KAmler recieved a ball from the middle, he was under no pressure, instead of advancing or passing he awaited for the challenge and had the ball taken form his feet. Kamler loses his man completely. Kamler loses the ball and do not pursue. All three ball ended in shots in goal to the left post. Luckly the United players cannot score.
Come on guys, keep it up and knock the goons out of the playoffs. Hopefully Ruiz wins the scoring race, but if not, Twellman is probably the most deserving player to take it from him in the league, pure class.
It seemed like the Revs mixed it up on offense much more last night. Particularly, Griffiths and Ralston switching sides, and Twellman lurking out away from the box, near the sidelines. TT didn't get pounded nearly as much as he usuallly does, I think. He was exhausted though, but partly because he kept deliberately smashing into Reyes and McKinley. So some of it was his own doing. TT seemed to play more like our friend Razov at times last night - staying out wide and rushing forward trying to beat the offside trap. It worked. It also meant less pounding for him in the middle. Rusty played like a maniac, and I don't mean that as a compliment. No wonder he got hurt. He was flinging his body all over the field, and finally got hurt on a play in the Revs own half, when he leaped at someone for no particular defensive reason. One final note: thanks to Brian Dunseth for that own goal last night that cost the Crew the game.
One of the things I love about sports is how, other than the final score, much of what is seen is truly "in the eye of the beholder". ~Rusty was a star last night. ~Griffith is the reincarnation of Gumby. ~Jay Heaps is maturing into a sold right back. ~Kante is maturing into one of the best Central Defenders in MLS. ~Woldi is a good Third Forward and a real team player ~SN has earned a new contract. ~The last four matches is the best the Revs have played in their 7 year history. ~The past two home matches have reminded me why I drive from PEI to see soccer. ~Richy Williams is a still a goon ~Ben olson need a shave and a haircut. ~Marino is practicing for the Olympic Diving Team ~TnT sure has made Ray Hudson eat his words ~Under SN the team shows up to play and leaves it all on the field-- YES!!!!! ~After the last four games I will be renewing my season ticket for sure.
George Griffin: I tip my hat to you. Before the season began, when many of us had barely heard of Taylor Twellman, you said he would be a starter before the end of the season. While your prediction was a bit conservative, you were certainly on target. BTW - When I said Rusty played like a maniac, I don't mean he didn't play well, and didn't contribute mightily. But it seemed to me that he was playing a bit wildly and risking the injury that finally came.
more blather There was an interesting home-brewed statistical analysis on a previous thread that seemed to convincingly show Llamosa to be more valuable than Pierce. I have wondered since whether I over-value Pierce. Over the past four games, I have found him to be immense; I cringe to think how the center of defense will be when, again, they are without Pierce and Llamosa. Has Rusty played one entire season without injury? I think George is the only one to have mentioned Heaps' contribution. I thought he, as well, was a giant. If there existed a most improved player award, I think Heaps would win not just for the Revs, but for MLS. I think both the positive and negative comments about Kamler are more or less correct. Like many older athletes, he is capable of moments of sparkling play, but can't really sustain the energy to attack or defend consistently.
As I said on another thread, if Nicol can keep the players focussed on the task at hand, the games themselves, that alone would confirm him as a fine coach. Well, so far, he certainly has do this. For the past month the Revs have played with great purpose and have, as someone correctly observed, "left it all on the field." They have also began to forge a pretty clear style, from the attacking attitude towards defensive headers to the interesting interchanges that take place between Ralston, Cullen, Hernandez, Heaps, Harris and Twellman. Sure, they lose the ball too much and there is an overemphasis on the long bloot sometimes but, overall, there is a great deal more pattern and combination play than we have seen in the past. Even with stalwarts like Joe Max, Naveda, etc. Not to paint too bright a picture here, we still have huge needs but there is a spine and confidence to this group that inspires some confidence for the future. I still don't really care if they make the final 8 as long as they play their final matches with the same zest and style that they have displayed recently. I also have to say that the atmosphere at the stadium last night was terrific. There was an energy in the Fort and throughout the stands that was exciting and, I think, brought out the best in the players. I hope it can continue. Three players who have, I feel, really stepped up in the last month and dove-tailed their strengths to Nicol's system (or maybe the other way around) are Daniel Hernandez, Jay Heaps and Wolde Harris. Hernandez seems to slow the game down beautifully, very much like Alvarez used to try to do and I think he desreves a lot of credit for it. Sure, his free kicks look spectacular but his quiet holding midfield displays have been textbook stuff. Heaps has been immense, both in the air as well as in his dramatic improvement on the ground. If he can hold at this level we have developed a good, solid marking/overlapping back. When you add his athletic ability in the air, well it is all good news. Harris has played his supporting role as TT's partner to perfection and I feel he may be on the verge of having a regular job, esp. if Serna doesn't come back. With Llamosa and Rusty back on the shelf, apparently for good, we will have a very hard time maintaining all this for the last two matches but, again, if we do I say all credit to Nicol and the players for keeping at it while the folks upstairs do their best to subvert any sort of progress, at least in terms of impression. Funny, WBUR just announced the Rev score (Sun, 10:45 AM) which took five seconds. They then reported the front office shakeup which took five times that. Gee thanks Kraft Sports. Is this your idea of any publicity is good publicity? From the organization that brought us Bill Parcells and Terry Glenn. JIM DOW
Yeah, it started out "same ole ****, different day". But Danny Hernandez' 8th minute howdooyadoo to Eddie Pope might have helped set the ground rules for the rest of the game. Pope goes over the top and knocks TT to the ground, ref calls nothing. Before Pope can stop to pat himself on the back, he's burried by a Hernandez shoulder to the head (whic unfortunately draws yellow). "So Eddie, this is how it's going to work today...". Pope didn't take another cheap shot until the second half when he tried to cripple Twellman with a knee to the back (no yellow). Point is, more guys need to step up like Hernandez. On a dimmer note, Pierce's injury is a tough one. Llamosa is a good player, but as I've said before, he's no Pierce. Things are going to be a bit harder without Rusty. BTW, Pierce either has to get on a fitness program (perhaps similar to that uses by Evel Kneevel) that allows him to hold up under the rigors of his "vigorous" playing style, learn to play with a tad more restraint, or start considering what he's going to do after soccer. I think the guy's a great defensive player, but if he can only suit up 10-15 games a year, he's not helping the team. BTW, anyone know what Llamosa's status is? My impression was that he wasn't that far away from returning.
Jim Dow wrote: "I also have to say that the atmosphere at the stadium last night was terrific. There was an energy in the Fort and throughout the stands that was exciting and, I think, brought out the best in the players. I hope it can continue. " It helped that we had Raymundo and his drum back to keep the beat. He and his family kept the drums going. Without Ray, we've only had the Son of Liberty, who still needs a rhythm refresher course... The Minute Men and their red cards were also a riot. They've been interacting with the Fort ever since Vitaball night. -Amy
Coupla things: There was only 15 and change there last night? It seemed more like 18. They were feeding Twellman but his last two were of the breakaway variety. Lot of folks were shelling out cash for suds and dogs. Williams may be a hack but he rarely plays a bad ball. Kamler was an improvement over Griffiths. I'm happy with Hernandez as the enforcer.
Moreno for Oscar I think he is looking for the Oscars. In the first half Moreno and Heaps are running for the ball. Heaps beats him by two bodies length and then he falls down holding his face. BTW, I never liked Heaps, but yesterday he was my third choice fo MOTM
Wait until December, take the whole season into consideration and then make your choice. 4 games does not a season make and I still really want to know why we had to wait this long to see this kind of soccer. Why for instance, can't we see it right out of the gate and consistently for the whole season? No pain, no gain. I've come around to thinking that an average attendance of 5k is what this management needs. If the Krafts get out great. I think MLS will keep a franchise in New England but look for better management. We can all re-up under the new regime.
I too used to denigrate Heaps, but am now impressed by his play though I see him as a wide midfielder more than a defender. I still have reservations about Hernandez in midfield but he certainly is an improvement on Rooney in this system. Will he drop back to defense to fill Pierce's spot? The loss of Pierce is big. He, more than Kante, is the reason for the better defense lately. Now we know why Griffiths is on his third team this year. I know its risky but I'd rather see Downing back at Right D and Heaps at Left Mid with Kamler centrally than expose Franchino (without Pierce in there) by playing Griffiths ahead of him. It isn't pretty but Nicol is showing he can get it done his way (at least against weak teams). Still, watching Andy Williams and Diallo play the other night leaves me bitter at what we might have had. Maybe a healthy Serna would change my mind. Thank God for Twellman. Imagine what we would have without him. Sooner or latter we will find out. Is there a more valuable player on any other team in the league? I doubt it.
For Kamler bashers; I watched the tape after having been at the game. TnT's second and third came from Kamler passes and his first from Ralston's immaculate shot off Kamler's flick. Not bad for a crap player, eh? He may make a few mistakes but he also makes some very intelligent plays. JIM DOW
Can't remember when they every took 10 out of 12 points in their history. Truly a great run. The first half made me a bit nervous, especially when TnT hit the post and then DC started getting better sniffs than we did. However, the D posted a shutout and the final result is what you look for. I would agree that Heaps has developed to a decent right back, but let's not get too excited about his distribution skills to think midfield for him nor too excited about his improvement to think of him as a great defender. Rusty, a self-inflicted injury if I ever saw one. That was a reckless play for no apparent reason. He played a super game, but I was wondering about that play for quite awhile. P.S. I thought Olsen deserved a red for his mugging of Pierce on the sideline: that was five yard run at a player, from behind and the ball was long gone when he arrived. Franchino and Griffiths together need to stop dribbling themselves into traps along the sideline. Joey, you are a great defender, a lot of heart, but stop dribbling yourself into three defenders along the sideline!!! Ralston and TnT are so beautiful to watch, great skills, great heart and Wolde stepped up to the plate and played a great game. There are still two games left and the team needs to finish out the season. I tell you the away game at the Burn concerns me more than the home game against the Mutts. Nicol has finally got the highest scoring team in the MLS to play defense that is a great start. Let's see if everyone can keep the same thing going!
Anybody know the status of Llamosa? The MLSnet Injury Report doesn't mention Llamosa's name at all - although I know how unreliable it can be. Any inside info?
Oh, yeah...It's not ONLY about masochism! Yeah, I saw that too. I guess he didn't realize that Nicol had used all his outfield subs. About 10 minutes into the second half, I commented to my neighbor that DC was starting to dominate in midfield. The only change was Kamler coming on for Griffiths. Griffiths obviously needs to learn how to pass the ball, but defenders CAN NOT ignore him, which all by itself makes him a better attacking player than Kamler. Kamler's lack of speed and dribbling ability means he usually only gets one touch at a time. When that touch is good, as on the first goal, he is a major asset, but those 3 passes to white shirts and the several dispossesions were not bad luck; they are his downside. For my money, our best players were Pierce, and Hernandez. I kept thinking 'I can't believe how much better Heaps is than he was when we got him. I'm still not settled on Nicol. Yes, the defense has improved, but he never had to play Downing and Cullen as his central defensive pairing. If he starts the 1 striker line up against Dallas next Saturday, then I say he should be fired regardless of the outcomes. That 'conservative on the road' line up couldn't score against Columbus, so I doubt it would work against Dallas, who are a better defensive team overall.
Did anyon catch the reason for the black arm bands Saturday? Could it be an early 9-11 thing? Maybe the Revs were wearing them for all their buddies in the front office. Maybe DC was wearing them for their sorry excuse for a team.... Tom
I think this was the most "intelligent" game I've ever seen the Revs play. They were patient in working towards getting the first goal. Then they made DC pay with counterattacks when they had to come forward. In the past, that one goal lead would have led to trying to hold on by their fingernails (it still galls me that last year's US Open Cup championship was there for the taking with 25 minutes to go, when Clavijo decided to play "safe"!).
Since they had a moment of silence before the game in honor of the victims of 9-11, I would imagine that was what the armbands were for.
This is why I go to the games. I agree. Again, I agree. The last few weeks have certainly been more fun to watch. Yes, there are still needs, but like you said, there is definitely a group inspiring confidence for the future. I hope it continues as well. The drums certainly helped. It was really wonderful to have people in section 108 (which is ordinarily quiet except for a few people here and there) clapping along to REV-O-LU-TION! I loved it. Speaking of atmosphere...This is from the Columbus Crew website... www.thecrew.com I hope to see similar requests from the Revs in the future. Back to the Revs...Brown's been great. Heaps and Harris have definitely stepped up. Kamler has had his share of mistakes as a second half sub, but you have to give him credit for some nice work setting up some goals as well. Griffiths definitely draws attention. He usually gets by one-on-one and even one-on-two. After that, it appears he puts his head down and/or loses possession and/or floats a cross into the keeper. In his defense, sometimes I think he gets stuck one-on-three because he doesn't have an outlet - someone making a run to give him options. Sometimes however, i think he tries to do too much (a la Sunsing) and gets shut down by the defense. If Nicol can get him on the same page as the others (he hasn't had as much time as some others to get used to playing with his teammates) and if he can get that cross to start working for him, it's going to be a lot of fun to watch defenses scramble to cover Griffiths and Ralston. Looking forward to the next match!