Two from Gus, nothing from Frank Moore wants to use experience by Gus Martins, Boston Herald MLS finalists have holes to fill Revolution Notebook/by Gus Martins, Boston Herald
Gus is wrong about TnT taking all penalty kicks last year.Wolde took one and missed, hitting the cross bar. I think it was against San Jose. Had TnT taken it and made it, I believe he would have continued his streak of games in which he scored, and might have set a new record. For some reason, I suspect in an attempt to boost Wolde's lagging confidence, Wolde took the kick.
Hey, in pro sports it's always "the king is dead, long live the king," with an added dash of "what have you done for me lately?" I'm sure JMM understands that as well as anyone.
Who's this Swiss guy Buhlmann? Anyone have any info on him? Are we really looking to sign him or is he just there for a little soccer vacation in Brazil?
Think of a fast Steve Ralston with a great left foot cross . Your damn right we want to sign him. (See the other tread on Trialists)
Now George, you know I love ya, but really all we know about Buhlmann we learned from half-an-hour of play against a bunch of college kids. Tony B. was right, in an earlier post, when he said it's easy to look good when you come over in mid-season fitness and play against a gaggle of college kids who have already played a half of pre-season soccer. It seems the Buhlmann hype machine might be working overtime. If Stevie, et. al., are still high on the guy after they've watched him chase around the midfield in Brazilian heat for two weeks, then I'll get excited. Besides...I think Brian Kamler is a much better winger than people give him credit for being. He did score some pretty timely goals at the end of the season there, and did a great job at covering back. People deride him for not puting in as many good crosses as Ralston, but you can't push both wings forward all the time. One has to hang back for cover. Otherwise you're too open to the counter.
Of course it's a valid argument - you can't expect a player to be the second coming when the only information you've got is a third hand report he played well against a bunch of collegians. Yes, Patrick may turn out to be good, but you've got to consider that a) he doesn't appear to have played anywhere in the past year - not a good sign. b) Clavijo gave glowing reviews to a number of players who never lived up to them. c) No one, not even Nicol or Clavijo, has seen Patrick in a Revs uni against any worthy opponents. d) David Nahkid and William Sunsing had some national team caps too. Didn't mean much for the Revs, though. It's a touch early to start declaring Buhlmann the equal of Ralston. Perhaps we should see him play first?
Buhlmann's received some pretty good reviews from a number of these Revs. One respected ex-Rev, Ted Chronopoulos, told me he should have been brought in and immediately been installed as the starter on the left. Good point about Kamler. He ain't pretty, but he sure is effective. A pure grinder. Plus, I loved the goal he scored against Chicago in the playoffs - the one near the top of the south box where he shook Dema Kovalenko so bad that his undies fell off in a bunch, which caused DK to fall. Yea, boy...
Four words to keep in check (at least temporarily) any premature feelings of giddiness: Carlos "Slow-Mo" Semedo
If that doesn't make you think twice, consider all of the stories about APC controlling the midfield like a maestro. However, the Buhlmann praise was as strong and as unanimous as I've heard about any potential Rev, so I am hopeful. As for Kamler, he's a smart player and certainly knows how to take advantage of his opportunities. I'd keep him on the team, but I'd look for a new starter at left mid. I thought that he went entire games without getting off a good cross, and, now that we're not getting Nowak, our offense is back to being mainly Raslton to Twellman crosses. JMM will help take pressure off of Taylor, and Hernandez should show some improvement in what was a new position for him last fall, but a balanced attack would be nice. For all of the talk about left mid, I'd say that central mid is much more of a priority, especially the attacking mid trialist that the Revs hinted about before they left for Brazil.
This is just my opportunity to reiterate: this guy got about the worst screw-job from MLS that's been handed out yet, and heaven knows there have been some doozies. And--even though he got his share of glowing reviews from BS users when he played--of course he wasn't as good as we all had hoped he would be.
How so? He was brought here on a non-guaranteed contract, and couldn't cut it on the field, so they sent him packing. It's a tough business, but that's how it goes. As for the bit about him signing a document in English saying he was fit to play, he shouldn't have signed it without asking his agent/lawyer to read it and tranlate/explain it. Of course if he was pressured into signing, and someone working for the Revs convinced him that it was OK and took advantage of his trust, shame on them. Tom
Absolutely! Kamler is no worse than an average left winger and combined with Noonan and Griffiths (unless someone better factors in) we're pretty well covered there. Since Nowak made his exit, there's a gaping hole behind the forwards. If they can find someone at least the equivalent of Cate, this team could really fly! Speaking of Cate, I'm drooling imagining how he'd look in the middle of our current lineup - not that I ever expect him back - but today's team is light years ahead of the group that he played with ...
Re: Re: Rev News 2/14 Disclaimer: I'm Swiss. However, one reason why most Swiss clubs (except Basel) don't make a blip on the radar screen is because they don't have any money to spend, and unlike the other European teams, they can't put many foreigners on their teams, so all their talent has to be from Switzerland (that huge country).... try getting all your talent from Massachusetts. I don't think Buhlmann is the second coming, but I definitely think he could help the team.
Re: Re: Re: Rev News 2/14 Swissman, No need to disclaim. I'm Welsh. I understand very well the difficulty of putting together a decent soccer league in a country of four million. And money is clearly a limiting factor as well. But my point wasn't that Swiss soccer stinks (I think Swiss soccer, like Welsh, makes that point pretty well all on its own). My point rather was that we're investing an awful lot in a guy only a few of us have ever seen play, and even then he was playing against an American college team. I hope he's the second coming of Stephane Chapuisat. I really do. I'm just reserving my hope for the day after he makes the roster. John
Can I thank you personally for Wales beating Italy? Anyway, don't you think that a player who has played in the 1st division of Switzerland would most likely be better than a player like Kamler? I like Kamler, but I think Buhlmann would probably be better.
Re: Re: Rev News 2/14 Several times, including Champions League semi-finals. Current Example: FC Basel (Champions League) Last Year: Servette Geneve (Uefa Cup) Checking facts is a virtue.
I just like seeing the ghost of Stephane Chapuisat invoked when talking about Swiss soccer. For the love of God, where's the Adrian Knup allusion when you need it?