Last night's game reinforced my assertion that Coria is better than Cochrane. It was also the final straw for Lekic. If you can't hype up for Manchester United, I don't think you ever will. I'd like to see this for Philly: [LINEUP-4-4-2]Feilhaber, Schilawski, Mansally, McCarthy, Phelan, Nyassi, Tierney, Coria, Soares, Alston, Reis[/LINEUP-4-4-2] Give Dabo some time, but I don't risk starting him because you potentially lose a sub early on like in New York. I thought of putting Barnes at LB, but I feel like this gives the Revs more attacking options, and Philly are more possessive than speedy, so Tierney shouldn't have an issue with that. Feilhaber would be basically doing what Shalrie does when he plays forward, where it's not quite a striker, but not quite an AM.
[LINEUP-4-4-2]Lekic, Schilawski, Benny, Dabo, Phelan, Nyassi, Tierney, Coria, Soares, Alston, Reis[/LINEUP-4-4-2] I'd like to see Phelan behind dabo with Nyassi and Benny outside. 4-4-2 is the way to go with this lot. Lekic is being paid a good chunk of change, he should never have been put in a position to be the lone striker, he was doomed to fail. his best time on the field has been when they switched and put a forward next to him.
I like the players you've got out there, but I'd switch them around a bit: [LINEUP-4-4-2]Schilawski, Mansally, Guy, Phelan, Feilhaber, Nyassi, Tierney, Coria, Soares, Alston, Reis [/LINEUP-4-4-2] Mansally up top instead of Benny only because he has more experience there and Benny needs to be settled and anchoring the midfield for this game. I want to see Guy finally get a start in the middle as opposed to Tierney because he seems to have more speed and creativity than Tierney and about equal possession skill. Bench: Barnes, Dabo, McCarthy, Lekic, Shuttleworth
If we put Mansally up top, I'd rather see Barnes at LB with Tierney pushing up. I'm not sold on Guy yet and I know what to expect from Barnes.
Lekic's problem, from what I see, is not the formation -- it's his lack of skill. His touch is so poor that he's rarely going to score unless the ball is served up to him on a silver platter. Every striker worth his salt has to be able to score on something other than sitters. Here's a thought exercise: would Lekic be able to score as a member of any other MLS team, as presently constituted? Maybe incrementally more, at best.
I admit it. I got fooled. I liked the Dabo and Domi signings. And I actually liked both of them when they played. You guys who tried to beat some sense into me (Monty, MM66, etc.) were right. I was wrong. Nicol and Burns OUT.
Actually I liked the Domi one, and I was willing to give Dabo a chance, but was worried about his playing condition since he hadn't played for a year.
WTF is wrong with the Revs? Where is the damn tipping point? Signing guys with pedegrees like Domi's and Dabo's was good on paper. But the red flags were there for all to see: Lack of fitness, age, the effing fake turf on which they'd be playing half the time. We get lucky with Benny falling into our laps, but then Marko goes down for the year. Stoli gets demoted and released. Lekic had some promise. But he has no one to get him service. And even then, he has a horrible first touch and he cannot be engaged (metally and physically) in a physical league. Our team is a mess, on and off the pitch. Our stadium situation is a horrible liability in trying to lure players here. Our management absolutely sucks at identifying talent and/or being able to sign it. And let's not forget what's happened with the Fort. And after all that, still absolutely nothing from anyone in the organization as far as trying to shine a light at the end of the tunnel.
Black Shirt protest? First reason to watch a game since Fiel debut. That makes it 2 regular season games this season that there was a reason for a casual soccer fan to watch. Thanks!