Huh? Here's something I'd never thought I hear/see: John 'Mini Me' Spencer just scored on a header to make it 2-nil. Rapids could be up 5-nil right now, too [25'].
Out due to injury [hamstring]. 'Wang' Chung just scored to make it 3-nil [38']. Oh yeah, thanks ManInBlack [From Revs News, 6/13 Thread: "Two months later with Sommer, Downing, and Cullen in back we lose to Colo 3-2 at home in front of almost 15K. SN had seen enough. Adin goes between the pipes the next week...and we haven't given up 3 goals in a match since, the longest such active streak in MLS."
Does anyone find it a little odd that both D.C. and Colorado, the two teams who cant seem to find goals, play each other and have a boring 0-0 game. Then 3 days later they play and both have scored 3 goals in abosolute routs.(colorado could get more)
A very bad day at the office. Revs flat as a pancake against a team that needs a win. I think we all were afraid thia was going to happen. There really is nothing more that can be said. I'm going to bed. Maybe when I wake up this all will have been just a bad dream. George
Pay raise for TnT Without him the team sucks. No speed, no deep balls in the middle, no hustle in the area. Too many free Colorado defenders to show the weakness of REV defense.
Was that a flawed gameplan or what? Push up early and often, and count on Colorado not to counter. Let's see. New starting striker. New left wing. Joseph's been out 3 weeks. The entire team hasn't played a real match in two weeks. Sounds like a recipe for miscommunications right and left. Hindsight is wonderful, but this couldn't be anything but a gamble. Tonight it failed big time. It was good seeing Joseph in the middle, even though the rust was very evident. His decision making wasn't as confident as we've seen. I'm sorry for Cullen, but Hernandez seems to be a more effective partner for Joseph. (Of course, one shouldn't judge solely by this game- Hernandez came in when the game was effectively over.) Positives: Nice touch and finish by Wolde. Hopefully that will add to his confidence. Noonan continues to demonstrate streaks of mature play. BTW, for the benefit of Kraft bashers: it's all Bob Kraft's fault! If last Sunday's game hadn't been pre-empted by his private party, the Revs would have had fewer injured players and no rust. Like others have noted- time to look ahead. This result doesn't deserve too much analysis.
Y'know what, better against the Rapids, a team that sucks an almighty suck, than against a team we have to worry about in terms of points, like NY. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of the season. Though I am still po'ed that not even the Reserve squad showed up today. Oh well. Prof
Perhaps games are scripted? But really, it was a shite game, but it was inevitable that Colorado were due to have a break-out performance, and unfortunately, it was against us. But on the more fortunate side, the league's other shite club also had their break-out game tonight, and we happen to be playing them next weekend, which doesnt sound too bad, assuming that DC got their break-out win out of the way, and will go back to playing like pish again. But now Nicol's week-off preparation comes into question, along with the state of the defense, as they were horrendous not only tonight, but as of late as well, and if you recall our last match vs KC, blowing the 2-nil lead late in the game. Also, Adin should have made his defenders cry tears of sorrow at halftime for leaving him so exposed. Hes hands down the Revs' MVP so far.
Quoting Lynryd Skynryd, "Ooohooh, that smell." Put this one behind us, get the heads put on straight and get ready for DC.
As soon as we get down a goal, the game is over. We have not remotely figured out how to play from behind.
no yellow cards in this game. Indicative of the Revs' lack of commitment and energy. They gave Colorado way too much time with the ball in or near the box. Heaps has to close down his man, not let the guy have time to decide whether to shoot or pass.
Um, er.... if it wern't for what went on against KC in the game two weeks ago I'd say this was just a stinker and let it go at that. However, with the Preki performance and now Spenser, etc. it verges on a trend. At this level, that is worrisome. Teams watch, look, listen and learn and good coaches prepare for any gap or exposed eventuality. Mark Chung and Chris Henderson aren't chopped liver and they simply tore their opposite numbers (Heaps, Franchino, etc.) apart. The middle was left holding the bag and exposed for liveliness. I'd say the defensive shiteness went all the way up to Joe-Max and Noonan. Fact is, the Revs aren't fast enough to trade breaks. They just keep backing off and free up far too much space. Every coach in MLS now knows this and on full sized pitches (LA, Colo, Mutts, DC) this is going to hound us unless we can maintain possession. I fear that Vasquez, who was supposed to be a strategical luxury, becomes a hopeful necessity. Joseph was terrible in the first half although he improved when Hernandez came in. Joe-Max looked lost. I hope this is simply rust on those two and not that the pieces don't fit. Having said that, you could sort of see this coming. Colorado played pretty well against LA on their huge pitch. They are fit, fast and have some battlers. And they aren't as bad as their record. Further, it is quite possible that the Revs aren't as good as theirs. The dog days of summer will tell. JIM DOW
Couple of good points on this thread. A) The Revs didn't foul...at all. Colorado was getting some breaks by the main official and still recorded a disproportionate number of the total fouls. Quite simply - the Revs played like they didn't want contact - Colorado did. It wasn't until the 50th minute that a Rev player (Hernandez) stuck a Colorado player (Tremblay) with a hard tackle. In the intervening 50 minutes the Revs were getting the crap knocked out of them and trailing by 3 goals. But no response, no intensity. Embarassing. B) The Revs have now given up 6 goals in three halfs. Very bad. But worse, had Aiden Brown not stood on his head for these three halfs, the team could have easily given up another 5 (gulp). Think that one over...potentially 11 goals in three halfs. It's only two games, but the trend has got to stop - immediately.
"Colorado fans have suggested that Tim Hankinson prefers his central midfielders to stay put in holding positions rather than moving forward, allowing Chung and Henderson to cut back inside towards goal, something both players have done to good effect over the past few years against the Revs. This will most certainly put pressure on our wing backs in Heaps and Franchino, while Pierce has to be positionally sound, watching for cutting inside runs from Chung while making sure Carrieri doesn't exploit that by finding space behind him." - Magpie pregame thread They played their game, we didn't. How many times did Colorado go in 3v3 or 4v4? I could easily blame the midfield for not tracking back, but the Rapids' speed of attack was so high it would be near impossible for the midfielders to physically get back. Colorado barely paused in the midfield before spraying it out to the wings leaving Heaps and Franny on an island. Twice in a row we've been hurt by teams with a direct style. We, on the other hand, were plodding. Our speed of play on attack was a walking pace and we never looked like breaking open the defense like that. It was noted that we don't know how to come from behind. That's because we don't play well when we're expected to come out and attack (note our early season home woes) We simply don't break down defenses that are set up. Perhaps the Vazquez acquisition will help that. Another thing, am I the only one that thinks Noonan is out of place on the wing? Patty is best up top, especially in a supporting striker role, but looks out of sorts in the midfield. Maybe I'm judging him too much on Ralston and Kamler's standard, but defensively he just isn't at the required level for our wingers (note that the switch of wings between Rollie and Pat saw Henderson significantly slowed while Chung became untracked) All ranting aside, the positives on the season have far outweighed the negatives. Nicol is the first Revs manager I have faith in, and I really feel he can fix any tactical problems as opposed to creating more.
I was struck in the USMNT video how Bruce started off with his 'first' speech, including 'first foul'. A statement on the aggressiveness that he wanted from the team....sounded like we didn't have that. The boxscore indicates we had 6 to Colorado's 18! The next lowest of all the games played on Saturday was 13, over twice our total and we were down 3-0! Sounds like a lack of commitment to the game...ouch. Not an explanation I would have expected from the Revs.
Hmm- watched this one on tape delay last night and it was god-awful. The only highlights for me were Adin continuing to look super and Jason Moore running the length of the field in the 92nd minute to cut off another sure goal. Something we sure could have used more of as I lost track of how many times our guys most noticeablely Cullen dropped off guys and let them run. Happy belated birthday day Country Boy Ralston!
1. Kamler will never be fully appreciated for the commitment to 2-way soccer that he brings (although I'm sure Franchino understands). 2. To have 1 defender caught by a through ball happens, but when Franchino and Heaps are BOTH caught ten yards behind the men on the same break, you wonder what's going on. 3. Marking back supreme Pierce got caught standing around the goal area on goal #2 instead of finding Spencer. 4. Joseph clearly didn't have his legs for the first half and that really hurt as it seemed he was playing behind Cullen. Virtually all of the best chances came from pressure by the forwards, who then layed the ball back to unmarked trailing midfielders. 5. The beating was made worse by the Revs opening up to try and claw themselves back. They could have settled for a less embarassing 2-1 or 2-0 loss, but what good would that have been. 6. JMM is showing NOTHING. 7. The layoff was a big factor IMO. When a coach gives extra time off to his team, there's usually the implicit message that the players should convince him that it was the right thing to do. I don't think the Revs players should be expecting any 5 day breaks any time soon! 8. DH was a significant improvement, but the Revs are really not good at all at coming from behind. 9. The whole team looked flat, they clearly looked very disjointed, not the cohesive unit they need to be to compete. There's a thin line with this team playing like a champion and playing like Saturday. 10. It would have been nice to see SOMEBODY knock Carrieri on his butt at least once!
Did not see the game... so I don't know this... but did our goon (Rusty) not foul anyone, or loose his temper?
Nobody fouled anyone. Adin got run into twice by Rapids forwards. Revs forwards were repeatedly knock down from behind (which led to the first goal BTW). Rapids midfielders made repeated hard (and fair for the most part) challenges. Carreieri scored a nice goal then talked trash incessantly to everyone who would listen - as well as many who wouldn't. Nobody fouled. Nobody got mad. The team just took the beating like obedient schoolboys - even when Colorado was up by three goals and trying to pile on more. That might have been the most infuriating thing of all.