Our first true midweek match at home c omes after an emphatic opening day at the new digs. Atlanta dispatched a reeling Dallas side 3-0 on Sunday and New England handled Monteral (thanks) on the weekend. I think we have already seen the biggest effect of Mercedes-Benz Stadium: the pitch size. The extra couple yards really stretched Dallas all match and Atlanta exploited this space well. Now, United will host a team that has not won on the road all season. How does Tata rotate the squad for this midweek match? Who does he sit? What is the minimum acceptable result? Atlanta Suspended: None International duty: None Injury Report: None New England Suspended: None International Duty: None Injury Report: OUT: M - Kelyn Rowe (right knee sprain, out 6-8 weeks)
So Kann is healthy now? That's good to hear. Maybe time for Petersen and Gressel to get some more minutes. Of course if we go up early and dominate it will make it easier to rotate in some of those guys earlier in the match.
I'm tempted to want to change the XI, but at this point, go until the wheels falls off. We may have to make some changes vs Orlando.
I'd rather make changes in this game than on Saturday. I'd start Gressel and sit either Martinez or Villalba and then rotate again next Wednesday. I'd also give Mears a run out. Have the regulars start on the weekend.
----------------- Guzan ------------------- Mears --- Parky ----- LGP --- Garza ------------ Lary - Gressel ------------ ---------------- Almiron ------------------ Vasquez ------ Josef ----------- Asad
New England has lost their last 5 road games, typically hinged on an inability to score as much as they do at home, but Kamara and Nguyen have done better of late in working together to create chances. If Atlanta can contain the latter and Juan Agudelo that would go a long way to limiting Kamara's opportunities, IMO, as well as stifle the Revs overall attack. They're a streaky club and prone to giving up a lot of goals, so Atlanta should be good for 2 on the night and if they do that the pressure will be on NE. I agree rotation will be critical down the stretch and this might be a game for giving Tito a rest and starting Vasquez. If the game is decided early then pull Carmona or Larentowicz early, as well, and allow Gressel or Kratz to give them a spell. Tonight will be about exploiting the turf and how much different that plays compared to NE's sloppy grass at Gillette Stadium. Look for a similar attack as Sunday but perhaps with a bit more push down the right side. 3-1 to the good, I say.
.......I was going to say....... New England are a fragile team, with belief in their individual talent but no belief in the manager. With them, it's important to get the first goal. They will defeat themselves from that point. Allow them the first goal, and on the road they will become disorganized and each will try to do too much individually. Think of these revolutionaries as a rabble, not an army. Clobber them hard right at the start, and they scatter. Allow them to gain confidence, then they're dangerous. Play it right, and I see Atlanta 4-New England 1
For all their woes on the road, they have drawn two of their three road matches on turf. They have scored 4 goals, but conceded 6. They drew Portland and Seattle, lost to Toronto.
Well, most of you got your wish in 45 minutes. This could be 6 or 7-0 by the final whistle. Hope we don't miss LGP too much v. Orlando City
Not sure. But the broadcast crew was saying this might be the first time an MLS team played an entire match without registering a single shot.
tied the record Fire 7-0 Kansas City NYRB 7-0 NYCFC Los Angles 8-1 FC Dallas In all three of those game the road team won.
Not trying to get petty, as I would have hated being a Revs fan last night, but those red cards were extremely deserved...especially, the first one where it seemed Heaps strategy was to try and hurt Atlanta players. There's playing rough and then there's dirty... The Revs opened up the game probably dirtier than I've ever seen in MLS. Hell, it was worse than a lot of crap we see in CONCACAF. The ref had no choice but to show red as it was either that or half of our players were going to end up on the injured list.
Yep, it's been confirmed by MLS. First MLS team to not record a single shot in a game. It's almost inconceivable that a team would go the entire game without even a single wild shot just for the sake of it, though admittedly, by the time New England would've been at the point of just firing a couple to say they did, they were down to nine men and weren't even capable of possessing the ball in our half of the field.
They were dirty. Dirty like, "Pele wouldn't be Pele if he'd played in Europe because we'd have broken his legs" dirty. I don't know if Heaps called for that, but it was on his watch.