I think this is the win that turns things around for the Revs. They deserved it because they wanted it more than Columbus over the final 20 minutes + the OT's. Just a gritty, gritty effort by these guys and I think it's going to be a lot of fun from here on out. Shalrie Joseph was absolutely huge all night, goal or no goal. And hopefully FDA is happy because we finally found our No. 10 in Cancela. I think the Revs rediscovered whatever it was that carried them through the playoffs last year. What ever "it" was, karma or something else, "it" returned tonight. Just in time for the playoffs.
I was there, then watched it again on the TiVO'd recording at home. He was not offside. Another player was in an offside position, but did not become involved in the play. MHO: that play is where we missed Pierce the most.
Yes, I would agree. It also showed that the Revs back line hesitated assuming that the offside would be called. That hesitation cost them. Rusty could have made up the distance, but no one else was able to. We need to stop playing when we are waiting for the whistle. To his credit, Llamosa reacted quickest, just doesn't have the wheels.
I agree. He was not offside - and Pierce's absence was most apparent on that play. Didn't Denton do that to us once before? I couldn't tell if the Revs were flat for the first 60' or if Crew were doing a particularly good job of getting to the ball first. It seemed like they were beating the Revs at their own game - pressuring the midfield and forcing mistakes. The Revs had no rhythm. JMM was missing in action for most of the first half, and never had any sort of understanding with Twellman. I hate to say it, but Noonan and Cancela appeared at times to be dogging it. I wasn't surprised to see Noonan come out. Neither Crew goal was pretty. They seemed to be pretty pleased with themselves, but were never playing with any creativity. The Revs D should get some credit - particularly Heaps. However weak he may have been earlier this year, he was again a giant in this game. Still, the Revs were on the ropes, and Crew couldn't figure out how to put the game away without brutality. It was weird - I was sitting there thinking how we needed to be more dangerous on dead ball plays when JMM struck! When Joseph scored, I thought we could win. Franchino's kick was gorgeous. Many happy faces at the Razor. I'm still troubled by the fact that we had few chances during the run of play. They are going to be facing stiff pressure in the midfield from here on out. If the Revs are going to go anywhere in the playoffs, they need to develop the attack in the midfield the way they did in the first part of the Rapids game. Can anyone tell me how Crew got Williams?
Well, that was an emotional roller coaster! I had the thought early in the 1st half that both teams were likely to score, and more than once probably. There didn't seem to be a lot of play in midfield. Cancela didn't seem as sharp last night as I am used. A number of his passes lacked his usual precision. Moore was rusty. Heaps had another good game, except for when he joined his team-mates who napped through Denton's goal. So who's this new guy we have 'Shelby Joseph'? I don't remember a Revs crowd being that noisy since the play-offs last year. Even when it was 2-0, people were still enthusiastic. A trio of high school kids (sounded like, at least) were using the tickets behind me, and at some point before Joseph's goals, one of them said, "we're going to win this one." I thought the ref had an outstanding game overall. In startling contrast to Alex Prus, there were no calls that really surprised me, even the ones I disagreed with. He was firm, clear and consistent. So, does that Williams guy bring the Crew anything that Brian Dunseth didn't, except for some inventive use of the F word?
A friend of mine, who is soccer-wise but hadn't seen the Revs this season, asked me why the ball kept being crossed or sent to the upper reaches of the Crew tall pines. It was a great observation. As soon as the team switched to the deck (at about minute 70) they ran the Crew ragged and penetrated almost at will. Why they didn't do this earlier, I'll never know but we won and that is all I care about. Last night's game was a wonderful demonstration of how a game can suddenly explode after interminable periods of torpor. Just exhilarating stuff over the final stages. I agree that the crowd was into it. If only we had a smaller place to generate real atmosphere. But I will say that 8,500 Rev fans in the rain beat 35,000 Barca/Juve yuppies any day. GO REVS! JIM DOW
That was a surprisingly lively crowd last night. I guess it's the die-hards who come out on a rainy Sunday night. The Rev front office did absolutely nothing to promote this game, even though it was the most important of the season (so far). I moved to Section 110 in the morgue after standing in the fort for the first half. It was great to see so many people standing for the Revs' free kicks at the end of the game and in overtime. I had a good feeling about this game when, on the way into the Stadium, we traded high-fives with Slyce the Wolf.
Jim Dow wrote: "I agree that the crowd was into it. If only we had a smaller place to generate real atmosphere. But I will say that 8,500 Rev fans in the rain beat 35,000 Barca/Juve yuppies any day." We were a little apprehensive when we saw them all heading into the stadium, but it really helped to have the swarms of high school soccer teams in the house last night. These kids are the future of MLS....and if they have a good time at a game, they'll come back. So what if they brought beach balls and kept trying to start the wave....they knew the game, they were into it, and knew when to make plenty of noise. The entire stadium was on its feet during the OTs. So Lou, a little marketing to this crowd would be worthwhile. A good time was had by all. At least in the last 20 minutes. Amy
I thought that was hilarious. Columbus had been timewasting from the time the got their 1st goal (Busch one time HELD the ball for 11 seconds w/o even a word from the referee). And then they were awarded the free-kick with about 20 seconds to go in the 1st OT and they were strolling about in no hurry to set it up. It IS typical to allow the team time to finish the play, but it is ALSO typical to be pretty strict about time in OT. I think if Columbus had showed even a little urgency, they would've gotten the extra time they needed for the kick. I agree mostly, but I thought Joseph's yellow was totally undeserved. West screamed like he had been shot, but from where I sat, it looked like it was a totally clean tackle. I thought he probably should've given the PK for Noonan getting bodied off the ball in the area, but it's tough to let a penalty decide a match. What is with Heaps waving his arm for offside after EVERY ball over/through the defense. He looks like a total idiot when he's almost always wrong! The Revs still have a tendency to stop playing while waiting for an offsides call. Pierce is about the only one who doesn't and he wasn't there to stop the 2nd goal. Boy, they miss Kamler. That guy is a gamer and he really brings the balance they need on the wings. Before the comeback, the Revs lapsed into a looong (25+ minutes) stretch of really bad, boring, stupid play. They certainly didn't look like THEY believed they could come back. I'm sorry to be the dissenter, but I thought it was one of the worst games they've played this year. They had some absolutely brilliant free kicks, and Joseph was way overdue to bounce one of his headers through, but they fact remains, they couldn't create a single goal in the run of play.
I agree. It was an exciting game and great result but, put aside the never give up and fighting spirit blah blah blah, and there wasn't too much constructive play to get confident about. I thought JMM looked encouraging, the set plays are improving, and Kante is showing some life, but Noonan was a minus on the outside and the Cancela-Ralston-Twellman connection still isn't working. Unfortunately, character will only carry the team so far and Nicol still has significant work to do.
Yeah I'll definately agree that plenty of times the crowd was absolutely rocking so congrats to all who were there. I wonder if it was one of those nights where the sound wsa bouncing better off 10,000 empty seats than empty people. It's good to know that there were a lot of HIGHSCHOOL kids there. If you read the recent NY Times article on the WUSA's marketing failures it highlighted the fact tht the league was aiming too young with it's marketing pitch. For those at the game, how wet did the pitch appear? I think that maybe some of the rouch play was a result of a slick feild. I will say though, people who've bitched before about the frequency and volume of the PA annoucements are spot on. There were times during the TV broadcast that the PA in the stadium was drowning out the play by play ON TV! It also seemed to be happening during stoppages in play, which is fine. But some of them were very critical and tense moments, that were honestly interupted by the blairing WAH WAH WAH WAH Get Revs!! stuff. Not that I have a problem with in game announcements or commercials, just turn the damned volume down.
Re: Nice to be in the other shoes... It was appropriate in this case. The Crew had been working hard for well over 50 minutes to kill time. I cheered for him to call the end of the OT1, and he did. Several fans in our area look surprised, and I told them that I believed that the referee was entitled and that it was just deserts in this case.
Didn't the revs lose an OT game last year to someone (Columbus?) because the ref let there be about 45 seconds extra stoppage time?
As I recall, the Revs lost to Columbus last year on an overtime goal by Edson Buddle, when the ref let play continue about 15 seconds beyond the 10th minute.
Yeah, that definitely happened last year. Only if there is a complelling reason to add time, such as an injury, a dispute where the ref and his linesmen confer, or a sub, should there be added time. In the Colorado game, the ref rightly added time when Leonard was hacked down, and he spoke with the linesman who agreed that it should be a second yellow to Maestroeni, who was sent off. It took about 2 minutes to sort it out, and that's what he added on. If there are no stoppages like this, then no added time. And I remember seeing a WC game (1982, Brazil-Sweden) where a Brazil goal from a corner was disallowed when the ref blew time. They had been time-wasting the whole time, and as soon as the guy took the corner, he blew the whistle, regardless of the fact that a guy in the box headed it in. Tom
Great game guys!! That's what I call entertainment! I'm happy to see Joe-Max showing some life and Joey's goal was beyond incredible. Excellent job!
for most of the game there was this old italian guy yelling in broken english at Nichol. he kept telling him to put ralston back on the right side. i kinda think that he was right ralston did nothing on the left as soon as we subbed out noonan, and who did we put in? Moore? ralston moved back to the right side and we actually got some passes in and avtually bought the ball up the field. and coincidentally we also scored 3 goals. any thoughts? and thanks to the guy who gave me the free ticket
I meant to ask this last night but didn't get a chance, maybe this is the guy I'm thinking of. Third row, Section 108. Was anyone in the vicinity of this guy and does anyone know what exactly he shouted that inspired a faily lengthy exchange with someone on the bench, might have been Matt Driver (I thought the initials on his jersey were ND, but I can't think of who that might be so maybe read it wrong). Anyway near the end of the first half this guy in the third row got into it pretty good and the individual from the Rev bench (Driver?) had to be physically restrained by Nicol. The two yellow shirts behind the bench seemed to be having quite a laugh at this. Just wondering if anyone knew what inspired such an outburst from the bench.
I watched a tape of the second half this evening, and there was a funny shot of Craig Tornberg (sp?) standing behind Steve Nicol holding two telephones, one to each ear? What could he have been listinening to? Scouts up in the press box? But why two phones at once? Was he ordering pizza for after the game? One with sausage (left ear), one with pepperoni (right ear?)?