I was wondering if the lack of attack was the result of a lack of confidence in the makeshift back line with others paying more attention to defensive responsibilities that looking to attack. Then again, there were some opportunities that fizzled due to the lack of a quality final pass or finish. Gil had several dangerous attempted passes that were cut off.
Montreal is actually a very tough home side and has been trending up in recent games. They are 9-3 at home, having given up only 5 goals. Goals scored & conceded SCORING Home Away All Goals scored (GF) 18 8 26 GF per match 1.50 0.62 1.04 Goals conceded (GA) 5 29 34 GA per match 0.42 2.23 1.36 Yes, we looked bad, but you have to give credit to the opponent - they are very tough at their place.
I think the bold move would have been starting Bolma at right back. As it turned out, he had a terrific game for Revs II, while Polster really struggled to fill in at a position he hasn't played in several years. But, I think that's part of the Arena-suspension fallout - while Arena might have been open to taking a shot with Bolma, I don't think Richie was in a position to do it. They have to get people back, that's the bottom line. I think they'll be more aggressive and attacking at home, which will serve them much better, but playing conservative/defensive on the road with only one of your recent best 5 in the back is . Yeah, not much choice - especially when you have an even bigger problem on the opposite side. I think Spaulding has gotten better - and still is getting better, but he is pretty consumed with defending the position and not turning the ball over when he has it. Making plays to transition us to offense is just a lot to ask of him at this point (especially considering that he doesn't have the best 10 around him). He also seems to take a physical beating, being pretty small. He has been down in serious pain a couple of times in nearly every appearance - it's clearly in opponents game plan to be physical with him.
I'd also mention that Omar had a pretty solid game - this was a game where it was a really good thing that we had him on the roster (it's pretty scary to think about what we'd do if he wasn't). On the goal given, pretty much everyone on/around the back line could have done better.
Interesting! I guess it makes sense - a shot from midfield is probably 0 and the intercepted pass from Gil is probably 0 unless it gets through to Vrioni. I am surprised the Rivera shot wasn't higher though - it was in the box and he had a relatively clean look.
Rivera's shot got a 3.94% chance of scoring, Gil's was 1.93% So the 0.1 xG was rounded up from 0.0587. Game stats
On the FBs, i think both Polster and Spaulding are fine backups as defensive FBs. The issue here is that the revs attack happens almost exclusively through the wings, and Bye and Jones contribute significantly to that in the attacking 3rd. Starting 2 non-attacking full backs should have meant we refocused our attack through the center of the park. But we didnt. FWIW, although I think Polster is a better RB than Bolma, Bolma being an attacking minded player might fit better with what the revs are trying to do. That said, with Omar on the right side I don't think you want to let Bolma do his best yr2 Bye impersonation (constantly caught up field leaving a big hole for the opposing attack to run through).
Ya, considering the other options aren’t so hot either, I’d be interested to see what Bolma could do. Do you think Makoun is worth a look? Or when Kessler is back does Farrell move outside?
I kept screaming at the tv. Constantly losing the ball, dribbling right to the sideline, making bad runs etc... he has to be smarter.
Makoun has played on the backline before. After watching Spalding i would love to see another option at rb and jones back on the left. Bolma may be worth a look
Yet Polster got caught out of position multiple times. He understood the game plan - overlap and get forward - but he got beat numerous times 1v1 and was way late getting back into position.
It was very hard to tell what position Polster was meant to be playing. All that we can say for certain is that he is not meant to play right back.
Thanks for the link - I had no idea MLS published such detailed game stats. As a stats guy, I'll be checking that quite frequently now.
I just don't need to see Makoun or Sweat on the field for the revs again. I think you can argue Bolma is at least the right type of player to replicate our injured wingbacks, but he is significantly worse.
We've seen Bolma try to play right back and it was not pretty (I also saw a few REVs II games when he was playing there). He is much better in the middle of the field.
Any word on Farrell's return for tomorrow? I mean, so frustrating. We get almost a month off and we get to last Saturday's game in Montreal and no Farrell, no Jones. WTF!
Yes, but that was much earlier in the season. Plus, now that he's gotten some first team minutes - and played confidently and well - I think it's a good bet that he'd bring more confidence to the wingback position with another shot.
I disagree he played well in his recent sub appearances. He played better than his USOC disasters, but that's a pretty low bar
His first one, where I believe he played dmid for the final 25 minutes or so - I thought he was excellent, quick, fluid, accurate with passes, active with his positioning, etc. (though I don't think it was a very challenging situation).
I thinks that why I draw the line. He was put in a position to not have to do anything. He never once received the ball under any pressure, navigated 0 congested passing lanes, and created nothing. 0 errors is nice and all, but he didnt do anything noteworthy in a game where nothing was asked of him.