Pathetic. Some are trying hard but we really dont have a finisher. I dont know what Arena can do.... there is no help on the bench. We need a real finisher and a few more quality players. I think Id give Teal the hook at half.
Revs are dominating possession, but TOR is punishing the Revs mistakes, and the Revs are not doing the same.
Horrible first 30 minutes, terrible result. But I do like the way they fought back, even though it came up short. Have to think the result would have been different with Turner in net, but we have to learn to live without him for the rest of the month. First game all season Revs have given up more than 2 goals. Ten days to rest up and focus on ATL. Let's hope Heinze doesn't get fired after tonight's game in Nashville....
I turn on the game and it's 15 minutes in and the Revs are down 2 -0. WTF!! The smart ass who commented that the Revs could spot the next 3 opponents 2 goals and still win was proven wrong. I know Knighton doesn't get a lot of work, but that was bad. Some year, probably when he's not a Rev, Buksa will stop hitting the woodwork and score a lot of goals. This team is missing a Shalrie. Most posters want to blame the CBs, but I don't think that they should be under the constant pressure like they are all game long. I have enjoyed watching the Euros, with their announce teams. Then I turn on the Revs and listen to Charlie Davis rant and carry on: he's hungry, he's hungry and he's hungry. He even got Brad to say someone was hungry. Maybe they should have supper before the game, so we don't have to listen to their problems.
Im very tired of hearing Charlie Davies opinion on anything. He runs on and on and often manages to work in how he knows about everything. IMO the only thing he's an expert on is how poor judgement almost cost him his life and did end his soccer career.
I felt bad for Knighton. The first goal was obviously on him but the other two were not. I expected some rust and that is what he showed. It is also tough to play a team who has just gotten rid of an unpopular coach. Toronto has too much talent to be in last place. The same thing happened with the REVs when Friedel was let go. Our in game discussion brought up the same thing regarding the addition of a Shalrie type player to this team. I agree that is the biggest need. I found it interesting that Kessler was giving Akinola a hard time early on. Akinola moved away from Kessler and stayed in Farrell's general area and had a lot more success. To me this was the first time this year that Henry looked like the Henry of last year. The other bright spot was Boeteng. He really presented some problems for Toronto. Toronto really attacked the REVs right side early and it seemed like Bye was on an island at times. When Teal was switched to that side of the field that problem was corrected. I also can not believe there were no yellow cards for time wasting. Especially Akinola as he lay on the field and then "limped" off only to miraculously be cured by the smiles and high 5's from his teammates at the sideline.
It's almost like this team is predictable. Two losses in the last three games to teams that were dead last in their conference. And yet another slow start.
The "interim manager bump" is real. MLS teams are 7W-4L-1D after a manager change since 2018. Source: https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/wednesday-takeaways-what-we-learned-from-week-12-s-action
I completely agree on the right side isolation comment. In the 442 with Gil in front of him Bye was being tasked with being the RW and RB. On the second goal he's forward attacking when Toronto gets the ball and for some reason Farrell has jumped into Toronto's half to close down pozuelo. That's both the rb and rcb being forward, and i can guarantee you its Farrell who is out of position. He should know better after 250 games, but he doesn't and that's the reason people give him flak. Suddenly they switch teal to the right and bye didn't have to be as far forward and all the attacks soteldo was getting died up.
This is pretty much exactly why the 4-4-2 doesn't work. We tried it a couple games early and we didn't look good, got away from it and mostly looked good, went back to it yesterday and got absolutely victimized.
That's the most inane comment I can imagine. Buksa scored and Bou had his first game in, what, 5 or 6 that he didn't score and Buchanon was off on int'l duty. They have finishers. The problem was trying to dig out of a 3-0 hole. As it was, they got two and hit two posts/bars against a packed-in defense. The problem - as it has been for the last 4-5 games - was defense. Actually, I think the comment was incredibly prescient. I was thinking about that in the 2nd half; they can spot a team 2 goals, but not 3! Our defense has been so shaky lately that I was going into this one and felt, as I had when we scored the first against Columbus, that we need to score 3 to win lately. 3-2 is our happiest scoreline with this defense. Ah, you know that first one is a play no goalkeeper should make, veteran or not, recent playing time or not. He was trying to get cute to save one silly possession at the back-end, early in a scoreless game. Our idiot announcers were debating whether Knighton would be able to put that one behind him (IMO, he didn't, until the 2nd half), but an equally important question is whether the defense would be able to. Goals like that are incredibly demoralizing to a team - especially one that's used to someone as good as Turner cleaning up their mistakes. Agree on each of these points. ... except for the play where he made Farrell's mistake from the week before and let an attacker move right in on the keeper. Agree. And, I think it's a sign of a bigger problem for MLS and all of the sport lately. It used to be that if you had a 'minor' injury, you were dragged to the sideline to pour water on your bruise or get your cramp stretched out. I don't remember when exactly that changed, but they could clean up a lot of this by making the player leave the field to get attention or otherwise just restart play and continue. By stopping play to fuss over a guy who isn't really injured, they are just encouraging more and more time-wasting. And, even if time is made up in injury time, it's still functioning as a virtual timeout for teams that are trying to hang on.
I'm probably (no, I'm sure I am) spoiled by Turner, but on the 2nd goal, where Knighton had to dive to his right, he had no spring at all. Knighton looked better in the 2nd half, but I'm not sure where that leaves Arena - give Knighton another start to build on this one (though the next one is 10 days away) - or bench him for making an incredibly stupid mistake. In fact, Knighton's blunder reminds me of the Pat's Brian Hoyer imploding last fall - when you have a veteran player on your roster who may not have the physical gifts, but is a smart and experienced, the one thing they can not do is make stupid, avoidable, mental errors.
Count me in the camp that doesn't see our offensive production as any sort of problem. We have 22 goals on the year. Only Seattle and KC have more (and only slightly more). And its a good thing, too, because we've given up 18 and have a GD of FOUR. We're one of only two teams that has given up that many goals and is above the playoff redline, never mind actually leading the conference. The defense is the problem. I don't think it is any one thing. I think it is a combination of weaknesses in personnel and tactics that is causing us to give up so many chances. This has to be something Bruce is working to address somehow because we will end up slipping further behind in the Supporters Shield race and we won't have a chance to win MLS Cup if we don't stop the leaks while still generating chances of our own. As for last night and BK's boner (no, not the one at the Orchids of Asia)...I can only speculate, but mentally if I were playing on a team where 1) my best goalie was out, along with one of my best attacking players; 2) the game had a long delay to kickoff; 3) I was playing against a team that just replaced their coach and was coming off a horrible loss (and a team which shouldn't be as bad as they have been, IMO); 4) and we haven't lost at home yet while they haven't won on the road...if all of those things were true and then my backup keeper comes in and makes a gaffe that brutal inside 10 minutes, I'm probably a little stunned and out of my comfort zone for a while...and next thing you know, we're down 3. It sucks, they needed to be better and more resilient early, but I understand how it happened. Still gotta love the character of this team. Heaps and Friedel era teams lose this game by 5 and don't have a chance to get a point. As it was, this Revs team was in it right until the end and very nearly stole a point. They have things to fix, they have given up way too many goals lately (all season, really), but I remain confident that they CAN fix their problems.
Yeah, I agree. Watching in person, I thought, "Wow, that's a beautiful strike by Endoh (!)," and it's true that of the three goals conceded, that was only one that wasn't an absolute gift. But you're right, Knighton had no spring, and moreover was a foot or two to the left of where he should have been. Bottom line, Turner would have stopped two of the three goals, and the Revs would have won handily. On the plus side, I thought Maciel was good, except for one pass that nearly had a tragic result. And am I the only one who thinks Boateng brings more to the table than Traustason?
I'm not ready to hand him the keys based on 26 minutes (Tony Eason syndrome). But he did look good and certainly has earned more minutes.
I still think that our defensive problems stem from not handling the high press well. Our defenders always seem under pressure and in danger of having any mistake leading directly to a high-percentage chance for the opposition. Because we don't successfully move the ball upfield under the high press, we just bring more continued pressure - and with so many attackers pressuring our defenders, they are there to pounce on a mistake. We have a very dangerous attack, and teams know it, so they go all out to keep us bottled in our own end. I don't know if there's a stat for goals/possession-time, but I think we must be very high up there. I'm even noticing a very disturbing habit creeping into our back line - in the face of pressure, they are turning their stance 3/4's back towards their own end - in effect, telling the opponent, "if you keep pressuring me, I'll pass it back"! They should be doing the opposite - letting the presser know that if they press hard, they'll take it past them into the midfield and create an in-balance there. That's why McNamara is getting playing time and that's why Gil too often still comes back into his own end to manage the ball. And that's why Polster, for all the good defending he does, is a very weak transition passer - and therefore has to do even more defending. Our offense has managed to thrive, even with low-possession time. OTOH, our defense is exposed by it.
Looks like the FO played the card: Jozy Altidore back to Toronto FC training: "It was tough being away from the team" By Tom Bogert Monday, Jul 12, 2021, 01:32 PM