7 hours till kickoff, guess it's time to start the discussion thread. Apparently we fans aren't feeling the urgency of this match. Should be a challenge at home against a good team that's on a good run.
Oops, title should say Match 16 not 15 (duh, do all your edits before clicking post on a new thread).
As a TFC fan, I'm looking forward to this game. On paper I'd give us a slight edge except that you always play us tough, especially at Gillette. I'd be happy with a draw, I think. Either way, it's two teams playing good soccer right now so it should be fun. I don't know your team well - are any of the guys you have out with injuries major losses?
No injuries or losses that Im aware of. It all depends who Arena rolls out tonight. Some of us hope he choses to attack. On another note... Severe thunderstorm warnings with big wind. Supposed to have passed by 6:30 PM but who knows. More worried about the wind at this point then the rain
Bou and Gil, so our attack may be lacking, although I am super curious to see how Buksa and Nguyen link up tonight.
Clearly Alan Kelly is watching Friends reruns instead of the VAR feed. That's a foul 99 times out of 100 -- he pushed from behind and extended his arm. Also missed a straight red for the thrown punch. How is Nguyen guilty of fouling the guy who came in with a two footed flying tackle? This will get ugly if Saghazi doesn't get some control.
OK I have seen enough. No more Buksa. On a plane back to Europe tomorrow and btw no more PKs for you. I was willing to give you a chance cause you hadnt seen the ball much. Tonight you got a good feed and missed and no excuse for the pk. You are now on Arenas DOA list
WTF????? Saghazi wastes 40 seconds in making TFC take the throw back the 30 yards they cheated and adds no extra stoppage???? Just watched the replay on the missed call on the goal and ref was 60 yards away from the play and half-jogging toward it (and at a bad angle for seeing the push). Shame on him for being so out of position, but even more so, shame on the AR who was right there. On a play like that where the breakout is so quick, don't concentrate so hard on running your diagonal, as much as getting an angle where you can see the play. Finally shame on Alan Kelly for not calling down a replay (but I expect 0 out of Alan Kelly, anyway).
The word for tonight is sh!t. We played like Sh!t, ref was worse than Sh!t and TFC played like Sh!t. I hope no one anywhere ever has to watch this match again. It'll be fun to see PRO's take on the VAR non-calls tonight.
Flying back to Poland?? You asked, I've answered. Yet another promising player who just didn't fit (some is probably on Bruce, but a lot is on Buksa). I guarantee we'll be saying why can't we get players like that after he moves on. I think our whole offense, except maybe Bou (and Gil, obviously) should be put on a plane to somewhere else.
Anybody else feel like Fagundez is plain invisible by this point? What threat does he add? When was the last time he's taken a player one-on-one? It's what drives me nuts, the players stemming from the Heaps' era seem to have forgotten how to pass the ball forward, and not just sweep it side to side, a la Caldwell. Aside from recent additions, like Tajon, Jones, Bou, Gil, Polster, and McNamara, it's like we've forgotten how to run off the ball and make openings, options for forward play (Nguyen is the only exception from the Heaps' era). I can't be too pissed at Buksa not finishing because his service and opportunities have been pitiful out of the midfield. However, I did have a feeling of dread when he stepped up to take that PK, because the game as well as his confidence was on the line. Also, I did not like Diego taking the free kick over Lee. How many goals has Diego scored from set pieces compared to Nguyen, anyway? ...Ugh. I watched this game instead of doing my homework. I'm gonna pay for that.
Honestly I blame Arena more for that PK than I do Buksa, he has totally destroyed his confidence. I think we play much better with Buksa at CF, he holds up the ball and passes it very well and works to get himself good opportunities in front of the net. We didn't score against Nashville either, but I think our offensive production was way better against a better team in TF with Buksa in the lineup. The guy just needs to get his confidence back and score, he can't do that if Arena is barely playing him.
Was not a fan of the sub before the PK. Did not feel that was the correct time or the right sub. I thought Lee was having a decent game. As soon as Buksa lined up I turned to my wife and said its going over.....and it did. Buksa has talent but I think he is just trying too hard. That PK was a sign of frustration. They let him take it to get off the schneid. Unfortunately it did not work.
I strongly suspect that Arena will now name PK kickers in order for future games. Lee would not miss. Bou is also good. I seriously doubt we will ever see Buska ever kick one again
I texted a friend immediately when I saw it was Buksa taking the PK, saying "Don't sky it, don't sky it, don't sky it." It was utterly predictable. Who made the decision on Buksa taking the Pen? Was it Arena, or was it on the field? TV didn't really show any arguments between Lee and Buksa, so I'm thinking it was Arena. And then he subbed him out anyway. Two guys that have actually taken penalties for us were on the field when the PK was given, Lee and Diego. Lee was removed, and another guy that's taken a couple, Penilla was brought on. If it wasn't going to be Lee, it had to be Diego. Buksa's never taken one here, and this wasn't the time for it. Other than that, same old same old from the Revs. Akinola arguably had an easier chance he missed early in the game. Revs rarely taking shots that challenge the keeper. 7th game since the return of the league where we've been shut out (15 games played). That's pathetic. Funniest, yet saddest moment: Penilla's shot from 30 yards out was closer than Buksa's penalty miss.
Missing a penalty like that is an absolute sign of a guy stuck in what I would imagine is the worst rut of his professional career. Down a goal at home against a good team is not the time to try to use the penalty spot to help him get on track. They should have delayed the sub until after they scored when Lee took the penalty. Like everyone else, when I saw Buksa at the spot, I was filled with dread. You know who else was filled with dread? Buksa. I don't know if he's going to work out here, but I do know I was feeling promise for the guy during preseason games, he scored an excellent goal against Chicago before the shutdown, and the team looked very dangerous during MLS is Back before Gil went down. Buksa has talent, and he's had plenty of chances to score goals this season, but he may end up being Jerry Bengston the sequel if the team doesn't figure out their best lineup with him in it. Unfortunately, the compressed schedule doesn't give a lot of time to ease your way out of a funk. Speaking of - What is Bou's status? I must have missed the news about some kind of issue for him seeing as he wasn't in the game day roster. With Gil out, I just don't think we will see the best out of Buksa until we see him in the starting lineup with Bou and Lee. The keeper is great, the backline seems more or less sorted, and the rest of the midfield/attackers can be worked in and out based on form, but that magic triangle of Bou/Gil/Buksa was what we were relying on for offensive production, and Bou/Lee/Buksa has to duplicate that as best as possible for now.
All teams are sometimes shafted by the refs and I think last night it happened to you. I'm a TFC fan and I don't see how that shove by Akinola wasn't called as a foul. I also play as a defender and I know I'd be pissed if some forward stiff armed me to the ground from behind and there was no call. Good luck to you guys against New York on Sunday.
Thanks for the post. I honestly was yelling at Farrell just to boot it into the 50th row when he got the touch. Not sure why he decided to try and possess it at that point. I'm one of the few Revs fans that actually had no problem with not calling that a foul.
I missed the game because of a power failure - though I saw the last 5 minutes on the replay when the power came back at 1:40am(!). That has to be a foul on Farrell. You have to give some protection to defenders - particularly the last defender. At the very least, you have to go to VAR on that one. And, it's clear that Akinola puts his hand on the back of Farrell's shoulder and gives him a clear shove. That's clearly not allowed under the laws - and I don't care what Charlie Davies says; he just sounds like a moron when he thinks that's just fine. From the few highlights I saw, it looked like Buchanon again played well, I saw a good pass from Diego(!) and Penilla's long-range bid clearly had the keeper well beaten. The Revs still just seem like the same snake-bitten team they've always been - they go toe-to-toe with the hottest team in the league, but lose on a bad call and blown PK.
That's the clincher for me. Shoulder to shoulder is fine. You can't push someone from behind and have it be considered a fair tackle.
I agree with most of the comments, except for the shipped Buksa back to Poland ones. The kid barely gets any service in the box. I was not happy that he was taking the PK last night. We are down a goal to the top team and we can tie them with a PK, that's Lee's to take all day long and every day. You want to build the kids confidence let him take a PK where we are up 1-0 and it's to seal the win. Not down 1-0 and it's to tie. I'm starting to think that BA is not very good at developing players. You give him all the best players; LA and US Nats, and he can work a game plan to be successful. But given young players that need some development, maybe not so much. And finally, that Ref sucked! That was a foul on Farrell. Lee got run over at one point and was called for a foul; he looked at the Ref and asked how is that on me? Turner got dragged back one time and no card was given, clearly a yellow. I'm not blaming the Ref for the loss, just venting that he shouldn't be allowed to have a whistle.
Bruce answers that here: Bruce Arena: New England Revolution not getting a point vs Toronto FC "a crime" October 7, 2020 11:33PM EDT Dylan Butler
Yeah terrible officiating on the night. Like it or not, Buksa got more touches tonight than he had in any other game, and did not really do anything productive. He missed the pk, but also missed the net from the 6 yd box on that cross from Bye. He had that 1st half chance where he didnt even shoot because he got the ball stuck in his feet running into the 18. His passing% was terrible. He wasnt the only problem, but i cant defend him anymore, especially not on a "cant get service" grounds.
“Yesterday we talked about this on the field and we had some guys take it. [Cristian] Penilla was going to take the penalty if he was on the field and he was just being substituted in for Lee, actually. And Adam was the other choice and they both took penalties yesterday,” Arena said. “Adam knew he was going to take the penalty if we had one and Penilla wasn't on the field and Penilla was just coming and we decided it was a little unusual that literally he's substituted on the field to take a penalty so we let Adam take and obviously he wasn't successful.” WOW does that ever sound like Friedel talking. Like when he was saying Diego had beat out Lee? and that Lee might not even be third choice. Maybe Arena is unaware that Lee took them before and doesnt miss? We know Buksa does... and misses badly. He also managed to not get a good cross on net... wide near side. We get so few chances, we cannot afford to miss anything. Ill give Buska a few more games before I totally turn ......On the good side..I saw Lee take a shot !!!!