My snarky response to the game would be, I can't wait until preseason is over, and we can see a team that looks like they're all on the same page. I say that because they really did look a bit discombobulated in the final third. I ended up being very late to the game, so I missed the early gifted chances which should have been finished that I saw a comment about, and that I heard about on the radio as I was driving there, but there were just a lot of strange or bad decisions made around the box. I'm beginning to get concerned with Fagundez, he has not been sharp, and I'm pretty sure I saw him just swing and miss on a chance near the top of the box in the 2nd half. I hope he didn't get caught up in all the hype around him over the off season. And just to be clear, I'm only at the point of "beginning" to get concerned, I'm not convinced he's done, saying he's the next Freddy Adu, or anything silly like that. Bunbury is one I especially think is on a different page. I see him try to hold the ball up, and wait for midfielders to join, but I also see him try a lot of one time flicks and such to players who are nearby when a ball comes to him, which the nearby player just surprised by or something. Either that's a part of his game that players should know to expect by now, or it should be something he's told not to do in the system the team is playing. Nguyen did some good things in many parts of the field, but he seemed a bit brain farty in the final third. Sene looked bad, and I was glad to see him go. I hope he looked really good in training all week, and that's why he started, because I think Sene was worse than Donnie Smith was in his start. And Saer did one thing I especially hate, he got clipped, was unhappy no foul was called, so he sat on the ground like he was hurt, forcing his team to defended down a player, until the play came to a stop, and Sene got a chance to whine to the ref about the lack of a call, before getting up, and showing no signs of any harm having come to him. That said, when Kobayashi came in for Sene, he did add a spark, as the game seemed to turn in the Revs favor after that. I hope he can keep that up. Rowe also looked very good, I especially liked his little move he used to beat/split 2 players over on the sideline near the Revs bench. As for the back, so nice to see JoGo back, and while I might like someone faster than Soares at the other CB, I'm ok with him there, as he's not even within a country mile of being the first person I'd replace in the back. I'd be fine with having Farrel outside, if we could then put our next best outside back on the left, whoever that might be. As for d-mid, Dorman was ok, though I don't know if it was the opposition, but we didn't seem as overrun there as we were with Caldwell starting. Hey, we've only allowed 1 goal in the last 180 minutes, that's not too bad. Now let's see if we can take another step forward, and score a goal. Baby steps.
For everyone who keeps pointing out that Bunbury is not "the replacement" for Agudelo, it seems like everyone except Mike Burns understands this. He would be a nice addition to a roster that already had the key pieces in place, but he shouldn't be expected to carry the load as a primary striker. There is a reason he was 5th on the KC depth chart and they were willing to let him go for pretty much nothing. So who could have possibly imagined that we would have lost 2 key players from last year's playoff team, replaced them only with draft picks and castoffs, and gee, we haven't exactly kept the momentum coming off our best season in years. Shocked, I tell ya, shocked! Burns has done an abysmal job in "buying the groceries" that chef Heaps needs, and Heaps has done an abysmal job of preparing the team for the start of the season. Lots of other teams acquire new players and have integrated them into their system by now. Will we eventually right the ship? Sure, of course, but right now 3 points instead of one would have made a world of difference, especially since we have our next few on the road. The Patriots need a new field, so no worries if we have 4 points and 3 goals scored in our first 8 games. Who is going to tell the rest of the league that games before may only count for half the points?
Agreed, the Revs attack isn't on the same page, Fagundez looks like he's still in pre-season. In fact, the entire attack looks like its still in pre-season. I wouldn't mind if they failed to connect on the final pass, but they're giving up possession on entry passes, and layoffs. Clean it up guys. I think Sene was out of gas by minute 43, so he clearly wasn't ready to start the game. Soares might be ok for a while, but eventually he's going to have a few big mistakes down the road like last year. I think the fact that he looks for a foul rather than clearing the ball, dribble or passing eventually will come back to hurt us. I actually thought Tierney did ok this game because of the Revs gameplan which was to push Tierney is far up the field as possible to pin back whoever was on the wing. Could Woodbine have done the same thing? I'm sure Also, I'm not sure what Imbongo did to lose his starting job to Teal. I mean, Teal is being asked to hold up the ball, which is a role more suited for Imbongo. Also, he's got more experience playing with the other guys in attack, so you'd think they would be more on the same page than Teal
But Teal was out "big" signing this winter. You gotta start him, otherwise it would be like the FO is admitting failure. Meanwhile, our "big" midseason signings last year, Woodbine and Davies haven't played a minute. I understand you couldn't "disrupt the chemistry" last season by playign them, but now, this is a new season.
Yeah, the message last year about Davies and Woodbine was specifically "they are for next year" and "Davies would have gotten playing time but the playoff race was so close". It is next year already, and the playoff race is not so close.
Any word on Rowe? If anyone was sitting near the bench, was he truly grabbing his hamstring as he was coming off? Yes, hindsight is always 20/20, but if it was too much to risk putting in a player the previous week for even 10-15 minutes at the end, when you still had a decent chance to get a result, especially if you added one of your most creative players, would that player really be ready to go a full 90 the following week?
On tv you could see him reaching for it as he walked off. Not sure if it's the same one, but I would think it is likely.
Unfortunately he wasn't just holding it, he looked to be in a lot of pain and he needed assistance to get back to the bench.
Well, we obviously don't know anything yet, but if it was the same hamstring, and he ends up missing significant time, I guess we'll have to chalk it up to being one of those freak, unforeseeable injuries, that come out of nowhere. [heavy, plaintive sigh]
Bunbury has never been a holdup striker. Never. He's always at his best attacking goal, in space. He would've fit perfectly on last year's counterattacking Philly Union team, if you remember how they played. I am seeing a pattern here, however--that Burns & Heaps are signing these guys without understanding precisely how it is that they have success at their positions. Bengtson always plays with a strike partner up top for Honduras--usually Costly--who does all the running in the channels and the battling. Then Jerry floats in behind and picks up the cross/deflection/what-have-you. He's not a lone striker, he doesn't hold the ball up. A poor man's Mike Magee. Sene can create off the dribble and likes to come in from out wide to shoot, but he's not a hold-up player. If anything, he's a poor man's Agudelo in how he likes to play. Imbongo fits the mold physically, he's just not good enough (or mature enough) to be a starting MLS forward. We're missing a Mitlon Caraglio/Conor Casey type to get the most out of our midfield attacking potential. (Imagine Agudelo playing off of one of those physical forwards last year.) So just as an example with players we know--our attack, with clearly defined roles and none of this confused "total football" crap we're playing right now should look something like: ----------------------------Caraglio (Imbongo)------------ Agudelo (Nguyen)-------Fagundez (Rowe/Bengtson)--------Bunbury (Sene/Rowe) ------------------------Caldwell (Daigo)----Physical D-Mid (Dorman)------------ We get a hold-up player, we get Agudelo and Sene in space for their moves and creativity, Bunbury for his athleticism is also given space, and even Bengtson is at least in a spot where he could come in in the 2nd half and try to poach in the box from that position. Obviously, we've either lost or don't yet have some of these players, but the point is that there's clarity in the attack and players are played to their strengths. That's not happening right now at all.
I forgot Davies was still on the team. But then he's not exactly a holdup striker either. I'd put Imbongo in that position. Maybe he can continue to improve?
Extremely frustrating game, as there were 3 points for the taking. I think we did almost everything well in this one: solid defense, assertive midfield, took control of the game, etc., but, basically, we just kept missing the goal. Free kicks and corners came to nothing (certainly a really strong and gusty wind didn't help), but our best shots all seemed to just miss the target - or were right at the keeper. There's clearly some sharpness missing by our attackers, but we also did many things well in this one. Small consolation it may be, but we've improved for our 3rd straight game. I had the sense in this one that if we had scored earlyish, the game would have opened up and we'd have even more good chances. Not scoring in the 1st half, when we had the wind with us, left us with a tougher job in the 2nd.
Deserved @MLS Team of the Week nod for @Oneswitz http://t.co/pKIBn6EXlN #NERevs— Jeff Lemieux (@jeff_lemieux) March 24, 2014
Can't prove it by his actions here and that's all that really matters. I'm not defending Heaps system because it isnt working. Didnt work much last year either until Juan showed up
Ousted wins Save of the Week for his stop on Andy Dorman: http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...d-earns-week-3s-save-week-stunning-reaction-s
If your assertion that Burns doesn't get this is true then why is Burns saying they are still committed to signing a starting level forward? Burns may be less that effective in executing finding and signing players but he's not dumb and in need of fans to educate him on what the team needs to succeed. They know what they need. They just haven't gotten the job done. (FWIW, I'm heating tar and have two large bags of duck feathers ready to go)
For the...what, 5th season in a row now? He's saying it because nobody's going to stick a mic in his face and say "Hey Mike, what happened there?" Costs him nothing to toss the usual well-worn platitudes. He's not dumb. He's just the guy at the helm of an underfunded ship. He knows what they need and more importantly- what he can actually afford (which usually isn't much). We've relied on players falling into our laps.