Not local. The name game in Foxboro obviously did not make it to the left coast. From Talent Pool Keeps Growing One Drop at a Time
Hey something with Rev content from MLSnet.com. Analyze This: Little Fish, Big Splash The writer's (Peter Hirdt) perspective is a little infantile - but hey it's nice to be reminded that New England still has a soccer team.
My goodness, but Mr. Jones sounds cranky in this piece. He and Paul Gardner should get together over a few Dos Equis and have a piff-and-moan session.
Jones has taken the characterization of "miserable old git" and turned it into an art form, Gardner's biased tiresome pandering to the international audience not much different. The Magpie
Mr. Hirdt's premise is that Ruiz was undebatably the best choice for MVP last year because he scored 9 goals (including the playoffs) after the 80th minute that won games--he scored in the clutch. Twellman only scored two 80+ minute goals and they were both insurance goals. I don't want to debate the MVP choice last year, Ruiz had a great year and it is very impressive that he scored many late game-winning goals. However, I think that Twellman's knack of scoring early goals was very important to his team's success, on par with the importance of Ruiz' knack for scoring late goals to his team. Twellman scored 6 times in the first 11 minutes (Revs 5-0-1) Twellman scored first goal of game 11 times (Revs 9-1-1) Revs record when scoring first goal of game - 11-3-1 Revs record when not scoring first goal of game - 1-11-1
Yeah, what's the difference between Twellman scoring the early goal (like he did a number of times) and Ruiz scoring the late goal? Drama, that's it. It's a perfectly legitimate comparison to rate the two, but you got to do a little better than that to be taken seriously. Even if you looked at how many times each of them scored in a game that was decided by one goal would have been more useful. What will Hirdt's next article be about? How Mark Dodd was a better keeper than Lev Yashin because of the number of "punches/catches" that Dodd had was higher? Tom
From the Revolution site: http://www.revolutionsoccer.com/news/press_releases/fullStory_273.asp Revolution Unveils Revolution Aacdemy[sic]
you should send this well-thought-out analysis to Mr. Hirdt (not that he would care too much - he appears to be a Galaxy homer). I'm sure if you asked most coaches, they'd tell you that the first goal scored has a much better chance of changing the complexion of the match than does the last. They'll also tell you that they're not concerned about when their goal-scorers get goals, just that they score. I'm not arguing Ruiz' choice as MVP either (he seemed well deserved to me) - but the "he scored the most game winning goals" line of agrument is just bunk.
Gotta love the part about residential camps causing burn out. Yeah, two-hours a week is sooo much better to develop a player
Professional current and former Rev coaches include the following: Winston Griffiths - passing Juergen Sommer - catching and holding the ball Mike Burns - "lofted passes" Edwin Gorter & David Nahkid - team unity exercises Darren Sawatsky -ball control Alex Pineda Chacon -defense Where do I sign my kids up?
If Murphy is involved with this count me out. My kids went to one of his camps two years ago and vowed to never get invovled with him again. They we scared of him by the time the camp was over. He may be great with the older ages but not with younger kids. They also thought he didn't care about them and was more concerned with other things.
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/topstories/stories/040403dnspomlspreview.7928.html The Dallas Morning News picks us to finish last in the East....
Does anyone think a lot of these predictions are a result of nothing more than lack of information? As Colin Stephenson wrote in today's (Newark) Star Ledger, "This team (the Revolution) is a mystery". The Magpie
The highest I've seen the Revs picked in the pre-season predictions is right here on these boards. Either we're blinded by our allegiance, which is probably likely in any case--and consequently in for what may be a rough year--or we knows somethin' they doesn't.
no, I think they're the result merely of some people's predictions Nobody really knows what's going to happen. "That's why they play the games."
Predicting anything in the Eastern Conference is tough. All five teams finished within 2 wins of each other (6 pts separated 1st and 5th). The differences between the teams over the course of the season were negligible (a lucky/unlucky bounce here or there). Three of the teams have totally overhauled (including getting key players back from injury), and two teams have strengthened their core with key aquisitions. Can the three overhauled teams get things together? Did the two tweaked teams stay too stagnant in an ever improving league? Any MLS team is a couple injuries from disaster. I wouldn't be surprised by any one of the teams winning the conference, nor by any one of them finishing last. I anticipate another hard-fought battle this year. I'll be happy if the Revs at least get 4th place and a playoff spot.
I'm pretty sure Peter Hirdt isn't a "Galaxy homer." His family basically runs the Elias Sports Bureau, which crunches the numbers for all sorts of sports leagues and is very well respected. I think the family is from N.Y. (I remember Ken Hirdt as a Yankees fan when he went to Holy Cross with me.) Anyway, the stats game might not work so well in soccer ... but it's not a bad sign to see MLS working with an organization that's so involved with the major sports leagues in the U.S. It can't hurt.
Whether he's a "homer" or not, it's an overtly LA-slanted article no matter how you slice it. He sets up a straw dummy argument, then makes an unrelenting (and uneven) case for Ruiz based on a set of one-sided statistics, then tells us an opinion we could have guessed from the article's title. Then he provides some stats about Mauricio Cienfuegos, and finally finishes up by providing information about the forepart of the LA schedule. Pretty clear agenda if you ask me. And his statistics don't particularly knock me over either. (Geeez I've gotta learn how to spell...)
absolutly. after the first LDA game ( a test) - i had the revs as showing in the bottom half. after the second, the top half. last year for the revs was really two stories. we haven't seen enough to know which one will appear (consistently) this year. too early to tell... the parity of the league going to make it fun, and hard to predict. as of right now, i could see any team getting hot at the right time, like the revs did last year. I personally haven't crowned LA as repeat champs - they no dobut are good, but the ball is round...
I sometimes think that SN and the Revs putting out little or no info is done with that spacifically in mind--not letting other teams get a real look at us till it counts. Could it give us an edge during the first round of matches??
It's true the whole eastern conference was very close in points, but that doesn't tell the story as much as the way teams were trending down the stretch. For instance, the MS barely missed the playoffs, yet they had a number of opportunities to clinch a spot and couldn't. They were nose-diving. The Revs on the other hand, had to do everything right down the stretch, and did exactly that. DC did make a surge in the end, but that was too little too late and it was questionable whether they could have sustained their run. Basically, with about 5 games left, everyone in the east knew what they needed to do. Those teams that were successful in that stretch, IMO, are clear favorites (with the exception of Chicago, which has had a major bloodletting). That leaves Cbus and Revs - and IF the Crew could finish (still a problem, apparently), they would have put a major shellacing on the defending champs on Saturday.