It was annoying but to be honest it is not easy doing the entire game solo with no one to interact with.
Completely agree and I noted that to some that were complaining last night. And I'll add one more thing ... so many announcers in the US take themselves too seriously, I thought he was having some fun. He also had no problem mocking himself and it made me laugh a few times. He wasn't great, but from reading some comments from people, you'd think he was the worst thing to happen to soccer in years.
A few random thoughts: I was quite pleased the way they played. First game out in Central America, playing in a tournament that they never put much effort into in the past, I wasn't expecting too much. I was happy that they tried to quickly move the ball down the field. And I was glad that I didn't see a lot of passes between the CBs and goalie. I didn't have a problem with that no-call on the second yellow. You see that all the time where a ref gives a player a pass on a pale yellow foul. I had the volume on the TV fairly low and wasn't paying too much attention to the announcer. But I got a chuckle out of his describing the Panamanian league with their East and West conference as unique among soccer leagues. East and West conferences like the NBA. Hello....and the MLS.
Agree with pretty much everything that has been posted here so far. Happy with the win, encouraged with how they controlled the game, still worried about the #9. Vrioni had 3 or 4 chances where the ball fell near him, and a toe-poke would have resulted in a shot on goal, but he either didn't see it or was too slow to react. MAK frustrated me the same way he did last year: great at intercepting/stealing the ball, but turns it back over way too easily. Pharrell, er, Farrell puts out fire after fire, but had a few dangerous turnovers as well. Mitt's distant cousin was a rock, as usual. DeJuan battled all game. Ravas was good, never really tested, but clearly a step up from Edwards and Jackson. Lima was solid, good addition after the Bye injury. I liked what I saw from Esmir, he may be more important than Buck this year. Porter used all 5 of his subs. With 4 games in 12 days, this is critical. It will be interesting to see who starts vs DCU.
New England Revolution solve CA Independiente in Concacaf Champions Cup MLSsoccer staff Wednesday, Feb 21, 2024, 11:51 PM Recap | Chancalay strikes as Revs claim 1-0 win over CA Independiente in Concacaf Champions Cup first leg revolutionsoccer.net Thursday, Feb 22, 2024, 12:10 AM
Is that stat in the Revs write-up correct? Revs 135 fouls Independiente 11??!! Welcome to MLS amigos.
Ha, too funny! Concacaf site has 11 to 10, so I don't know where 135 came from. It also has slightly different numbers for passes (541-220), but either way the Revs passed a lot more than CAI did, and it was noticeable during the game.
He actually got a lot of positive feedback from Revs fans on X post game. He kind of grew on me a bit as the game moved along.
I actually liked what he did it just got annoying hearing the same things repeatedly. I think if he had a partner it could have been great.
I did find it interesting that the pbp guy's mispronunciations/name choices seemed to be thematic. Andrew Pharrell, (The first) Noel Buck, Emmanuel Boateng. Very much the House of El.
They did a pretty nice job of stringing passes together - and seemed more willing to go forward than recent years. The Gil brothers continue to have good chemistry and that makes it a good idea to have Nacho on the field. He seems to regularly be able to get the ball to his bro in dangerous positions. Esmir definitely looks like he's got something extra this year. His progression is starting to remind me of how Tajon broke out. We easily could have won that one 3 or 4-0. I expected more out of Independiente. Wonder if they'll show more fight up here. I'm torn over whether Chancalay intentionally bounced his shot into the turf - it certainly looks like he hit it like intended. OTOH, it would be quite the bit of inspiration to choose that shot at that time.
I dunno, a skilled footballer has the bounce volley in their bag of tricks when shooting at the goalie who is already beginning to lineup in position for the save. The bounce sometimes can negate that and the ball can find its way to the back of the net.
Doesn't look like a mis-hit to me: ATTENTION: New celly unlocked! 🇦🇷🔓#NERevs | #ConcaChampions pic.twitter.com/aHLXpDEfb4— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) February 22, 2024
A look from the broadcast. I don't think there was a mis-hit there. This goal gave @NERevolution the lead! 💪Tomás Chancalay, Player of the Match 💯 pic.twitter.com/tNRn6WRzW0— Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) February 22, 2024
Updated forecast for Thursday: Rain overnight Wednesday night, followed by a temperature drop. High of 35 degrees at noon on Thursday, down to upper 20's by game time.
MATCHDAY GUIDE | Revs vs. CA Independiente (Concacaf Champions Cup, Round One, Leg 2) Jeff Lemieux posted: Monday, Feb 26, 2024, 02:59 PM
Yeah, I mean, half the price of my ticket was worth just seeing the look in Independiente's faces when they walk out of the tunnel into the lovely New England winter air!
I got the sense watching that game that Independiente wasn't exactly all in. They used a lot of subs and it seemed like they were just trying to get through the game without anyone getting hurt. Hopefully they get one whiff of the cold air Thursday and say screw it - 2 hours and we get on a plane back to Panama.