Has anyone caught any of the Revs training sessions? Have they had any preseason matches yet? I'm particularly interested to hear how Jose Angulo is performing/being used since there was such a big stink made about who had his rights. And info would be appreciated.
We've been getting some regular updates out of the Revs early training camp. From what we've heard, Jose Angulo is injured. I'm not really sure what it is. (knee possibly?) The team has yet to play any matches yet. They head to Bermuda this week where they will continue training as well as schedule a few matches against local teams.
Angulo is supposedly sitting out some training because of a sore knee - I don't think that would be classified as an *injury* (SJ is in the same situation).
Hed, you have run afoul of the Orwellian negativity police. Please be more cautious in your choice of language.
thanks. really interested in Angulo as he is touted as a great forward prospect with designs on joining the USMNT.
Oh, and have the Revs started work on any kind of an acadamy setup? Really interested to see what they can do in that area of the country. Seems like there should be plenty of talent up there given the Brazilian influence.
Training: They've only been doing conditioning work at ForeKicks in Norfolk. Go to capecodonline.com and search "Smartschan" in our news search bar to find updates. They've have a few scrimmages, but no matches. Those start in Bermuda (no hard and fast opponents yet). Bermuda: They're expecting it will be too cold for beaches and rum drinks. Cancun, I've been told, is the fun preseason trip. Angulo: Was out until at least Thursday last week with ice on his knee. No idea of the severity -- unsigned draftees and trialists are off-limits to reporters. No on-the-ball work means no word on how he shapes up, talent-wise. Academy: Not really, no.
Can anyone just go watch at ForeKicks? It's like a 5 minute drive from my house. When I was reading about Angulo after the Revs got his rights, it says he was injured during his training session with Red Bulls. I dont know what happened when he originally trained with the Revs, but the kid sounds a little injury prone to me, he seems to come up with injuries any time it's important for him to prove himself as a player.
The Red Bull injury wasn't anything serious, he just had blisters on his feet from new cleats. Dumb, but doesn't really make him injury prone.
There are two things standing in the way of the Revs starting a youth Academy: 1. It would cost actual money. 2. It might produce a conflict with the established local boys clubs - one of the prime marketing targets of the Revs.
In case anyone still thinks that Bermuda is a bad idea and that we should be playing MLS teams in the preseason, here's an exhibition match report from Goff: United-Earthquakes Friendly [updated] Match held at Cal Poly SLO..... 0-0 final in the rain on a muddy pitch. San Jose hit the post late in the match. DCU starters: Wells; Namoff, Martinez, Peralta, Burch; McTavish, Stratford, Gallardo, Fred; Moreno, Emilio. (Simms out with hip flexor.) Lineup changes at various points of the second half included Carvallo in goal, Cordeiro, P. Carroll, Mediate and Dane Murphy in the back, Kirk, Gardner and Moose in midfield, Monteiro and Walker up front. Renfrow came on late. Niell started the second half but left with a knee bruise. Both Kpene and Dyachenko are recovering from MCL injuries and sat out, though Dyachenko probably would have played if the conditions were better.
Because we all know that Kraft is anti-good. He's one of the few famous leaders of the "Big Bad" sector of our economy. They often meet in dark rooms to discuss how to ensure most Americans don't realize their childhood dreams of becoming a movie star astronaut president fire fighter. Damn them!
I think he meant that playing opponents without the likes of Nick Garcia crashing wantonly into new signings and leaving them on crutches is an improvement. Or maybe he just meant the bit about the weather. In any event, it will be interesting to see how the Revs perform against Atlante ... especially given the fact they will be meeting one another again in Superliga.
I suspect the match will be a lot like the first round of a heavy weight Title Boxing Match: Lots of feeling our and "Show me what you've got". I also believe that Nicol will show them little or nothing about what he will use in the Superliga.
... so the soccer equivalent of 'not showing them the whole playbook' is what ... telling Jay Heaps and Jeff Laurentowicz to keep their attacking prowess under wraps? Granted Nicol can sandbag a bit by not playing his starters for the entire match. But I rather doubt he is going to be pulling smoke-and-mirrors out for Atlante. It is not as if the team cannot look at tape of the Revs from the playoffs for the last umpteen years ... But really, FMF teams rarely gameplan for tournaments like Superliga, etc. They generally believe in the ability of their team to impose their will on MLS teams ... and to the frustration of the fans of most MLS teams with significant experience playing against them - the difference in talent level and soccer nous has made that an acceptable strategy. Most Mexican teams play with a level of pressure, intensity and passing ability that MLS teams do not see within the league. The counterattacking is so well-executed and off-the-ball movement even of young players is exceptional. The only areas where FMF teams are occasionally a trifle wanting (in our eyes) is finishing, because too often players care more about the build-up to the goal than the goal itself ... and the center-backs are not always as good as you would expect. If anyone is 'sandbagging' it will likely be Atlante as they empty out their bench and let the young players out from the lockers in the locker room so they can get a bit of a run-out. But it is still an excellent exercise for the Revs. I firmly believe that meaningful games against FMF teams, etc are largely responsible for DC's quite large American contingent (over the years) developing the vision that allows for a better team-passing approach than most MLS teams employ. DC could not really play mano a mano against Chivas in our numerous encounters over the past two seasons, but the team has definitely improved from the level of the (totally undermanned and ill-prepared - Nick Van Sicklen, David Stokes, etc) team that got shellacked by Pumas back in 2005. Superliga even got a better quality of soccer out of FC Dallas and the Galaxy last season. Playing against better teams is one of the best ways to improve the level of soccer in MLS.
I think the only thing different is that both teams will probably use more of their younger players. I think the game will start off as a generally friendly affair, but it could easily get *emotional*. We don't know yet if our new players will be available. If they are, they'll likely get some time, but won't have had much practice time with the team yet, so it'll probably be a rough adjustment.
nothing that I have read. its kind of a bad situation for him. If he tries to hurry back and train and competes at less than 100 percent he might not be offered a contract. Then again if he waits until he is 100 percent, he puts himself very far behind everyone else conditioning and training wise and that might hurt his chances too. Nicol and Mariner must have seen enough in him to put the Discovery tag on him. I hope they play this out, do not push him and give him a fair shot at making the team
It can, but it hasn't. But, I guess when things work out, it's just luck. Both, actually. The Revs took a lot of crap here for their choice of Bermuda/Cancun - and I wanted to point out how well that is working out so far, when another team travels to mid-California to play in the rain and mud, get a player hurt and can't manage a goal against a 1st year team. Now, it's RB's turn to have a trip disaster-in-the-making. They travel to Austria to train under their corporate-Daddy's premier facility, run into "bad weather" and end up losing to the Salzburg Bulls Reserve Team, get a player hurt and whine about how mean those bullies were. Our pre-season planning is looking better and better.