Revs Friday Practice Report (at Brown)

Just got back from the Revs morning practice and thought I'd throw out a few details, since I've always been in debt to those who do it for the national team.

Things I noticed:

Taylor is looking his usual self. In the crossing/finishing drills, paired up with Wolde, he finished a couple and put several more on frame. I don't know what his normal gait is, but I couldn't detect any limp. He had no trouble going up for headers, either. He was active in all drills, from keep-away through the various passing drills, the finishing, and wind sprints.

Pineda Chacon couldn't hit the side of a barn with his free kicks, and fluffed all his close-range efforts on the finishing drills. He didn't look very confident shooting the ball in either scenario. I wouldn't let him take them on Sunday, if I were Nicol, but hey, it's only practice, I guess.

Hernandez, on the other hand, was ringing posts, crossbars, and sliding many into the net.

Toward the end of practice, with Rooney cavorting and joking around in goal (he must be the team clown), Hernandez, APC and Wolde took turns taking free kicks and shooting from outside the box. Wolde was absolutely ripping shots, hitting top netting just inside the crossbar on several tries. Rooney didn't get in the way of his shots!

Rusty spent 15-20 minutes after wind sprints just sitting with his legs apart on the field, stretching the groin.

Hernandez and Cullen were both given green jerseys during some of the passing drills, and guys looked to get them the ball, so I think it's safe to say their roles in the midfield are somewhat equal. They hit long balls out to the corner for Ralston or Heaps or Franchino, who then crossed in.

Overall, things on the field seemed pretty loose. Practice lasted about 90 minutes. The most interesting drill I saw featured two games of "five on five", only the object was not to go up against each other. Instead each team tried to keep two balls in circulation among the five players, while the five other players of the other team did the same thing, in a space little more than twenty by twenty yards. So you have four balls and ten guys moving around each other, times two, since another "game" is going on right next to the first one. Confusing, but I guess it emphasizes movement and one-touch passing in reduced space.

Off the field notes:

Todd Smith was there in a surgical mask and latex gloves to keep him from breathing in anything that might attack his weakened immune system. Incredibly brave, I thought.

Sean Wheelock and his cameraman were setting up numerous takes, but I didn't recognize the symbol on his mic, so I don't know what affiliate it was for.

There were maybe half a dozen non-Rev-affiliated people watching, including me--a couple Brown students, a couple high school students, no Rev Army or Riders.

Looked for Jeff Bradley, but didn't see him.

Veronica P. arrives in skin-tight gray sweatpants and top with about four-inch mules (is that what they call them?) on. Without those, she'd be much shorter than I thought. Everyone kisses Veronica on the cheek.

And everyone, inlcuding several of the players, was talking about the DC United result against Tottenham. It did not go unnoticed.

I can't think of anything else. I don't know what might or might not be significant, but I can say that if I didn't know that Taylor had been injured, I never would've guessed from the way he was moving today.