Sure sure, I finally come back after almost 4 years and it's gonna be a sparsely-attended drizzly-rain mess. That's OK, just like the good ol' days. See ya there... PS- since 2008 the Revs have never broken the 13k barrier for their home opener: ranging between roughly 12,900 and 11,100 butts in the seats in that time.
Watched Vancouver versus Chivas, and I've got to agree, Vancouver didn't come off so well. Vancouver's a team where the whole seems less than the sum of its parts. I shouldn't wonder if by the end of the season, Vancouver fans have reason to regret that Rennie was given such a quick hook. I guess I like the Revs' chances in this one. Me, I'd keep the same defense from last week (assuming that the Goncalves mess just keeps festering, and that Alston's not ready to go), if for no other reason than continuity. I thought Farrell and Soares worked pretty well together last week, in their first outing. Besides, who else are you going to introduce? And I'd like to see Kobayashi in a holding midfield role. I don't know if he's ever played there much, but it's clear we need more than we're getting from Caldwell, and it's equally clear the solution is not named Andy Dorman. With luck Rowe will be back, and he, Nguyen and Fagundez together can create some chances.
Agree with everything you wrote, except this. Kobayashi would give you a lot less defensively than Dorman would. He's not a holding midfielder. We'd be even more overrun in midfield.
If Rowe is still not starting, I could get behind a 4-2-3-1 with Kobayashi and Caldwell back there. Otherwise I think you try what worked last season with Nguyen limiting his forward runs and supporting Caldwell at DM.
Right, this is what I was getting at, but with Rowe in one of the three AM spots (assuming he's fit). I guess it's true that he and Nguyen both tend to play centrally, but I seem to remember situations last year where the Revs had some success giving Nguyen, Rowe and Fagundez the freedom to roam.
Oh, yeah? To quote from his Twitter feed, as rendered into English by Google: "I've come to wear khaki outerwear to the police station."
New England Revolution seek to end goal drought on home soil: "The first one is the hardest" March 19, 2014 Craig Forde Special to MLSsoccer.com
Middle Man: Farrell returns from injury to make 2014 debut in central defense Second-year defender made 32 starts at right back in 2013 March 18, 2014 Jeff Lemieux I'm sorry, but this is just too bizarre. No mention of Goncalves in this article, even though Farrell was replacing him. No mention of him in any other articles on the Revs website this week. It's like he is persona non grata. This is not going to end well...
Most of the media coming from the Revs is very controlled. The broadcasters, social media, Podcasts and website are 100% controlled by the team, and there has hardly been a mention about JoGo in any form. I can barely listen to Brad call games anymore because he is always 100% trying to support the Revs FO's agenda.
The Soviet Politburo, circa 1964, was more forthcoming with information. I guess the only queston is whether we should refer to the Revs well-oiled PR machine as Pravda or Tass
wasn't JoGo on the front page of the website, as well? I swear there used to be images of him on one side and someone else (Nguyen?) on the other...
It was Tweeted that he and Joseph and the academy kid that played during preseason were at practice today.
#NERevs training...JoGo present, Shalrie, & Herivaux, too pic.twitter.com/It2tRWie3E— Brian O'Connell (@BrianOConnell21) March 19, 2014
Well that's a positive - I had a feeling the Revs might have been saving a developmental roster spot for Herivaux, maybe that announcement is coming soon.
Most stadiums aren't close to still being frozen. Home crowd comparisons between us and other clubs aren't very meaningful - early season is always are lowest attendance. What is meaningful is how it compares to our home openers in other years where we opened in March or early April.
I think it's a little bit of both. Agree that it's best to compare home opener to home opener, but it is a fair point that the club's on-field fortunates did change positively last season. If a young, attacking-oriented team can't generate a bump in attendance for its home opener - in spite of it being a cold and drizzly late March afternoon, something is seriously wrong.