Cranial decompression "I don't think anyone remembers," Twellman said of his goal total. "Fans were telling me that the team is better without me. There were just enough of them to get under my skin. But that's part of the job and it's humbling." Interesting.
Re: Re: Cranial decompression Same here. When he is out,,,everyone steps up, it only makes sense. Teams know the Revs force the play to Twellman. when he is out,,,the move the ball better. With Noonan coming into his own, it may be a little different. Those two never really got into a flow together. One would have to think JMM is the super sub off the bench just to keep him healthy. Noonan will provide defenders another man to watch more closely this year, which should allow Twellman to have a good year. Better team with twellman? not really but a more multi dimensional attack when he is on the bench.
Re: Cranial decompression Okay, I admit it. It was me. Saw him on the street and said "Baaah, we don't needja. Go back to St. Louis." Or maybe he just reads the BigSoccer conventional wisdom about ... well, what firstshirt says. Kevin D.
Re: Cranial decompression When I saw the trailer for the MLS goals video featuring Taylor, my first thought was, "boy, do I ever miss watching him play". I don't think that the team is as good without him, and I don't think that they really move the ball better when he's not in there. I think that part of it is that the other players look to shoot more when he's out, but much of it is due to the fact that Cancela and Joseph got used to playing together when he was injured, which would have happened whether TnT was playing or not. While it's not as obviously false, I'm somewhat reminded of last offseason's threads about how the Revs defense was better without Pierce because they ended the 2002 season playing so well when Rusty was injured.
The most interesting thing might be that apparently he frequents these boards... (Don't listen to 'em Taylor...)
Re: Re: Cranial decompression This is the larger truth of why the team looked better at the end of last season. It had little to do with Taylor's absence. The second major factor was coaching. Two years ago, and at the beginning of last year, the team played a much more direct style, bypassing the midfield and playing aerial balls to TT as lone striker. The "dreaded 4-5-1" hardly reared its ugly head at all the second half of last year. I owe this to Nicol being a pragmatic coach. I think he has a style he would like the team to adopt: we saw it at the end of last season. But until Cancela/Joseph started clicking, he was forced to play a more direct style. The third factor was the lack of quality wing play as the season wore down. Following his National team call-up and superb game at Gillette, I thought Ralston did not play as well. Same could be said for the left side of midfield (Moore, Kamler). Again, this forced the Revs to play a more "attractive" style through their central midfielders. Having a finisher of Taylor's quality would help any team. How the final balls are played to him in the box is more a manifestation of the midfield and the team's tactics than it is of the striker.
There might have been a little Ewing Theory going on with Twellman but it probably just spoke more towards the team learning how to play with each other and a testament towards the Revs depth and key guys stepping up.
Nice meaty stuff from Little Frank. Great Stuff from our new Asst Coach. On paper we have really added some depth to the coaching staff and when you put an attacking and defending duo with their experience together---plus a roster that is as well balanced, as deep and as stable as what the Revs are fielding going into this season---on paper this is a Championship capable team. Now it's up to the players to make it all happen. I'm truly impressed with what has become of our loveable bums of years past. I want you all to remember that it was first said here: THIS IS THE YEAR THE REVS WILL GO ALL THE WAY AND CAPTURE THE MLS CUP (mega smile) George
"Taylor will run through a brick wall to score a goal. He has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Coaches run sessions on maximizing your opportunities, but the great goal scorers just have a knack for doing it. And Joe-Max will get his fair share of goals, plus he is an excellent role model for Taylor and the other strikers." -Mariner Where is that suposed to leave Noonan? Or Cancela? The only other position i can see JMM playing besides forward is ACM. So unless we have a 3 forward formation, either Noonan or Cancela will have to lose some minutes if JMM is suposed to "get his fair share of goals." Does he expect JMM to be a starter or is he trying to say that their is competition beetween Noonan and JMM?
fair share doesn't nessicarily mean a lot. fair share could mean fair share off the bench, giving people rest or fair share while filling in for injured guys. or it could mean that people are competing for starting roles and everyone will get their fair share of time on the pitch and chance to score goals. how many people think that noonan and JMM are competing for a starting spot though?
My uneducated guess would be that Noonan starts with Twellman while JMM plays supersub. Keep in mind that Noonan only played the full 90 minutes in 7 games last year. Also, I expect Twellman (and possibly Noonan) to miss some games when the USMNT starts WC qualifying this summer. JMM will get enough minutes to contribute, but few enough to (hopefully) keep him healthy.