It seems to me that the team we started v. Colorado has the following up and downsides...presuming no injuries. DOWN: Still no consistent play on the left. Where Heaps and Ralston seem to cover for one another and move the ball upfield with consistency the left side is a crap shoot. Kamler came in to help Franchino which meant sacrificing Griffith's penetration. So play stalled over there but at least we didn't leak goals. A tradeoff. Franchino should be where Cullen is and we need to get a top level left fullback. Hernandez is OK in the midfield but can we do better with a real distributor? Overall being one sided puts the Rev at a considerable disadvantage vs. two-sided teams. SN had to compensate with his substitution for Griffiths. UP: TnT is a real opportunist and makes goals when given space. Wolde's running and possession achieved that. Ralston and Heaps put on a clinic of ball movement. I know it is easy to pile onto Heaps but he has been playing well lately. Kante and Rusty are quite an effective combination. Tough and uncompromising. Overall, the Revs played well. Remember, Colorado can always score and their passing game allows for a lot of possession. Yet it was only 51-49% in favor of the Rapids. I an't imagine that we can keep this up for four more games but all I ask is for continuity, effort and improvement. JIM DOW
Carribean connection Perhaps there is a geographic explanation for Winston Griffiths' imitation of Evans Wise. I will grant you that there is a slight difference. Gumby used to dribble to the corner before losing possession, Griffiths loses possession at the top of the box (or crosses it to an opponent). Perhaps the answer is for a forward to come over and simply take the ball away from Griffiths And I'll grant you that the other Jamaican played better than he did early in the season but one thing sure hasn't changed, Wolde sure spent a lot of time ON the pitch. It's not that he takes a dive and then milks it for the card that never comes, heck, he's not that good of an actor. No, he just is always slow to get up and is usually holding something and rolling around in the mean time. In any case, I've come up with a theory, I think he may be a Rastafari and just likes to be near the grass as often as possible! After sharing this thought with those with me at the match the funniest thing I heard shouted on the field was "Stay high, Wolde!" Face it, this could explain a lot!
Re: Carribean connection Being a Revs fan is hardly cause for optimism. However, before you casually rip them all, please bear this in mind: Arch, winking synisicm gets older faster than almost anything. Unless you're a heavy follower of Jamaica, you haven't seen enough of Winston Griffiths to make to make a universal judgement. And the more you equate him with Evans Wise, the more you reveal your lack of clue. He ain't god. He probably isn't even a lesser angel, but to dismiss him now is to admit that you need the Revs, mostly, as an excuse to bitch and moan. Apologies in advance for the hit-and-miss spelling.