+1. Interesting contrast with Feilhaber who was fun to watch when he was here at times, but tended to pout and throw his arms up at his Revs teammates when they weren't on the same page. After it was pointed out on another Board, I went back and looked at the runup to JJ's goal. When Caldwell heads the ball to Nguyen, BF is right next to the play and begins to jog up the pitch. Nguyen and JJ accelerate forward. As JJ takes the ball, he looks over his shoulder and sees empty space behind him and BF still jogging. No worries there. It looks like BF thinks about running then decides he's too far out of the play to bother. JJ, uncontested in any direction has an easy opportunity.JJ and Nguyen make each other better. BF hangs his defenders out to dry when he leaves the attacking midfield space to the Revs.
The home team got some momentum because we blew an offside trap, that's it. Credit to the Revs for righting themselves and finding a way to win. We owned the final 10 minutes. Exactly. To think we're going to come in there and just walk away with the game is unrealistic. We rode the ups and downs and took it to them in the end. Should have been 4-2. Are you kidding? Nguyen was going at the KC defense every time we got the ball forward. He had a bunch of steals, drew a yellow and a bunch of other fouls, had some near misses. Good chance we don't blow that offside trap with Soares in the middle and Farrell in his normal spot. Farrell made a lot of mistakes IMO, including getting caught dribbling up the middle out of the back. Pretty subpar game for him, but understandable playing an unfamiliar position. He stopped some real bombs. KC's shots weren't well placed, but they were powerful. Those weren't easy saves - and he was under intense pressure there for a good 10 minutes. You have to figure the home team is going to take some chances and throw people forward in the 2nd half when they are down 2-0. Just because you have a lead, doesn't mean you can control the game - especially on the road. It was a rough break with the offside trap breaking down. But, that was the break KC needed to get ramped up. Yes. I put it down to him not having played centrally in a while.
I agree with the tenor of the post, but my concerns about the defense goes well beyond this game. There was an interesting statistic during the game. Revs are (now) 13-0 when scoring 2 or more goals, and are 1-12-3 when scoring <2 goals. The fact that we have to score twice to win is a concern, and I think will kill us off in the end. Perhaps Jones will be the difference in low scoring games, but I don't think either Soares or Farrell (at least Farrell at this stage of his career) are the answer at the play-off level, and neither Barnes nor Alston can hack it at that level either. Tierney, for all the abuse he has gotten, looks like he just needed a little cover from somebody like Jones, and may fit in with a solid team defense scheme.
Last nights result keeps getting bigger and bigger by the match today. Columbus wins, Toronto wins, and NYRB still to play tomorrow. A lot would have had us possibly in 5th just 2 points ahead of Toronto (with a NY win). Without JJ's goals we'd be tied for 4th with columbus with a chance of being tied for 5th by Monday morning...THANK YOU JJ!!
Tierney is such an enigma - great going forward - poor in defense. Watch how many times he is recovering late, in the wrong channel, facing his own goal (almost put one past shuttleworth). On the 2nd goal, you can actually see him look over his shoulder and see Nagamura because he is too far central, but cannot close the distance as the ball is played diagonal, and thus cannot pressure on Nagamura's header. Then like RevsRule states - calamity happens and we give up soft goals. Not saying anyone is better right now - but our back 5 continues to be a struggle. That being said - great comeback and Jones is still such a stud.
Agree with you about Farrell, he looked good playing centrally in KC. Heaps felt the same way. For the most part Farrell was able to snuff out any attacks down the middle, did well shielding to the outside and generally helped the revs maintain their high pressure style of play which was critical to walking out of there with 3 points. I'd like to see him paired with JoGo centrally the rest of the year. If JoGo walks at least Farrell has good experience centrally. Generally speaking, I like the back 4 we had on the field this game (even Tierney). Soares and Barnes are a good option off the bench but they're not starters in this league if you have better options (like your #1 overall pick with infinite more upside).
What a huge turning point Jones' goal was. I felt like Jack Edwards about Clint Mathis in 2002: "That's why he's here!" Before that, KC was controlling the possession and was attacking at will. It sure looked like the 3rd goal was going to come from them, not us. The thing I like most about Jones is his grit and toughness, not just physically. He is the guy where you can just see him say, "C'mon, we are NOT going to lose this one" and following up by his actions. If this was mid-summer, we would have rolled over and rationalized the loss by saying, "Well, there were parts of the game where we dominated, and if we can only put together a full 90 minutes like that, we might contend for a playoff spot." Not good enough. I want to have the #2 seed at least, and there is an outside chance that if DC loses a few points, we could even win the division. Then Grant Wahl will have the last laugh on all of us cynics.
I think, if Soares is ready to come back this weekend, then we're back to our 1st choice back 4 - and that will be a lot steadier. It's been noted a few places that we've had to play so many different back 4 combinations (I think it's up to 9 with KC) that mistakes and communication problems are likely, if not inevitable. I like Barnes for his effort and his improvement at learning to be an outside back, but I still think that he (and Alston) end up more and more exposed the more they play. Soares, while he is pretty unspectacular, gets steadier the more he plays IMO. And, predictability and reliability is huge on defense IMO. We do have work to do to clean up the defensive mistakes, no matter who the back 4 is. As Mariner loves to point out, we play a risky high-line and if there isn't pressure on the ball, we're at high risk for the through/over ball. With that understanding, we're playing a more solidly defensive midfield now, with Bunbury, Jones and Caldwell/Kobayashi all good/responsible defenders. And, speaking of Bunbury, I thought he had an excellent game and worked his tail off. He wore down towards the end and had to be replaced, but he was threatening and did all the defensive work too. It's too bad that he doesn't seem to be a 90 minute player, but he seems to be more of a sprinter than a marathoner.
I agree that Soares has improved more this year than in the previous 3, and that he is getting steadier. However, I think that MLS journeyman is his highest aspiration, and at the level of the MLS semis and finals, his 1 v 1 defending is at risk of getting exposed. To put it a different way, when the expansion draft comes, he is very much on the bubble for me.
Agreed on both points - Soares has gotten a lot of flak the past two seasons but he's covered for JoGo's mistakes a lot this season. Farrell for now is probably still most useful as a RB due to his dribbling ability, and Tierney will stabilize the defense better than Barnes. Revs need to develop or get a true LB next season, though. Bunbury is immensely frustrating because he will ALWAYS make the wrong decision with the ball when he's near goal, but from box-to-box he does help break down defenses with his speed and physicality. He would have really been useful in the Columbus loss, and I think the Revs will be more effective against the Crew when he's in there this Saturday.
Right, he was talking about the pre-Jones Revs, who would be in Chicago-Houston territory, mathematically alive, but who are we kidding...
I wonder how Bunbury would do as an outside back. If he can learn the defensive tactics he has the speed and tenacity to play there and he can attack well down the wing. I think he could be very good.
Splitting hairs as I think all of us are saying the same thing. Soares has been smoked 1v1 for a lot of goals this year - NOT the quality you want in a CB. If he has covered for JoGo, it has been more the exception than the norm IMO. He has instantly been better since Jones has shown up - because there is someone who is more experienced than him and tells him what to do (and he has listened). He is not an MLS All-star or Nats material, ever. But until we upgrade - he is all we got. Back 5 need upgrades in the offseason but for now they need to stay healthy/card-free to give us consistency into the playoffs. As rkupp points out, too much switching with our journeymen does not work over the long haul.
Really exciting game. This is finally a team that I like more than any since the Ralston/Twellman/Noonan/Shalrie years. Lots of good talented players working their butts off. Who was JoGo pointing at after he scored? He was really fired up, and it looked like it was toward the bench.
He told Lemieux (Boot Room breakdown) he was pointing to Nick Downing. Said he appreciates how Downing keeps them fit and he likes Downing and communicates well with him. Interesting reminder that pro athletes are people and that things we might never think of make a difference to them. I for one would not have guessed that the strength and conditioning coach is important to our most important international player.
Nick Downing seems to be a popular figure on the team, at least in celebrations, I remember Charlie Davies jumping into his arms after the goal against the timbers. picture here.
Our injury problems, with the exception of Alston, are way, way down from the Twellman/Ralston/etc. years, but we are much younger also.
Does that mean the Nguyen Rowe hybrid would be a Nguyowe? Combining two of our defenders would produce Barnesoares - either a new dinosaur species or a side-effect of sleeping out on the farm.
This cloning occurred to me all the time in my coaching days; I thought if I could combine the best features of the smart, accurate-shooting kid and the really fast kid who had the wild, bullet shot, I could rule the world.