offense that overwhelms even good teams A defense that is still too leaky. I’d like to see Polster and Caicedo in front of Kessler and Farrell on Wednesday.
4 games in 10 days, giving guys a break made sense, and this was the game to do it during. You'd like to see more from some of the guys (looking at Maciel, Arnor, Teal, and AJ) but I largely think our back ups are still good enough to soak an MLS game's worth of minutes every now and again. Looking forward to Colorado and going for all 3
I think that at the end of the SN era, through the Jay Heaps era, and certainly in the Brad Friedel era, that I would have shut off the game with 10-15 minutes to go because I had something else I needed to take care of. But with this version of the REVs, I hung on to the last minute. It sure is fun that Bruce can start that lineup, spot the other team 2, throw in 5 second half subs and walk away with a road point. Now, with the old 3 sub limit… We’ve been starved for records and trophies for so long we want it all. Most road wins/points, most wins, most points, MVP, Golden boot… we want them all. But, at this point, if they win MLS Cup, I’ll be satisfied even if they don’t get all the others. I sure hope Bruce can find some replacements in the off-season for those expected to go (Tajon, Buksa,…) cause WE’RE PLAYIN’ IN EUROPE next year!!!! (Okay, CONCACAF, not Europe). I want them to be the MLS team that kicks @$$ and doesn’t take prisoners in that tournament.
You can't possibly know who needs rest . . . the coaching staff monitors the players closely to determine when someone needs rest. If the Orlando game had been a must-win then no doubt some of the 9 rotated players would have started. But Arena has the Revs in the really great position of only having to focus on being fit and sharp for the start of the playoffs.
I don't believe I know you, so please don't take this question the wrong way ... but have you flown long distances before? It can absolutely drain you. Buksa flew over to Europe twice now in the last two months and flew around there to play for Poland. He's then come back here and had to fly around for games in MLS. While Buchanan wasn't doing that level of travel, he flew from Boston to Canada (I'm assuming to meet up with his compatriots) to Mexico to Jamaica to Canada to Boston. It really can be tiring and can take time (depending on the person) to recover. I was honestly hoping we'd be able to sneak out a win without playing any of the top guys, but that didn't happen. To the game itself, a lot of frustration in that first half. I get what Arena's trying to do, and while it was pouring pre-game, many of us talked about how this is a chance for some of those bench players to step up and show that they can be relied upon in the playoffs. I didn't see anyone really step up and grab the horns, so that was disappointing. But I'll take the point (and man, were we close to taking all three). Nice stadium down there, except that the away section a) isn't under the roof, and b) they won't let the away supporters under cover even though there were seats 30 feet to our right that were under the roof. Partying with the Shield post-game (and the night before) made the trip worthwhile.
The difference between this year and years previous is that I think Arena can find those replacements. Did you think Burns would have been able to?
New England's Adam Buksa named Week 32 MLS Player of the Week By Ari Liljenwall Monday, Oct 25, 2021, 04:01 PM
First of all, this is the best Revs season ever, can't you please just enjoy it? And let the rest of us enjoy it? Why can't you see the value in letting the backups play? Some of these guys will play a part in the playoffs, hopefully just as subs, so they need time to play meaningful minutes. Practice is not the same as game action - they need minutes in a real game to be ready for if and when their number gets called during the playoffs. Caicedo is still returning from his injury. This also gives Arena another chance to determine who is worthy of coming off the bench if needed. And there are two more regular season games before the playoffs begin, so that's plenty of time for the starters to get back out there and stay sharp.
This was the Revs second team, on the road, in a difficult stadium to play, against a quality team giving it 100% in a hunt for points they need to make the playoffs. These Revs players rarely play at all, never mind playing together at the same time, so we couldn't expect much from them. And this is MLS, with salary caps and roster size limits and incredibly restrictive player acquisition rules, so you can't expect to have twenty-two starters on your roster. These guys did OK, considering the situation. Again, this is one essentially meaningless game. Why can't we just enjoy this incredible season for what it is instead of desperately searching for something to complain about?
I have no problem with how Bruce approached this game. Give the starters some rest. Shake some rust off the backups. They held their own most of the half. And we still got a road point.
In Europe the travel distances are much shorter (and big $ leagues can afford benches that are better than starters in other leagues).
Wow, that is petty. But, I'll bet you were feeling a whole lot better soaking wet than they were dry and lamenting the lead they blew and points they needed and didn't get.
Totally agree. My one thought afterwards is that I don't really trust DeLaGarza as a backup fullback. He was a fine player in his day, but he was the number one target for Nani for a reason. In the playoffs, if we need to call on a right back other than Bye or Jones, I'm hoping it will be Tajon next up.
That was a really poor penalty by DeLaGarza. I think we have enough depth to not have to use him in the playoffs