Just a great TEAM effort last night. Moreno kept on saying that Phillys bread and butter was transition but the Revs shut that down. And you could tell Philly wasn’t so comfortable in their “half court” offense. Kessler was great. I haven’t seen a lot of games this year what a godnllayer
Can't describe how thrilled I am at that result. Gil's chip was a beauty, too bad it found the crossbar and not the net. Tajon took his goal perfectly. Buksa's header was spot on (and no one saves that one). The defense was solid. That's the high-level summary. Now to more details. We sucked that first 10 or so minutes. Couldn't get possession, couldn't get past midfield, it was just tough to watch. You don't generally see two penalties on the same player just seconds apart ... and that's about all I can think of in regards to why either wasn't called. VAR failed on that one, but the response by the Revs was stunning and lethal. I actually liked the subs last night (though Bou didn't look happy to be taken off). Loving seeing Rennicks get a run out. Being a Revs fan, I was a little petrified that we'd do our normal Revs things and find a way to blow it. As much as I just said I liked the subs, I was worried that somehow Philly would come back and we'd have almost no one we trusted to take penalties. Thankfully that didn't happen. Strangely enough ... if the Revs actually have timed this right, because of COVID, they could wind up winning the Eastern Conference by playing two EC teams that they didn't play a single time this year.
I know he always was as a player, but I thought he gave the Revs their just due all game. Or, do you mean Monteiro? If so, I agree - as was Ilsinho and Santos. How entitled are they? Outraged even when the commit obvious fouls. Revs always seem to take 10 minutes or so to come into the game. Absorb some pressure (hopefully), slowly find the game. Oh, what a sweet chip by Gil - that would have capped off a dominant game. But, regardless, he was the conductor who led this show! It's been a frustrating season - we've seemed on the cusp of putting things together for a while now, but things haven't clicked. I thought this was the crispest our passing has been all season - and all over the field we seemed to have the mentality of finding a way forward, instead of taking the passive response to any pressure by passing back. We consistently found players going forward, even when pressured. That made us so much more dynamic and caught Philly by surprise IMO. In every previous matchup with them this year, their pressure was able to push us back towards our own goal. Not this time! I was scared to death on their corners and free kicks. We survived, but just barely. Pryxzblkjsqzy choked on his free header from dead on - the contrast to Buksa's goal couldn't be more clear! But, every time we cleared it over our end line I was clenching my teeth. And, several were pretty dangerous - but the Revs did seem more aggressive in going to the ball then they had been. When PHI started getting chippy, screaming at the ref and starting shoving matches with the Revs, I started feeling like we could see this out. Those aren't the actions of a confident team - more like one that feels their season slipping away. It was confidence and aggressiveness that won us this game. If we can continue to bring that, we can go a long way.
Winning phrase. That sort of focused competence is what I personally wish for every season from every squad - it's fundamental to me to expect ANY professional soccer squad to routinely possess and routinely exhibit - it shows they are capable of concentrating, which is foundational to professional success, even before any discussion of technical skills even comes into play. (That level of concentration thing is what is sooooo often missing for the Revs, year after year. It manifests in so many ways, which for me is a BIG letdown when I am expecting a "professional" level of play. Not sure why this has been a main "gating factor" to Revs sucess.) But, they overcame the recurring concentration-deficiency challenge in a big way last night. And yes, Philly wasn't "Philly" last night, but that's the way things go sometimes, good to be the beneficiary of it.
My thoughts in Feb looking at this team was we are in for a lot of 3-3, 3-2 type games. My expectations for the back four were not that high. Months later we see Kessler is the real deal and his pairing with Farrel has been pretty good. Buttner, Jones, Bye and Tajon have been pretty good for the most part on the wings. Delamea and Mancienne have been a non factor and I cannot imagine either of them being on this team next year. 1.4 million can certainly be spent better
OK I think last night's game is what the expectations for this season were for most fans me. I hope everyone has a happy and safe Thanksgiving. Go Revs!!
Another encouraging thing for me in this game was Gil regaining possession from Philly multiple times. He did a lot of that last year and for me that is a sign that he is feeling fit and fully back on his game. I wish Luis Caicedo had made it back this season. I hope he is recovering well somewhere and that he will be back next year somewhere close to when we saw him last.
Honestly, (besides Gil) it was the loss of Caicedo that worried me the most this season. I suspect that his return, due to the limitations of those who play at his position while he is out, will have almost as much ripple impact on the team as would putting another low level DP on the field.
I'm not sure that Bruce would agree. At the end of last season when there were some meaningful games I don't think Bruce included him in the starting 11.