Hello .. Defense ...[R]

Shouldn't Hernandez have been guarding Preki?

I'm reminded of Daniel's complaint about Nichol's scheme having him run back and forth on offense and defense. I think Hernandez is at least partly to blame.

 

Er...no. I don't think anyone had individual responsibility for the job, but if someone would have drawn that assignment it would've been Cullen (yes he did play last night). Remember the first Columbus game when Martino ran wild - same basic idea.

Besides if you're looking for the guy individually responsible for both KC goals - you'd need to look no further than Kante. As far as the four or five that Brown prevented by sheer brilliance, there's plenty of blame to go around.

This team is not as good without Joseph (who woud, BTW, replace Cullen) and Pierce.

 

I would say that Hernadez and Cullen slacked off in the last 20 minutes. It is a dm role to mark Preki and on the first goal the broadcasters noted that neither tracked back to help out.

It was disappointing to say the least. I look forward ( now a long time?) for Joseph to return. He puts more energy in the midfield and plays both ways.

I also thought that twellman was brutalized out there.

What happen to Harris when he came in? 13 minutes left he should have been hustling his butt, instead he was zone floating.

Luckly we should do okay in June, even with twellman gone, since most teams in contention are losing more players.

 

Hernandez... slacked the entire game. He was walking half the time he was out there. He tries to defend and if the ball carier gets past him he doesnt insist, just watches him continue the play. Joseph (maybe because he is trying to win the job) is definately more persistent and gets involved at both halves of the field.

We got killed at the wings, especially on Heaps side... don't know if he was playing to forward or to far in the middle?

I now know how the KC fans felt when we payed them last time... aaarrgh!

Thank God for Adin... or it would have been at least a 4-2 loss.

 

The Revs awful meltdown in the last 20 minutes was very disappointing. They stopped running completely, even Franchino. That showed me a lack of composure and mental toughness, especially after the first KC goal. To get beaten on a great 30 yard strike in the top corner is one thing, but slack defending in front of goal in inexcusable.

Thank God for Adin else it would have been a loss!!
Definitely the Man of the Match. Kante looks as if he's lost a step from last week. They definitely need Joseph in there! KC is a tough side, I'll give them that

 

I'm pretty sure it was Cullen who was at fault. Even on the non-goals, it was Cullen standing beside the player who took the shot. Just getting there late enough not to make a difference.

Of course, when I say Cullen was at fault, it could just as easily be the defensive scheme that Nicol is employing.

When Hernandez challenges, he makes the play, or forces the player to pass back. He is always getting in the passing lanes, and forces the other team to be smart when passing through the middle.

I agree with Rodan, there is plenty of blame to go around on this one.

Berndog; Heaps was playing so close to the middle in the second half, that he forced Ralston to play outside of him. Ralston couldn't go forward as often, and seemed to have little left in the tank as the game wore on.

Of course, this is just my opinion from my vantage point behind the Rev bench in the rain. I'd watch the tape of the broadcast, but I'm sure I don't want to see this one again.

MOTM: Adin Brown (not even close)

 

it was just a hard game to watch after the 70 minute mark. defense did not impress me at all - the entire game. each team would give up the ball so easily, like they didnt want it.

go to my thread for this one - but we need to rid ourselves with wolde. he is not helping at all. im looking forward to seeing jason moore and I. Kante step in soon.

noone really looked like they wanted to play when it started raining - except KC. they are a good team if you let them play.

so many things went wrong, but at least we didnt lose thanks to our MOTM - Adin. I knew we were destined for a sh1tty game soon, and thankfully it didnt cost us.

now we have COL - DC - COL. If we dont get 9 points out of that, then i guess this KC game wasnt a fluke

 

How do you sub a forward for a forward when you're trying to protect a one goal lead?

 

This one was certainly a terrible disappointment but then how do you think KC and Columbus felt recently? That isn't an excuse, of course. On the other hand, if you don't keep up the pressure for 90 minutes with this team, you lose. We cannot sit back, we don't have the speed to play flatfooted. The other team has to be forced into reacting. We did that for 70 minutes, even though there were signs of breakdown at the back even then. But it really looked like everyone was gassed over the final 20 minutes.

If that $100,000 is still in the bank maybe we need to be looking for speed in a defender. Without Rusty we creak and KC took advantage of it in myriad ways.

If Tim Howard is worth 3-plus million, what is Adin worth? He blooted one kick but otherwise he was Gordon Banks/Walter Zenga/Hugo Gatti and GiGi Buffon all rolled into one. What a wonderful streak he is on! Our entire team should genuflect at his imperial presence AND do a better job of protecting him 'cause when he goes cold, we're toast!

JIM DOW

 

This is mainly due to injuries. Realistically, though, we play 4 in the back and he's not going to put in a fifth defender. While watching the final 20 minutes, knowing we still had 2 subs left, I kept thinking "he needs to change up the midfield", and then wondering who he could have put in. Although it escaped me at the time, I guess he could have subbed in Jason Moore, but I don't know what that would have bought us. Obviously we really needed Pierce and Joseph. I don't think either of them should worry about losing their spots in the lineup while they're recuperating...

 

I agree.
And he tended to keep the ball and dance with it while
others were waiting for his pass.
But he didn't lose the game.
The entire pressure slacked off, giving KC plenty of room to move the ball forward.

 

Somewhere around the 70th minute, I commented to my wife that it looked as though they had decided to fall back and defend for the rest of the game and that I hoped they didn't burned (or Wizzed on?). However, it was also clear that KC isn't averaging nearly 2 goals a game by accident.

Not only did Brown make his usual quota of amazing saves, but his kicking was significantly better than usual.

Watching the tape yesterday, I saw a couple of things that weren't obvious to me Saturday night: until the Revs went into a defensive shell it was really a very even game with the teams having extended periods of attacks and unforced give-aways in roughly equal measure. Also, Preki's off the ball movement was a problem all night. He just couldn't convert in the 1st half, but he was constantly popping up dangerous positions while some else was bringing the ball up, often playing more as a 3rd forward than as a midfielder.

There was someone in front of me (low down behind the Revs' bench) who yelled at Hernandez at every single opportunity and yet was curiously silent the many times other Revs' midfielders make the same mistakes.

According to yesterday's Globe, Harris was told to play more of a mid-field role; this would explain why he didn't look like a competent forward.

Nicol's decision not to use his 2nd and 3rd subs tells us what he thought of the players he had available (I Kante, Leonard, Jason Moore). It also suggests we don't have nearly as much depth as some people thought. If one of the back 4 had gone down, Nicol would have had put Kamler or Hernandez in back, because we didn't have any defenders on the bench.

Did everyone else who picked up the media guide with team picture get TFIII's signature? I got Twellman, Hernandez, Kamler and Pierce among the starters, plus a couple I couldn't decipher.

 

One thing I felt provided a noticeable turning point in the game - around the 65th minute - was when Wolff and Llamosa collided and Wolff came off. Llamosa was visibly hampered after that, and his wheels are not the speediest in the first place (which he usually makes up for by the deftness of his positioning).

Yallop, in either a very astute or very lucky decision, subs in two guys [Zotinca and Armstrong], and "releases the hounds". All hell breaks loose.

The Revs clearly needed a fresh set of legs at that point but had nobody was available. It also might have also been an apt occasion for Kante to step up, but frankly he just looked too dog tired (bad conditioning?). Kante got woefully burnt by Preki on the first goal, beat for pace by a 40 year old...embarassing. He was also miles out of position on the second goal, leaving Cullen to contend for a header in the box with Klein(?). Talk about a mismatch.

Bottom line, the lack of defensive sub really killed the team this time. Nicol may have been a bit outcoached as well (more in terms of making mental adjustments than any player moves).

Still, a point is a point.

 

Good question, but I don't see what alternatives there were.

I think Nichol got it wrong on Saturday. I think Wolde should have started and Noonan come on at 45' or 50'. Wolde isn't going to force a defense to change its style of play, whereas Noonan's 1v1 skills might have kept KC's defense more honest near the end of the match.

Brian

 

Not to nitpick, but it's Gansler, not Yallop. Otherwise, I agree with your assesment entirely.

 

Pay backs a bitch isn't it? The Revs have done it to KC, Cowbus and Chi on the road and KC just did it to us, Sure hurts but thats the game. I hope the Revs get a renewed focus from this. The next three matches are very win-able esp if they play up to their potential---and that takes keeping their focus.

George

 

Eeeks. My bad.

Confusing Yallop with the Gansman is like confusing Pete Caroll with the Big Tuna.