Absolutely good reporting and, given the way the Revs played down the stretch, no surprise. We've all talked about upgrades and here it is, staring us in the face, no ball possession or movement through the midfield. Ralston carried the bucket last year until he got double/triple teamed and that will continue with a vengence. So is it unreasonable that when we play teams that keep the ball tethered to their feet as if it was on a string we get hammered? Look at the National team, same problem. Good players, no question but not adept at holding, moving and distributing. This is nothing new and will have to be addressed for the Revs to improve. JIM DOW
We've all seen outmatched teams just start bombing long balls over the midfield. The defenders don't have the skills to distribute well under pressure and the midfield doesn't have the skills to beat the first man and provide quality service to others. Wouldn't it be fair to say that the Revs are still trying to find their feet a bit and are currently over matched? I think Gus is just trying to be polite by referring to this as a "style" of play that Nicol may want.
The discussion of the style and level of play is warranted and not unexpected. But is anyone else concerned that JMM is communicating with SN through the media?
With Cullen, Kamler, and Griffiths all playing poorly according to Gus it's not surprising that they would have to resort to the longball. This isn't that unsurprising, as many of us were hoping for an upgrade at left mid and Cullen would have run neck and neck with Joey for our next weakest link. Let's hope Nicol hits paydirt with one of our trialists, we'd better hope our defense plays as well as they did at the end of the season.
Cullen and Kamler are among the first of the starters that I would expect to run into trouble with a young, experienced Brazillian team, on their home field in midseason. The MLS style of play is MUCH different, and guys like Cullen and Kamler are much better suited to that style. I think the results are about what one would expect. We could be in La Manga beating up on inferior Scandinavian teams, but I doubt that would help as much in getting ready for the MLS season.