Right - and the east is stronger now with last year's usual suspects plus TFC, DC and Philly reloading. I don't understand why Heaps still plays a lone striker. It does not work. Imbongo came in far too late, he should have started with Bunbury or instead of him. Rowe, Diego and Sene had poor games yesterday as did everyone in the final third. 3 points against Vancouver was there for the taking. I wasn't very impressed by them. If Burns had gotten a striker that scores goals, maybe this would have been a different result. I noticed Bunbury seemed to make the wrong decision at critical moments, making his runs too late or going near post when he should have gone far and taken the defender with him. He doesn't have good soccer instincts (Agudelo did). I have very low expectations in terms of productivity this season, most of our goal production is going to come from Diego, Rowe and our other mids. On the positive side, the defense played well in front of Shuttleworth, which needs to happen consistently because I have no confidence in Bobby. His positioning is poor as demonstrated on the shot at the end of the first half when Shuttleworth dove when he didnt need to. If he had been better positioned that wouldnt be necessary. Knighton and Pickens both should play over him, so its another poor decision by Heaps. Glad to see JoGo is back, he makes a big difference when he is out there and playing well. Tierney sucks but ironically while Heaps called him out in the presser after the game for making poor decisions on his corners, I thought they were some of the best corners I've seen from him. The difference is we don't have guys with enough quality to put headers away. Soares was OK, less dump and chase but he still needs to be upgraded. The shutout streak continues for the offense and begins for the defense. On to next game.
I really liked Sene's game and Rowe's game yesterday. Sene's ability and confidence on the ball is really fun to watch and causes problems for the opposition. Rowe is always pushing forward; every game it seems that he has a dribbling run of about 20-30 yards into the final third. Vancouver brought very little so our defense did not need to do much but they looked much better organized than the previous games, hopefully it continues. Diego was off yesterday but had plenty of chances (it is strange to see a professional, especially one who typically finishes well, completely whiff on a shot); he'll heat up eventually. Rowe hobbling off at the end is really concerning; I bet he's out for at least the next game. If that is the case it may be a good time to switch formations to get a pair of strikers out there. All in all I was encouraged by their performance yesterday and I'm optimistic that they will find their scoring touch. But I'm also really concerned about Rowe because I think he is their most impactful player and without him they are much less dangerous. ... off topic: the things that in general bother me: the constant talk of Tierney's "great left foot" - it seems pretty average to me. Shuttleworth starting over Knighton - I don't get it. Caldwell: he's a solid player but not worthy of comments about him adding more to the attack than Dorman - I think Dorman should be the starter at that spot as he was yesterday.
Fair point, to be sure. It cuts both ways. I don't think it's fair to compare Bunbury to Agudelo; the fact that Agudelo was exceptional doesn't mean that Bunbury is a bad player. By the same token, as you point out, we can't expect Bunbury to transform the team the way that Agudelo did. I still think that Revolution will do better in coming weeks, because the front five Bunbury, Rowe, Nguyen, Fagundez ± Sene/Imbongo are too good to be shut out consistently. That said, I think we are a mid-table team, probably not good enough for the play-offs, unless we add at least one, probably two starters.
Five shots on goal .....in total by both teams. That is a shot on goal once very 18 minutes. Good grief!
Exactly. Agudelo and Bunbury are not the same type of player. Comparing the two is extremely unfair, especially to Bunbury, considering he doesn't fit the role that Agudelo did in our system.
We lacked the killer instinct in the final third. Sure, there were a couple chances that forced a save or took a deflection, otherwise we might have had a goal or two. But we had the ball in the final third many, many times without even getting a shot off. Guys looked unsure of what to do, on and off the ball, when we needed the right run, or the right pass, or the shot on target. 3 games in and 0 goals is not a confidence building start to a year where we should have been revved up and ready to build off of last season.
Well, a goal would be nice and we need the points, but overall I feel better about our prospects this season after the game. Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but I think the offense will click sometime fairly soon. Diego had I think 3 shots that slid just outside the post, Teal messed up a 1 on 1 with the keeper, and Rowe made a couple opportunities. Maybe this is the best Teal can give us, but I think we're going to start seeing some goals from Kelyn and Diego pretty soon. That said, a high-level striker would be really damn nice right about now. The defense is back, and that's relieving. JoGo looked like his best-XI self, and it made Soares look a lot more comfortable too. If they can maintain yesterday's form they're going to keep us in most every game. As far as the playoffs go, we need to improve, and fast if we want to make it. Toronto has hit the ground running, and Columbus and Philly both look better than us thus far as well. And it's a little frightening how much worse we are when Lee and Jose aren't in the lineup.
Boring freakin' game. 1 point out of 9. 270 minutes of goalless play. So ... yeah, this is a lot of fun. No, not jumping off the Tobin, but if you don't think there's something wrong, I don't know what to say. I know there's no "must-win" games, but you're putting yourself in a position where you're going to have to play catch-up at some point with every single point you blow now. The only good thing ... every time that the Revs play a boring 0-0 home opener, Lowell wins the Hockey East Championship. So there's that.
Exactly. When is the last time this team started a season ready to go? Seems like eons. Big shock, Teal Bunbury isn't a replacement for Agudelo, and we clearly need a first-class striker. Didn't want to pay for one, 3 games no goals. I had a great time seeing everyone the tailgate yesterday, old friends and new faces. Terrific showing by the Fort- not so much for the rest of the stadium, spotty patches of people and swaths of empty seats. It rained just enough to keep people home, sad because it was nice almost the whole game. On paper anyway, they cracked the 13k barrier for first time since at least 2008.
Agudelo was far better. Is Davies still on the roster? I see he isn't making the bench...neither is the Neuman. BTW, the crew are 2-0 but they did surrender their first goal against this year. Not Michael's fault
I havent seen them cover the higher part of the expensive sections before, is that new? 13K in paid tickets is all that matters, doesn't matter how many showed up. News flash FO, people aren't going to pay to see 0-0 draws and I have seen nothing yet that would make me want to attend a game
[quote\]I see he isn't making the bench...neither is the Neuman. BTW, the crew are 2-0 but they did surrender their first goal against this year. Not Michael's fault[/quote] Mr. Ed is dead. You can stop beating him now. Please move along.
They're not the same type of striker, comparing them is pointless. Myself and many others on this forum warned people who viewed Bunbury as Agudelo's replacement.
Yes you can compare what type of striker they are easily. One is an effective type of striker (produces one way or another), one is a non-effective type of striker (so far).
Or an ineffective system/formation and a coach who is too stubborn to change it. Bengtson is one of the best goal scorers in all of CONCACAF.
Maybe I'm dreaming, but I think if we had a top shelf Dmid to keep the center secure and the back organized, as well as support the attack, the right wing (Imbongo/Sene/Bengtson) could cheat forward, and be the second forward for Bunbury to play off. Farrell could also play higher. Dorman is not skilled enough to pull this off. In other words, for Bunbury to succeed, we don't necessarily need another forward for him to pair with (and a whole new system), but a more solid middle third so more players can get forward. I also think getting a great dmid is more likely than getting a forward at Agudelo's level.
Blasphemy! Obviously the Truth has not been drilled into your head yet by the droning monotones of the Kraft-fed broadcast Icon of Veracity that is Feldman. If repeated often enough, Celestial Podiatric Attributes can be made into Truth!