I don't care what he's been doing for 20 years, I only care about what he's doing now. Players change over time. Guys routinely move from forward to midfield or from midfield to defense. It happens. Maybe it should happen in this case. Overall, Rolfe has looked more dangerous than Reiter. Reiter does a few good things and he has had hints of quality. But those who continue to say he's still meshing are stretching credibility. He's a veteran player. Unless Dave has completely revolutionized the way the game of soccer is played and nobody has noticed that, Reiter should have already seen enough in his career to help him slot in quickly. Those benefits of experience are why you take a chance on signing an older player. If we wanted another development project, we'd have spent less and possibly not used up an SI spot on someone like Rolfe and Barrett if we did not already have those players. At this point, my hope is that Reiter is acting as an assistant coach teaching our younger forwards things, although judging from goals scored they may want to take finishing lessons from Segares and not Lubos.
The only people saying this are Revs fans. The three players at the top of the list are Segares, Parkhurst and Rolfe. No one else is close. It's close between these three, but right now Segares is just as good on defense as has huge offensive capabilities that Parkhurst doesn't. Rolfe is still looking sharp, but his last two games have only been good, but not great. I'm willing to bet that Gonzalo Segares turned a few heads the last two weeks and will be the talk of the town in the ROTY circles for a while. I'm also willing to bet that he goes overseas (ala Bocanegra) before Parkhurst (if Parkhurst ever goes). This from someone who really likes Parkhurst and was very impressed with his play the other night.
Question: What do the following have in common? - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea - Lesbian porn - Justin Mapp Answer: Nice dive!
I'm so in your thought process right now. SEGA (sorry couldn't resist) is my front runner for ROTY even though I've followed most Rev's games this year as well and I'm a Parkhurst fan as well when it comes to the overall player field from MLS. Parkhurst looks like a vet on the defensive side of the ball in most cases this season but Segares has been almost his equal in this and he's had the offensive side (scored the game winners for us a couple of times) which puts him over the top IMHO - hey they're CRUCIAL strikes and 6 points in the standings. To tell you the truth I'm surprised Segares hasn't been talked about a tad more...
Rolfe and Reiter did not pair well together.... Most of the game I saw them making the same runs, looking almost like twins, and the only sure way to tell them apart was that Rolfe was the guy who fell to the turf. I was not emotionally prepared to win that game, damn, we played ugly.
I find some of the posts on this website pretty interesting such as the one above. As I recall, that was the same complaint some of you guys whined about when Jaqua was having trouble standing up. Both CR and Nate have proven themselves to be quality players so all of a sudden when CR has a couple of "average" games, and I'm not sure I agree with those who would say this if you really watch the plays he makes even when his teammates are not getting him the ball, you start knocking him. There are a lot of reasons why a player slips on the field, not the least of which is the condition of the turf and his equipment since these guys change the shoes they wear frequently. Shoes at this level don't last for ten or twelve games like they might in D-1 soccer so when a switch is made, the shoes may not provide the footing the players need. It was VERY obvious, and has been, that when Dave makes his strange substitution for CR late in the game, even with Thiago playing, our offense really stutters and, all of a sudden, the game begins to change its complexion. That includes when Herron or Reiter comes in off the bench and they both have been around for a while. I don't buy this "adjustment" period that many of you guys fall back on because they are both professionals, Herron has been with the team since last year and Reiter has been here since late April and we are now past the midpoint of our schedule. Fortunately, and perhaps uniquely, it has taken our new players, many of whom who have never played in the MLS before, to adapt to the "flow" of the game so I really don't see how you can even use that as an "excuse" for Reiter or Herron. They simply don't fit the chemistry of this team and THEY are the ones who have not yet figured out how to fit into the team. As I recall, Segares got his first goal this season on a beautiful feed from Rolfe from the endline and on his second goal, CR was the one who got fouled after splitting two defenders to set up the ensuing direct kick that resulted in Gonzo's second goal. Incidentally, CR was on the backside of the post on that play and had Gonzo not gotten the ball, CR had an excellent opportunity on that cross as well. Segares and Rolfe are both worthy candidates for ROTY and should be the two top frontrunners. I do have a question about Gonzo, though, since he is a youth international player is he eligible for ROTY? Also, as I pointed out in an earlier post, CR was very active on our offensive end Saturday night and definitely deserved a PK when he challenged Reis to the ball--not bad for a guy 5'8" and 150#. I didn't see anyone else on our team taking Reis on one-on-one on a dead sprint and Reis made a great save on Rolfe's first shot. If Segares is not eligible due to his status as an international player, then Rolfe is still the primary candidate for ROTY. The Fire have six of the best young players in the league on the field with few peers when Mapp, Guerrero, Jaqua, Rolfe, Segares, and Thiago and that doesn't include the two U-20's John and Barrett that would probably be seeing much more playing time on other squads. If the Fire can hold them for the next few years, then it should be an exciting product for the new stadium. Fickle would be a good word to use to describe much of the inconsistency in the analysis on these pages. It's not what you've done for me in the past but rather what are you doing right now and that results in some really zany inconsistencies in these postings.
The dive was disgraceful. Even more disgraceful was the missed penalty call at the start of the game. We were pretty far from the goal, so could someone tell me why the second goal was disallowed?
Since he stepped on the field I've been impressed by his play the same way that Ralph impressed me from minute one of his career with the Fire. I too am surprised of the lack of talk about "Sega" despite his very, very solid defensive play and offensive capabilities (I'm not talking just about his goals, but his ability to move forward, distribute exceedingly well, and be an absolute terror on the wing). Mark my words, if he continues to play well and grows as a player he will follow Bocanegra's path in MLS and overseas in a few years. Right now the Segares-Parkhurst battle is very similar to that of the Ralph-Noonan battle of two years ago (wow another Fire-Revs "Rookie-Off") in that both are very talented and the race is very close.
Agreed! Rolfe, Segares, Parkhurt... how is Danny O'Rourke doing? I don't see him much. I would have loved it if James Riley had continued to shine as he did early in the season, but he's got a LOT of catching up to do. Oh, and good result, BTW. Chicago's a quality team. I agree that the Rev's 'B' midfield hurt them more than Chicago having their veterean 'B' defense... but that shouldn't take away from Chicago's tough-played game. They did what needed to be done at home. Kevin D.
I was a little worried when I saw the starting lineup. Griffin in the MF? What does Barrett have to do to get a few more minutes. They could of played Barrett at right mid or moved mapp over and played will john at left. Or why not have pause play mid with griffin playing in back? I'm just a fan, what do I know? Luckily our 2nd/3rd team was better than the revs. Zach probably saved the game for us. The last few games he has been playing well. I was really impressed with Justin. He's finally looking like the player we all expected. We just need him to finish. Once he learns to finish he might be a solution at right mf for the nats. Segares is a stud. If it wasn't for our defense pulling up we would not of had an attack. I didn't make the game but, section 8 looked great and sounded great on TV.
And if your interpretation is wrong then Reiter has really bad timing which would explain why he wins almost none of the balls that are played in his direction. Certainly he might be having trouble adjusting to the style, speed of play or whatever we have over here but so far his work has not been promising. Really the only good thing that I saw from him on Saturday was the one blazing shot he took late in the second half that forced a good save from Cuetip. With Jaqua, Rolfe and Barrett I would be suprised if we brought back Reiter next year. He will really need to have an epiphany before the end of the season. Right now Herron is ahead of him but Herron has been mediocre at best so far as well.
Just an FYI update on ROTY candidates: http://soccernet.espn.go.com/feature?id=336860&cc=5901 Two out of the top five are Rolfe and Segares--congratulations, guys!!
So, yes, as everybody said the game was very sloppy. But even in it's sloppyness we were by far the better team. Leo Griffin was a suprise entry and he started off strong for the first 15-20 minutes but then slipped back into being what we've all thought he has been, a waisted draft pick. On the other hand Scott Buette (who I have unabashedly slammed over the past few weeks) played a hell of a game. What does that mean? It means that when he is at the right level (college, perhaps a-league quality) he can really play well. I am still not convinced that he can play that well against a-team quality mls players. But at least there is a glimmer of hope. Rolfe had some serious footing problems. I'm suprised he didn't make an equipment adjustment or something at halftime. All the slipping really took him out of his game. Marsch, Brown, Curtin played strong veteran soccer. Segares is a stud. My ROTY for now, hands down. Mapp is playing well but he can't shoot a lick. I could have sworn he had a nice shot when he first arrived. What happened? Barrett should get more minutes. He is a future star. Reiter should be in the prime of his career right now age-wise so if he can't start producing we should be focusing on the guy we will need in the future, IMO. Zach played a nice game too, though Reis was the better of the two on the night.
I agree with the top four simply as the best rookies this year. Those beyond Parkhurst, Segares, Rolfe, and Boswell really aren't in the running right now (which isn't to take anything away from them, they've all looked good).
This is a little off topic, but I was thinking about it after watching the highlights on mlsnet.com. Does anyone else think Reis should be fined for his cheap shot on Rolfe? I am slowly starting to realize that Reis, despite his talent, is the biggest prick in the league (along with Kovalenko). His cheap shot on Eskandarian a couple weeks ago is the type of thing that could end someone's career. Frankly I am surprised that Rolfe walked away from that challenge. He's luckier than Esky who is still suffering.
Rolfe got his arm up just in time to save himself from a couple bruised ribs. We all know there was no intent to play to ball, but no one could make that charge stick.
Did you either not see the game or not read what I wrote? Nothing that I wrote about Reiter or Rolfe was a scathing attack or calling them out as useless. In this one match, they did not pair well together. They made the same runs frequently, they got in each other's way. If they get more play time together, I am sure they'll work it out, but this weekend they did not have it. And yes, Rolfe hit the ground an AMAZING number of times, mostly without contact...so much so that I was squinting to find out if he was playing the match in penny loafers. I love the kid, I think he is incredible and has great skill (more than most his teammates) but something kept him on the turf consistently.
Gotta disagree with this Segares for d-mid talk. He could play there and be great, yes. But I think it is more critical to the defense to have a solid left back. Also, consider how difficult it is to find a great left back - ask Fulham. "No" to this, guys. Segares at left back and Ivan in front of him until both are too old to walk.
I agree that we don't need Segares as a d-mid. 1) we have enough of those already and 2) he is damn good as a left or center back.