Another 2-2 draw, making 3 ties in a row. At least we pulled even with Chicago, but again we played well enough for 3 points but only came away with 1. Ralston gets my MOTM, scoring on the PK, playing great defense, and almost scoring the winner on a cracker that was just over the bar. Good to see Rusty Pierce get in for the last 20 minutes (nice haircut, Rusty!). moving Heaps back to RD, Ralston to LM and Kamler sat down. Two goals in stoppage time after the first half, but at least this time one of them was for us!
Ughh. Great games from Avery John as well as Shalrie Jospeh. Twellman and Noonan scarcely quiet. I was rather dissapointed in my boy Richie Baker today but Brillant had no impact on the game either so I dont hold it against him so much. As Wynalda said all day, we need to attack. We did play well though, but we need to get THREE points in some matches from her on out. C'mon TnT and Noonan, we need some more production from both of you.
OMG, when commenting on the Crew forwards in about the 55th minute, did Wynalda actually say " they don't have the kind of understanding that Twellman and Noonan have at forward"? On the other hand, I have to agree with him that in the last 15 minutes the Revs should have been trying to exert the same kind of all out offensive prewsure that SJ laid on us in the last match. How Stone can refer to Dorman as an "offensive sub" is beyond me. He was totally defensive minded and appeared to be completely lost out there. It was nice to see Shalrie pushing up more than ever, but all in all a very disappointing draw.
Looks like they were playing for a draw at home - again! This is so frustrating and annoying. Where is the fire in this team to win a game? I think of the San Jose match and how much effort the Quakes put in to tie the game up a man down so they could gain one point - why can't the Revs put even half that effort into trying to win (and get 3 points)? I'm sorry but just trying not to lose is not enough. Any idea when Brown will be back in goal? Brown had a knack for coming up with huge saves that could change the complexion of the game. While it's often easy not to fault Reis on the goals, he doesn't seem able to come up with that occasional great save. I'd like to see Brown back in goal as soon as he is ready.
Playing for a draw at home. How clever. It's no wonder we have the worst record in MLS. Sure, let's sit on a 2-2 tie and not pressure the ball until ... until it is almost too late. Columbus was there for the taking, but the Revos fans have been taken on another ride to nowhere. Beautiful. No wonder they can't crack five figures anymore.
We're not even with Chicago, we're one point back. A win really would've been great since Chicago doesn't have a game this week. I'd have to take Ralston as the Man of the Match as well, he really did a bang up job out there. Twellman on the other hand just played terribly. How many shots did he have? I doubt it was more than 2. Heaps once again came up with an awful pass that lead to the opposition's goal. I don't understand how Heaps couls mess up a pass that badly, he really needs to work on that. I was also very glad to see Rusty get back out onto the field. I'm hoping that he'll start sometime soon so that we can get Ralston out of the back line (not that he's bad at defending, just that he's better in the midfield). Cancéla didn't really do too much today. He had some good passes but nothing that really caused anything. He's been quiet for the past few games, other than that goal two weeks ago. Cancéla needs to start making some plays soon or else we'll be even deeper in the muck that we can't seem to get out of. All in all, the team just needs to raise their spirits and change their attitude. They need to stop playing not to lose and start playing to win. There are only a few games left in the season, and we need to come up big or just kiss our chances of a playoff birth goodbye.
If you look at Nicol's statement in Gus Martins' piece in the Herald today about how important it was to win this game. So why take the foot off the gas from minute 65-85, and somehow think that they could turn it on in the final 5. What was he thinking? Wynalda may have been clueless about how "well" TnT and Noonan work together, but he really lit into the Revs for not pressing the Crew defenders in the latter part of the game.
We are even with Chicago. 4 wins 8 losses 7 ties each. Also we win the tiebreaker as of this moment with our 3-1 home win.
Obviously you guys were watching a different game than I was. The team played with plenty of heart. I counted at least a half dozen times Twellman and Noonan worked together with promising results. Hey, they aren't getting the goals, but then who on the Revs are? NOBODY with any consistency. TNT & PN are fine together. As for the comments about playing for a draw, you obviously were watching a different game. I never saw them let up. If it seemed so on TV, then you weren't seeing the whole game and were missing critical pieces to the puzzle. I saw that we seemed to have the better of the play early in the game. But then we gave up a goal on a stupid hospital ball by Heaps. Our team seemed to let up a little after that, and Colombus seemed to fire up. After a bit things started to even out a bit. The PK seemed a little marginal to me, but not necessarily a 'bad' call. On their second goal, which resulted from a free kick on a foul which occurred immediately in front of me, I think the Referee awarded the free kick (and the yellow card) to the wrong team. Fortunately our team didn't let up and immediately scored an equalizer. The rest of the game was very lively and back-and-forth. I thought both teams fought pretty hard for the point. I wished we'd gotten the two extra points, but I think the boys in blue played well. Heaps had an off night, but Ralson was on fire. Twellman and Noonan worked well together but just didn't have any results.
......Cancéla didn't really do too much today. He had some good passes but nothing that really caused anything. He's been quiet for the past few games, other than that goal two weeks ago. Cancéla needs to start making some plays soon or else we'll be even deeper in the muck that we can't seem to get out of...... BLATHIST Let's see, Cancela hit a thirty-plus yard ball directly over the shoulder of a Crew defender onto Twellman's feet at speed that drew the penalty and took a free kick that Noonan glanced in for the second goal. This on a day when the Rev had about two shots on goal (altho Ralston's was a cracker, no doubt). If Cancela didn't make the plays he did we'd be deeper in the muck than we are. Remember, Cancela is a playMAKER not a goaltaker. The latter group on the Revs have been quiet at best. The service is, for the most part there, the conversions are not. JIM DOW
Wynlada = Chinaglia-lite, with equally bad aftertaste. If Wynalda wants to be taken seriously, he needs to do a bit more preparation pre-telecaste, and should be a bit more circumspect in his observations. He's a work in progress, but he's tripping over himself at the moment. The Magpie
Chip, I was at the game. To me toward around the 15-20 minutes or so, when the Rev's should have been pushing for a win, they seemed content to give Columbus possession and weren't agressively attacking. I just got through watching the "Tivo'd" game and I saw the same thing. While the announcers aren't the greatest, the also observed that the Revs "lacked urgency" and that this lack of urgency was embarrassing when playing a game at home at a time when they really needed the points. During stoppage time, they came to life again but it was too little too late. Along the same lines, I would question the sub of Dorman for Cancela. I didn't notice Cancela struggling and this was one his better games. Clearly Dorman was a defensive sub - the kind you would make on the road hoping to keep a tie. If the Revs are going to make serious playoff run, this is the kind of game they need to win but the effort just wasn't there and there's no excuse for it.
Well, we got a gift, as San Jose beat DC, 2-0. Next two games, is huge for the revs. DC and New England will both be playing three games in seven days. We need at least four points from these games, I think a win against either Dallas or DC is doable. I'd like to see six though...
Excellent take. I thought Cancela played pretty well and if it werent for him, we would not have scored either goal. I would love to here a logical explanation for the dorman sub.
MLS All time table (updated for today's games): Code: TEAM GP W T L GF GA GD Pts PPG Los Angeles 296 149 61 86 517 371 +146 508 1.716 Chicago 225 110 44 71 380 289 +91 374 1.662 DC United 282 126 60 96 509 457 +52 438 1.553 Columbus 281 111 64 106 447 426 +21 397 1.413 San Jose 276 106 68 102 428 405 +23 386 1.399 Miami 130 49 25 56 205 230 -25 172 1.323 Tampa Bay 196 75 33 88 324 355 -31 258 1.316 Colorado 281 103 57 121 390 464 -74 366 1.302 Kansas City 287 102 67 118 412 446 -34 373 1.300 Metrostars 278 102 46 130 405 466 -61 352 1.266 Dallas 280 98 56 126 398 435 -37 350 1.250 New England 279 91 67 121 400 470 -70 340 1.219
I was at the game as well and I agree with Chip. The Revs were not playing for a draw. It seemed to me that the Revs started to tire at the 60-65' mark and the Crew turned up the heat. The subs SN made were to try to interject some spark to get the win--not tie. I know that people see Dorman as a purely defensive sub but I'm not sure SN has the same view of Andy. Also if you look at who was on the bench WHO ELSE WAS THERE to put in for our third sub??? We needed fresh legs and Dorman was the only realistic option left on the bench. I must admit I found this a hugely entertaining match. The Revs looked sharp early until Heaps gift which gave the Crew confidence and changed the tone on the match After that it was like a good, well matched heavy weight fight with the fighters standing toe to toe trading punches---sometime one getting in the better shots and sometime the other fighter. The Crew played well and the Revs also played well. We got a lot more shots and shots on goal and again we faced a Keeper who kept his team in the match. I was disapointed we only got one point but the Crew earned their point rarther than the Revs surrendering the two. A tie was a good result.
Add to that the fact that he was actually able to make tactical subs rather than "what the hell, let's get the new guy a minute or two" subs, which hasn't happened much this season. Rusty's back and he's lost the Argentine-style mullet! As nice as it'd have been to have racked up one more goal, that second Revs goal was awfully satisfying, conceptually. Too bad the noisemakers and the gimmicks in the Fort all took the day off.
I was there in the front row behind the benches. Here's my take. Subbing Cancela was a good call. I actually yelled for a Cancela sub and it and as if Nicol heard me (which he probably did) he turned to the right and yelled for Dorman to get ready. Cancela had stopped running around the 70th minute which he tends to do. He had just made two turnovers, he was done. Cancela is frustrating to watch. He's got great vision and he delivers nice balls but he lacks that little extra bit of toughness and hunger. I sat with a friend who doesn't really watch much and he described Cancela as a "soft" player. I agree. If he had the heart of someone like JMM then he would be a player. By the way where is JMM. I know he hurt his knee but it didn't seem that serious when it happened. I had the same injury (sprained ACL and MCL) in early June and I'm close to returning. I didn't see him on the bench. I also called for Kamler's sub which happened a couple minutes later. I don't know if it was a coincidence but i was only 15 feet away and do have a loud voice. Kamler is a trooper but he seems to have lost a step. He muffed a great chance in the last 20 minutes. I say bring Franchino up to left mid and put Marshall at left back. Happy to see Rusty back there. He looked good. Does anyone else think Twellman's got an attitude problem? He ran off the field right after the game and didn't shake hands with anyone or recognize the crowd. He also didn't congratulate Ralston or Noonan after their goals. It seems if he doesn't score then he pouts. He must be frustrated since his value seems to be dropping. A couple years ago I thought he was a surefire signing for the Premier league or something in Europe. But his injuries and his lack of goals is probably costing him hundreds of thousands of $. Let's hope he gets it back. All in all, the Revs need some other people to step up besides Noonan and Ralston. Oh, and bring back Adin Brown.