P/I/P Match 19: Revs vs ATL, Wed 7/3/24 7:45p [R]

I got an email that noted the weird start time to be due to the game being on national TV

 

Is Almada playing or will Atlanta not risk him getting hurt ahead of his move?

 

Oh man, Carles already listed as OUT?!? We're in trouble.

Hopefully Bye can get back in the swing of things and solidify the defense.

 

Match finished 2-1 to the good guys. Vroni with the brace. Naturally, we gave up a goal in stoppage time to make it interesting.

 

A few random thoughts:
I thought the Revs played well for 3/4 of the game. That second Vrioni goal was a beauty. Then Ivacic's second save just before the half was fantastic and in hindsight probably saved their 3 points.

I thought Harkes put in a tremendous shift. Vrioni had probably his best game as a Rev, not only scoring 2 goals but also for his hold-up play. Esmir has to toughen up a little bit, every time someone bumped him he went down and the ref just said get up.

Vrioni's 3rd goal should have counted, both of his feet were behind the line when the pass was made. This made me think of how to fix off-sides in soccer....copy hockey. If any part of the player's body is equal to the last defender then they are on sides. Basically, flip the script. Stop bailing out the defense and give the advantage to the offense.

 

Good win vs a not very good Atlanta club. Echo the thoughts about Vrioni. 3 great finishes - though one obviously was taken away. Polster, who I frequently knock, was solid all game. Kessler, I thought was outstanding. Buck needs to stay in the lineup the rest of the season. He will make mistakes but he'll also make the outstanding play and his service on Vrioni's 2nd goal was terrific.

Borrero was absolutely skinning their RB in the first half. Not so much (or at all) in the 2nd. I hope he didn't reinjure himself.

We won the way we have to win with what's available for players - get the first goal and protect it. Helps if you get the 2nd, which was of course was proven last night. But I think a very satisfying night for Revs fans. Pretty good fireworks display post match as well.

 

I went into this gam expecting nothing and was pleasantly surprised. Vrioni may have actually found his game or maybe Porter has figured out how to play to his strengths, the ball in behind the defense.

Someone mentioned they were good for 3/4. I think that is when Porter started making his bunker ball changes. I really hate when he does this. That goal was created because there were so many defenders in the box that no one stopped the cross. I wish he woudl stop doing this.

Harkes, Esmir and Noel played very well. Borrero was having his way with his defender but was getting yelled at by players and Porter for not tracking back. To his credit he was playing hurt.

One thing that bothered me was the megaphone in the fort. As much as I hate being told to "stand up" I do love hearing the songs and the chants when they are natural. Last night all I could hear from my seat on the the sideline was the voice on the megaphone. Was it turned up too high and drowning out the live voices? Were there not enough people singing?

 

They don't have a megaphone any more. They have a microphone and pretty serious tower speakers affixed to the capo stand. The singing was solid, but not amplified like the capo.

 

I guess my point is that the change, in my opinion, is not good. All that can be heard is the Capo.

 

The Revs that were the doormat of the league have won five of their last six games!!!

Sure, Atlanta isn't one of the top dogs in the league, but they are still above us and we are dealing with some MAJOR injuries. Kudos to 'the good guys' for finding a way to get it done.

I'm not completely on the "Vrioni train' as I still think they need some serious help at forward, but it's impossible NOT to be encouraged by his recent streak. Good job by him taking advantage of this opportunity. With Chancalay and Gil out, Vrioni essentially said 'hold my beer' and got the job done.

Love seeing the young guys Buck and Esmir continue to get some minutes. They aren't polished players yet but the only way to get there is with experience.

We have a crowded defense now, we have DuJuan Jones, Brandon Bye, Dave Romney, Arreaga, Nick Lima, Henry Kessler, and Andrew Farrell (am I missing any)? Do we continue to see some of these guys get some looks at midfield like this past game, or was that more about 'game script' and working with whatever we had?

 

Porter seems to like throwing Mensah in the mix, too.

As far as their midfield abilities, I've liked the Farrell at DMF experiment. Makes me less nervous about brain-farts, he's a solid physical presence, and likes to move the ball forward. He's been an effective fill-in, I feel, but I have no insight whatsoever about Porter's plans. Total football? No. Flexible players? Kudos for leveraging what he's got game-to-game.

 

Farrell might be our most effective DM right now. Buck and Harkes are doing ball progressing things in CM.

Despite that, weve seen Porter choose Polster and Kaye a few too many times, together even! In a perfect world wed find someone to take one or both this summer and find a true DM that allows Farrell to be fpa full on utility guy, but my intuition says we wont

 

Yeah I've always been a fan of Polster but this year he's definitely been a step too slow more often than not. MAK has been a disappointment here and seems to have regressed year over year. Whether it's Farrell in the short term, working in Maciel to the first team or a U22 signing when the window opens, I hope Porter has another d-mid in mind.