I know I am over-simplifying things, but in the last 6 games, Llamosa has playing 90 minutes in 3 of them, and the Revs have allowed a total of 1 goal and were 3-0. In 3 others he was hurt, they have allowed 11 goals and 0-3. Am I fooling myself to think that if he plays the rest of the year, the Revs may actually be a decent team? Sorry, I probably just jinxed him back on to the injured list.
You may have jinxed them but you certainly aren't oversimplifying at all. And further, when the full team is around, even with THE TRADE and other sideshows, their record is pretty good as well. JIM DOW
One more thing- we wouldn't have given up nearly so many goals if Brown had been playing for the entire season. I don't think we have the ingredients- even when everybody is healthy- to be a great defensive team, but I do think that we can be average, particularly if Kante works out. With our offense that might be enough to make a little noise in the playoffs.
and think how tight it would be with a healthy pierce in there and players in their correct positions. We might actually have a winning team, wait a sec, this is New England.
I hope Daniel Hernandez notices this and realizes that he needs to play more like Carlos: quietly, efficiently, with heart and as a true professional.
Just for fun, I tried to find out how many goals per game each defender gave up when he played. It wasn't exact, because there were a few games where one of them may have been D-mid. Also, for a substitution, I went with the defender who played the most. This doesn't mean a lot, but the results were fairly predictable. And yes, I was on a long conference call, and had plenty of free time for this... ...player........games........goals ...Rusty..........10.............16 played in 3 of our 4 shutouts in the 10 games ...Llamosa......7...............12 8 goals in 6 games when Carlos and Rusty play ...Joey...........15.............27 ...Heaps........16.............33 ...Cullen........16.............35 .Hernandez...7...............18 ...Downing.....6...............19 Ouch! 9 of 19 came in two games where he was an injury substitution Obviously issues such as continuity come into play, but it's clear that our best lineup includes Pierce and Llamosa, and if they're both healthy we have a good shot of winning.
Not enough constants. Inconsistent lineups, inconsistent positioning, inconsistent opponents. What matters is the combination of players on the field. Llamosa is, without doubt, a good defender. Let's not get carried away though. In the first half of Saturday's game their were at least 5 or 6 opportunities where DC players got behind the Revs defense and seemingly should have scored. As much and Doug and Adrian kept showering praise on the two central defenders (Cullen and Llamosa), I couldn't help wondering - how the hell are these guys getting so open so often? Had the inept DC forwards capitalized on just a few of the the many gifts they were offered in the first half of the 7/26 game, this discussion would seem silly (put it this way, if the opponent were Chicago, Dallas, or San Jose, New England would have been down at least 3 - 1 at the half). Llamosa's good. He's a calming, solidifying influence. But he's not the answer.
Carlos speaks Carlos has his say on the trade on son of Teamtalk in the second section of the report.
NFLPatriot: I think your statistical observations on Llamosa are right on. I have been "keeping tabs" on him since he was playing in the A League years ago and actually watched him in quite a few of the A League games. In my opinion he was the best pure defender and continues to be in MLS. He senses where the play is going and gets in the way, often "sacrificing his body" to do so. His ability to anticipate where the action is going makes him highly efficient without a lot of frenetic racing around. I expect our goals against average to be lower any time he is playing and, at the same time, our winning average to go up.
It seems to me that Carlos only talked sense on YeamTalk and really said nothing inflammatory at all. JIM DOW
Agreed, though there is quite a bit of unintended irony in the fact that he made these comments (his biggest issue being the ever-changing nature of the Rev's roster) on the eve of the team acquiring two more players.
Re: Carlos speaks Why is it that Carlos noticed that AW was an important part of the team but that fact seemed to escaped the coaches/management?