I'm calling it right now. JoGo starts. Revs win 3-1. The sun comes out at 80', and Brad can't resist the urge to flog the metaphor, and ruin the moment.
I'm supposed to know this but does MLS Live blackout Revs home games in the Boston area? (that is, will I be able to watch the Rev this afternoon on MLS Live since I'm stuck at work today?)
Goncalves starts and is Captain. Yeah, makes sense. Sounds like Sene is starting as well, no Caldwell. Don't know why teams can't just announce their rosters like every other league.
Starting XI: Shuttleworth; Tierney, Goncalves (c), Soares, Farrell; Dorman; Sene, Nguyen, Rowe, Fagundez; Bunbury #NERevs #NEvVAN— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) March 22, 2014
NE Revolution @NERevolution 3m Today's bench: Knighton, McCarthy, Barnes, Kobayashi, Caldwell, Imbongo, Bengtson #NERevs #NEvVAN
I kind of expected that. Just put him back out there and pretend like nothing ever happened. Standard MO for this team.
I'm seeing nothing to convince me Vancouver is not a terrible team. That said, the Revs need to put one of those chances they've been gifted in the back of the net.
Who would have predicted we wouldn't be able to score this year? ******** this team. Mike Burns is a ********ing loser. Teal Bunbury is atrocious. Team in general just sucks. Chris Tierney is the worst player on the team. ******** this I'm not bothering with this team the rest of the year.
How the hell didn't the Revs put one of their chances away? I'll take the point I'm delighted with our central defense pairing
Good things from today: The Fort was loud & proud . They did an excellent job of streamer-rolling the Vancouver GK Liked the work rate from Bunbury Diego was close on his shots and as energetic as ever JoGo seemed back to last season performance levels Andy Farrell is a Beast!And he is quick, quick, quick! The sub of Diago for Saer caused a true spark on the team The Midnight Riders brew, " Heaps of Hops" is one of the finest creations if not the finest I got to go to the game with my youngest son and saw several friends in & out of the stadium. Bad things from today: Bobby Shuttleworth is tied for the Rev's lead in goals scored so far this season.
Overall I feel better about the team after this match but it could be partly due to Vancouver. The Revs looked comfortable handling all the long balls Vancouver was serving up and there were times when the Revs had some good ball movement. This is the first time I can recall seeing Bunberry in person and I wasn't impressed with his skill in the final third. Not fair to say one game is definitive, but I just didn't see him as filling that role. I'd be curious to see how he could do as a mid-fielder; even in a holding role. I don't think it could be clearer the Revs need to invest in a quality striker, many other pieces are in place although if I'm Umbongo, I'm not happy to have to wait until the 80+ minute to get into the game. It was interesting watching Vancouver. They have forwards who make you nervous with speed and skill. But the team showed no patience in building through the midfield. They just kept pumping long balls up the field. Maybe it works better in less windy conditions or when they don't have such a distance to travel, but it was pretty ugly. The folks in the fort were great today.
Was I the only one who noticed the ref's patch blow away in the 35th minute? The challenge (foul???) by O'Brien on Bunberry in the 62nd minute was done without regard to playing the ball. O'Brien was playing the man all the way. Bobby Bobby Bobby Bobby, Bobby Bobby Bobby Bobby, Bobby Bobby Bobby Bobby, Shuttleworth did okay.
I'm more frustrated that the team isn't prepared for the season. That's both the FO in building a team and Heaps in having positions/formations figured out in preseason. We look like a very confused team and we have some obvious positions of need that were never properly addressed. It's a long season and there's plenty of time to sort things out, which I think we will. There's just no need to put yourself in that type of a hole early on. It's incompetence.
An excellent summary of the glass half full side. As I recall, they couldn't score in the beginning of 2013 as well. It seems like this is their pattern lately; it takes them a while to settle in. I would add that Rowe was brilliant today. He was routinely smoking his defender off the dribble. Fagundez on the other hand, had an off day. Dorman was the TV man of the match, and I agree that he was solid defensively, but he contributes nothing going forward. Tierney and Soares also held up the transition, and Sene was weak. I think we will improve. I like the style with the interchanging front five. I like that teams with fast forwards like SKC, Vancouver, and others who just try to launch the ball over the midfield can't get any traction. I like that we don't hoof the ball out of the back nearly as much as we used to. It's just that there are times when a game can be won with a moment of brilliance, and we don't have enough players capable of that. We need a couple of really strong players. One needs to be a defensive/holding mid. The other could be either a wing or a striker. One of those two needs to be a strong free kick taker.
True, they started out 1-3-2 (5 pts) last year (2 GF, 6 GA) and still managed to make the playoffs. Doesn't mean it isn't frustrating to fans.