P/I/P Match 16: Revs @ NYC, Sat 6/3/23 3:30p [R]

Cool and dry forecast.

 

Farrell was an absolute train wreck in this game a year ago, I recall.

 

Just saw the starting lineup. OMG Arena is crazy. I give us zero chance of any points. Jozy starting, Blessing (ugh) and Makoun starting. WTF? No Buck? We're gonna get our asses kicked... badly. Every line has a weakness. We're doomed

 

I can't copy and paste the starting line up, I feel ill. Most of you will also, once you see the aberration that Bruce is starting us with.

 

How is Vrioni not starting? If they are trying to rotate and keep guys fresh this is the place to get him minutes.

 

Lineup link. Of the "decisions" I like finally going with jones/ema wingbacks. Jozy over Vrioni, Blessing over Buck, and Makoun over Omar are just baffling

The starting XI taking the pitch this afternoon! 🤜🤛

— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) June 3, 2023

 

well we suck so far. My hero... Jozy, falls more than Joe Biden

 

Vironni and Bou should start when the game restarts at 45minutes, over Jozy and Wood. Buck should replace Blessing, stay just behind Gil to help distribute.

 

At halftime, it could have been worse. Petrovic keeping us in the match. Maybe Bruce’s “reverse Jozy” gambit pays off in the second half, with Bou and Buck and Vironi available as subs.

 

Thats cause Jozy sucks and everyone but Arena knows it

 

it’s hilarious you think Bruce doesn’t know what Jozy is and what he isn’t.

 

At 57 mins. Revs still glaringly outplayed by NYCFC.

 

Farrell is not effective in the attack, but God love him, he does love to pretend.

 

Desperately seeking Buck. Blessing running low on fuel.

 

It’s not even yellow; Jone s tripped after playing the ball. once more, awful MLS REGGING! Yellow on NYCFC!

 

If the objective is to keep a clean sheet, mission accomplished, I guess. Not a lot of decent attacking chances for us. Defensively still unsteady, but Petrovic bails us out.

 

I thought it was yellow, the player came in full stride on Jones’ instep. We probably lost a bit of time in the bargain for the time taken for VAR.

 

Well that wasn't great, but there are some positives to take away:

1. It's a point on the road - which, against a struggling team, would've been super disappointing in the early part of the season when we were firing on all cylinders. But given the current situation, I'll take it.

2. We stemmed the tide of goals conceded! Mostly thanks to Petrovic, but the defense did look less leaky than in the past few games. The back 3 more or less worked, and neither Makoun nor Farrell made one of their goal-conceding blunders.

3. We looked a fair bit better in the second half with Vrioni on for Altidore, and MUCH better once Bou was on as well. Hopefully that's a sign of things to come. Clearly, this team isn't as deep as we'd like it to be - but at least they're decent (and sometimes much more than decent) when the main attacking pieces are on the field together.

Jones didn't look his best - but playing wingback on such a narrow field must be disorienting. Hopefully Bye comes back soon. Everything seems to click so much better when we have a back 4 with the normal fullbacks.

Better game from Polster, I thought.

And with VAR reviews - is the feed we see on the TV during the review the exact same feed that the ref sees? Because that's what it seemed like - and the ref wanted a clearer view, but they kept showing some sped-up version or a view from absurdly far away. Honestly, that red should've been overturned - and it seems like the tech might have been partly to blame. Why does MLS, which is so gung-ho about being on the cutting edge, do so much worse than the rest of the world on the technical/logistical side of VAR? Seems like something they oughtta be able to sort out...

I'm optimistic that this represents the end of our rough patch. It sure would be nice to see Vrioni-Bou-Gil start against Miami!

 

I absolutely hate watching games on that crappy field. Between the baseball diamond, he narrow pitch, and players slipping left and right, it makes a mockery of the game and MLS should not allow games to be played there. It's hard to judge the team's performance under such conditions but I'm happy coming away with a point. That said, Arena's starting Jozy was ridiculous. I'm also not happy with Bou's petulant attitude after blocking Ema's shot on goal. Also, the refereeing was as bad as the field.

They need to turn things around with 3 games at home in June. Let's hope they are up to it.

 

Caught a little of the first half on radio. Charlie Davies was saying in announcer code that Jozy s--ks. It's absolutely mind boggling why Bruce continues to trot him out there.

My other reaction to the game is it could well be brutal the 2nd half of the season if they can't hold onto Petrovic through the end of it. NYFC should have scored 3 today. What a performance.

And no matter how you get it, a point on that crappy pitch is a good result.