I really wish I'd been in the 1st row behind the bench to catch some of the words. Benny was certainly petulant and Heaps really did look like he cracked the whip. I will say that I really liked the sub, too. I thought Shalrie was really good in those limited minutes.
But, did Benny see that we had stopped bossing the midfield by the start of the second half and we needed a fresh injection? When Shalrie went in, the play immediately started swaying back to the NY end. I'm liking Heaps as head coach. He has my vote. PS: I still haven't learned why Matt didn't play last night. Can anyone tell me?
I was completely unaware of this situation altogether. I gotta say, (and I'm not just reacting to this incident) at $400,000 a year, I wouldn't be against trading Benny. Shalrie did look good. That was a great chip-pass to Sene to set up Jerry. I'd love to know the same thing, although I was very impressed w/ Bobby.
On the broadcast, they said it was just to give Matt a break and give Bobby a chance to prove himself in a real competition. And, I think this was in this morning's Globe, they wanted better performance on crosses and corners (read: Matt blew it last week on Seattle's second goal and earned himself a short-term benching, perhaps).
Heaps is very smart with the way he's handling this team. He's created a nice platform of competitiveness in the team, lowered the wage structure, is integrating a nice style of play that is conducive to long term results and he's not isolating any of the players. It's very hopeful if nothing else.
I like it. Reis was at least partially at fault for one goal in each of the last two games. Last week he wiffed on a cross and the week before was indecisive, came part way and then retreated. Bobby has been playing well in reserve games and earned the start. Heaps is basing playing time on merit and not on reputation. That is the way it should be.
It may be time to start working Bobby in more anyway. How long can Reis last? (I know we have a separate thread for this)
Not to sound like a jerk, but other than goals against, how do you know how BS is playing in the reserve games? Revs have given up 8 goals in 7 games in the reserve league.
don't think Shuttleworth is the long term solution as a Reis replacement. I think GK should be the #1 priority this off season
Yeah, I was pretty surprised about how thinly veiled the criticism of Reis was. Heaps: "Also, we wanted to shore up, a little bit, some head balls. I think the last couple games we’ve given up some poor goals. I think Bobby has a presence in the air and that showed.”
Shuttleworth did look very confident and composed out there. I liked the Shalrie sub, but thought Rowe should have come out. He had an anonymous match. This definitely doesn't bode well for Benny's future here.
I wouldn't go so far as to say it doesn't bode well for his future. It may have just been to give him a break - the way that Reis and Shalrie were given breaks. However, just for S's & G's Id be curious to know what y'all think we could get for Benny in a trade to another MLS club? I think he would be a lot more effective if he was surrounded by very good players. He seems to play a lot better with other creative individuals around him (like late on in the Toronto & Seattle games when we had all of our young fast footed offensive players on)
I suggested the Revs do this 2 months ago before any type of petulance became obvious and public. Most people said there was no proof that he had attitude problems, and that it was a big soccer generated phenomenon. The window to trade Benny and get any value back in return is quickly closing - other teams around the league already know what he is. If he doesn't keep his ego in check, he can just about kiss his USMNT career goodbye.
Regarding potential Benny trades (and honestly, I personally only consider it if he was in the last year of his contract and wanted to leave) - I think it's a question of what other teams would be willing to part with. It takes two to trade. Benny is still, statistical dropoff notwithstanding, a fairly rare type of player in this league in terms of skill set and resume. I would not trade him for cash or assets (SuperDraft picks, etc.) since those are unknown quantities. You'd want a proven player who is in the top quarter of the league in contributions in order for it to definitively work out in the Revs' favor. The problem is, what team would willingly give up that type of player? Basically, the only thing I would accept as fan is a trade to Colorado to get Larentowicz back (or maybe Castrillon as an eventual Joseph replacement), Vancouver for LeToux, or possibly San Jose for Bernardez or Martin Chavez. Do you see any of those teams making that trade though? I don't.
Agree on both points. I didn't have a good impression of Shuttleworth, but he had such a clean game. He caught the balls well, handled all the back passes, and seemed decisive in how to move. Well done!
I thought Sene had a really difficult assignment last night. When the Revs had the ball, he seemed to try to get high up the field as a second forward. And he did a lot of tracking back like a traditional outside mid in a 4-4-2. Given the temperature and humidity, that was a challenge. I think he wasn't as useful in the second half, but it was understandable.
Yeah I like him as an attacking winger but he definitely should not go the full 90 there, he should be replaced by Cardenas or Fagundez later on in games
You've been on his case practically from the day he arrived. You don't like him, fine. He got pissed off at being pulled out. Big deal. It would take a pretty thin-skinned coach to pay it much mind. I didn't see the exchange, but if Heaps gave it back to him, good for him - he's establishing his authority. The next thing he can do to establish his authority is let that kind of stuff go and focus, like he wants his players to, on doing everything he can to win games. The problem isn't Benny, he's frustrated because of some the sloppy and careless play that caused us to drop points we should've had (and because, being the most creative player on our offense, he gets knocked around and taken down pretty frequently). We've had so few really skilled players in recent years that I find it crazy hearing people talk about getting rid of some of the few really skilled players we have. Just like the talk about Shalrie - after all he's done for this team in his career, people aren't willing to stick with him through a shaky stretch? Ridiculous.
Agree with all of this - Benny has been snakebit this year statistically (the forwards haven't finished his assist chances and he's hit woodwork or missed frame by less than an inch at least half a dozen times so far this season) but he adds a huge dimension to this offense. The team creates chances because defenses have to account for Nguyen, Sene AND Feilhaber, and that will only get more dangerous once Bengtson is fully integrated into the team. He was extremely productive last year with one of the worst MLS teams in history (which can be backed up by their sudden scoring surge in the last month of the season), and I think long-term, the offense would take a major hit if he left. Honestly, regarding the issue with his substitution on Sunday, if the announcers hadn't gone out of their way to call attention to it, it might have escaped notice. It was maybe a 0.4 on the Lekic scale when it came to visible displeasure. Do I like that on-field Benny is that demonstrative and a pain to the refs? Nope, but like rkupp said he's one of the most fouled players in the league and as an obviously highly competitive guy, he puts a lot of pressure on himself. I imagine Klinsmann continuing to ignore him (and Kljestan, and Diskerud, and every other CAM-type player in the pool) only makes it worse. I personally feel there's a huge difference between on-field Benny and off-field Benny, as the couple times I've met him he seems like a nice, even-tempered, humble guy. Judging from Twitter, his teammates seem to like him well enough too. Shalrie I think is a similar situation - he's not as visibly demonstrative, but I think based on his refusal to leave the Columbus game while hurt, it's a case where he needs to realize he doesn't have to put the entire team on his shoulders and do what he isn't physically capable of doing anymore. In more limited, narrower roles, I think he's still extremely valuable, and I think Heaps is starting to impart that on Shalrie based on Sunday. [Yes, I really do get this bored at my job that I have time to type this huge post out and not lose productivity]
Regarding Benny: can some one tell me the reason why he isn't a DP? wouldn't his cap hit be reduced to 335k or whatever if we made him a DP? What would we lose? allocation $$? Someone please enlighten me.
If Benny was a DP, then Kraft would pay the salary over 335k. We'd also lose a considerable amount of allocation money