Unrelated thoughts: I thought it was appropriate to take Noonan out. It was pretty clear to me that he wasn't going to be successful against a KC defense that had two men marking him most of the time. Noonan can beat one man with his cut back/stepover mojo, but not two. The reliance on the ariel balls was really frustrating, not only because of the wind, but KC have some big guys back there. Pepe did pretty well, but looked a little rusty. Face it: it didn't take much last night to show well. Dorman was AWFUL. Lochead or Leonard better get it together, because we need James Reilly on the right side if Ralston isn't back in two weeks. I thought (contrary to another poster) that Hernandez played very well. I think he's better than Zavagnin - don't know why he never gets a look. Davey Arnaud is a pissant. I've thought so for years, and now I'm sayin' it!
As much as I (and most others) hate Landycakes ... what a great ball he put in at the end. Give him a chance when it matters, and he will come through pretty often. We haven't had anyone who has done that in a long time. We have a lot of good players on our team ... but arguably not one great one, ie someone that can and does change the course of a game when his team desperately needs him. Maybe Reis...
IMO, Twellman was that player last year. This year I'd settle for one good offensive player. I don't think any of them have even looked good in a game yet this year. Luckily the defense has played well and/or the other teams offenses are just as inept.
Was it just me, or did it seem like the Revs forgot their cleats? How many times did they fall down with no one around them? I hate diving, but our guys need to learn how to fall down. Dempsey gets mugged in the box, but because he kept his feet, no call. I saw 2 PKs yesterday, one for Columbus and one for KC, that were far less serious than what Dempsey suffered. This team needs some home cooking. (No Bermuda jokes, please)
NO THEY DON'T. That's not how the game is played. The refs need to learn to recognize that Dempsey (and others) are getting fouled and call it.
I have to say I agree with this. We won, IMHO, with integrity last year, we earned our wins. We didn't have to get cheap calls to do it. I don't want to see our team win 1-0 with a cheap ass PK call, I'd rather see us win 1-0 having earned it. That's just my personal opinion of course.
I have no idea how I missed that post. Agreed with rkane, that post was dead on. That's one of the reasons I've always laughed when our fans refer to the Revs as a great team. We're a good team that's won nothing. And even though we have a chance to win 3/4 trophies each year, many only care about one ... and well ... the record speaks for itself.
After the early DCU era of MLS, not too many of the eventual champions looked any more like title contenders than we did in the past three years come playoff time. Fortunantly, above average right now gets us into the playoffs. From there, it all depends on form and who the heck knows what the team will look like then. MLS rewards the losers. So in a way, the recent run of success these last few years has hurt us in the present.
I was wondering the same thing... There was one clear time when taylor was in the middle of the field--no player or ball in site, and just tripped over his own feet. I'm going to stay positive. I had fun watching the game. Things I liked: the cat matt reis' peter parker reflexes shalrie joseph: fear instiller Noonan's yellow card (he's so hard core sometimes) Cranston's back! Greg Lalas' Time Wakefield reference one thing that does bother me though is the REVs playback thing they do on the WB during games... A lot of times they would do it during an important play so you missed what was going on during the game. Did this bother anyone else? Maybe I just need a bigger TV...
Yeah, I rely on the refs for nothing. they are just as likely to miss an obvious call as they are to make it. you just have to play. they are really good for nothing
for those about to hit the panic button again. 4 points out of 3 games is ahead of the plan. they were a flukey goal away from undefeated. all three games the revs were in because of the defense. the attack and midfield was awful - and has been in all 3 games. Hernandez played well, but more like a back than a mid - call it a 4-3-3, not a 352 or 343. cancela is not a difference maker. the cat was more dangerous on the field. I really don't like to see noonan comming off the field. ever. my theory is that Nicol is erring on the side of defense first, and putting in a true left back at left mid, to keep the team from taking another goal, and putting all his eggs in the twellman/dempsey basket. sorry, the easter bunny didn't make it this game. dorman was the only one trying to provide service, but his passes and crosses were awful. you don't get points for trying. shalrie was awful with the ball. so in the end, not a bad road trip points wise, and they were formidable (at least in the game solidly) against two top teams in KC & LA in thier houses. ball bounces right in one game, wrong in the other. if they can't win at home, then we are not on plan.
Man, that game was total pants (English Slang). Next time we defend a set piece/cross, we should some on the post who is over 6ft tall. It could of been worse for me, at least I didn't actually go to the game. The cat did have a good game. Oh well, I think its time to go back to the 3-5-2 formation. END OF RANT Cheers Steve
My fear (before the season started was the opposite) Heaps is older, the left is questionable. Parkhurst is the man, but he's only 1 man. On paper we're all offense. the reality is opposite. who would have thought? this is a terriffic post above , 3 on the road 4 out of 9 points isn't aweful..... ....If you win your home games. and here is the big question. what happens between now and when the wc squad disappears. this post almost made me change my mind (it is really well written) but with 3-4 going to the world cup no signs of life up front..... I am ready to hit the panic button. Big time! Unless someone can tell me where the goals are going to come from. I think our prospects on offense look to get worse before they get better. I think we need a patch badly. I keep telling myself, it's only week 2, it's only week 3, what happens when we drop our home opener? and then 2 weeks later we lose our wc squad. When is it ok to panic. as soon as someone give me the ok, I'm panicing. (in my defense, I admittedly tend to be more emotional and gut than rational, but) dorman, khano, pepe and who, maybe simms don't exactly look like the guys to get it done. I am worried. thank god for the crew and NY,
this game was aweful,,,,would Ralston have made a difference? probably but everyone except for Reis and Parkhurst looked like crap. marshal was terrible,,,dorman inconsistant........Cancela had a few moments and maybe earned him a few extra minutes down the road. Problem I see is that this team may have young talent, but that talent is not ready and will not be ready if 3 revs go to the WC or if someone gets hurt. I think someone mentioned this before in this thread or another but Cornell Glenn might have been a good pick up for this team. They certainly could use his pace to keep defenders honest
i don't know about that. he BLEW a few one-on-one opportunites and generally sucked, untill he was gifted 2 goals against chivas. he was painful to watch. pathetic. on second thought, he sounds like twellman these past three games, except for the goals. anyone else take as much pleasure as i did seeing chivas lose in the last 5 minutes, with bob 'i love to hate you you arrogant prick' bradley, raz (jerk)off, jesse "the hack" marsch, brad "gomer pyle" guzan, the dude that punched hartman in the balls... it was wierd, because i was hoping a comet would crash into the home depot center and destroy both teams, as i hate steve sampson and the galaxy alot too.
Ahead of plan by what measure? Win at home, tie on the road? You are right to say we don't have to hit the panic button yet but can we at least be dissappointed that a team built on "continuity" looks so out of synch on the offensive half of its game? Can we be concerned that our left side, weak for several years, still seems unimproved? Can we be concerned that our right side key player keeps breaking down physically and, when playing, can't seem to get around people to make a cross? I think it is at least fair to say that the REVS need to work on some serious solutions to their offensive play. Ignoring the WC for a moment, I think it is also fair to say that those solutions will have to come from the regular starters because there is no depth. Admitting there is a WC... well, whose going to play? Maybe it will all solve itself and they will go on a run of a dozen wins. But they haven't looked particularly dominating. So I hope that SN is at least concerned if not panicked.
thats the ticket. yes, yes, yes and yes. dissapointed, and concerned. but not paniced. its not like they were blown out by 2 or 3 at home three times in a row.
bad attitude. besides, you'd have to show me a team that could break down our defence and blow it open. it could happen, but it would be out of character. as inconsistant as the revs have been offensivly in the past year and this year so far, in general, the constant has been defense.
The D has looked strong in general. We might think less of them this last game if Matt Reis hadn't stopped a PK and also made a diving left handed save... If we could generate a goal per game we'd probably be okay. Once in 270 minutes and only from a set piece... Anyway, some offensive potency would take some pressure of a D that currently needs to be perfect.