Sunday, August 7, 2016

Sebastian Giovinco Declares Prima Nocta As Toronto Routs The Revs 4-1


I don't want to write this. I really don't. The New England Revolution are bad. No other ay to put it. I thought they were maybe just a good team that had bad flashes, but its very apparent now that they are a bad, bad team that can show flashes of brilliance. There's no excuses either. Look at the talent on this roster at every level! Save for goalie, there are potential All-Stars. Kei Kamara, Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe, Diego Fagundez, Scott Caldwell, Gershon Koffie, Je-Vaugh Watson, Chris Tierney, Andrew Farrell, hell even Jose Goncalves! These aren't no-name players. Those are former All-Stars, defenders of the year, national team players, and team MVPs. They can't put it together though. The Revs only held 43% possession total last night. Forty three percent. Shots on target were 7-3 in favor of Toronto. I know the defense is putrid but Jesus Christ, SEVEN shots ON TARGET? They had just under 50% of their shots on frame! That's insanity! Let's do highlights before we go on...

Giovinco Goal #1


Giovenco Goal #2

Giovenco Goal #3

The Penalty Call


And he puts it home...


Theres nothing this man cannot do...



Bunbury with a nice finish to cut it to 3-1...


Never mind...

Not saying a foul call here (really on either man) could have stopped the bleeding early on but I'm just saying, hmmmm...

Bobby's one highlight of the day...




I'm not saying blow it up now, but I'm also not saying don't blow it up now. This squad goes through stretched where every player looks like they've forgotten to play the sport of soccer. That shouldn't happen with any professional team, but the fact these players go through it more than once a season is troublesome.  Lee has seemingly been figured out by the opposition this season, and for whatever reason the coaching staff just keeps banging their heads against the wall instead of coming up with a solution. Like I've said before, when he's taken out of a game the Revs have ZERO creativity, and you cant win without creativity. We have mental lapses, especially on defense.

And perhaps the root of all our issues is in the coach. I love Jay Heaps. Love him. I love the fire he brings. I love that he loves this team, one he spent eight years with as a player. He is third all-time in caps for the Revolution. But after five years, we seemed to have peaked with a MLS Cup Finals loss two seasons ago. There's no tactical changes or adaption. There are possible signs the locker room is lost as well, as mentioned by Reddit user RichardFr510 (check his posts near the bottom). Heaps obviously has a temper, which made him a great defender. But is that the right mindset to have as a coach? I know I said I love his fire, but there's a limit. At some point as a leader you have to maintain a somewhat cool head in order to make good decisions. There doesnt seem to be a lot of cohesion, as RichardFr510 pointed out as well. Only one player congratulating Kei on a recent goal, Tierney shaking his head throughout his halftime interview, Kei and Lee walking on the pitch a lot more as of late. what's happening behind closed doors and on the training field that we aren't seeing that is causing not only our poor play but the lack of unity that seems to be festering? You need your players to get past whatever ill will they felt towards your top 3, if not best, player when he was a rival.

We need new blood, and not just on the coaching side. The front office just keeps doing nothing about our putrid defense. We were supposed to get a better player as an AJ Soares replacement. That was two years ago. This year we were hoping to just get Soares back, and couldn't even do that. We need better goalies, we need proven defenders. Splash the cash you got from trading Davies. Light a fire, get new motivation. Once Heaps loses the locker room for good, and he very well may have already done so, you need to cut bait ASAP. Sigi Schmid is still available for hire. So is Adrian Heath, though that would probably take some time for bad feeling between him and the players ton pass as well.

Man of the Match
No one from the Revolution.

Next game is the USOC match against Chicago on Tuesday, and by God we better move on in that competition. The last shred of a successful season we have left. Next league game is August 13 at home against Philly in Charlie Davies return match. 730 PM start, and the last game of TAILGATE SZN. Hoping its a good one.


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Thursday, August 4, 2016

Revs Trade Charlie Davies To Philly, And Other Revs Thoughts

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution have agreed to trade forward Charlie Davies to the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday. Since the New England native joined the club in August 2013, Charlie has been a leader both on and off the field and an inspiration to the Revolution family. The club wishes Charlie, his wife Nina, and their two boys, Rhys and Dakota, all the best in the next phase of their journey in Philadelphia.

 Big, big news out of Gillette today as the Revs sent CD9 to the Union. Got a 1st round pick and money back for the striker. Looking at this move with zero emotion, its probably the right move. We are loaded up front with an aging superstar (Kei Kamara) and two young guns with their primes ahead of them (Femi and Juan). Even if Kamara leaves after this year, Juan and Femi should be able to carry the striker duties between them. Could also throw Teal up top like we did in the preseason. Charlie was the odd man out in this situation, especially given the fact he just returned to action this past weekend.

 That's where we get into the emotional part of this move. There's nobody easier to root for that Charlie Davies. Premier talent in his younger days who nearly died in a car accident that took away years of his career and inches off one leg. Fights back to get back into the league, plays well and wants to get another shot at the national squad. This year has his twin boys born very premature, and thankfully they both pulled through all the medical scares and are healthy now. He was out of action since April 27 with what we all thought was a lingering groin injury. Setback after setback in his recovery. Turns out the dude was being treated for goddam cancer. CANCER! This guy cannot catch a break. 

 You want this guy to stay on the team he's been with for 3 years, his hometown squad, and beat all this adversity. But in the end, he needed a place where he could be a first-choice striker in order to accomplish that. He can do it in Philly. Revs GM Michael Burns said this trade would not happen without the blessing of Davies and his family either. He knew he had to leave to fulfill his potential. Maybe a fresh start can finally get karma on his side. Interestingly enough, Philly also just signed USMNT midfielder Alejandro Bedoya from Nantes. Bedoya and Davies were teammates at Boston College and close friends, which makes me think if Bedoya wasn't going to Philadelphia, neither was Davies. 

 Davies makes his return to Foxboro on August 13, and the plan is for me to be there as the last game of TAILGATE SZN. Looking forward to cheering him on. And if you haven't done so yet, check out these features on him.

Onto other Revs news...

This team. This goddamn team. Thrilling 1-0 win thanks to Je-Vaughn Watson in the 85th minute against Chicago, and they follow it up with an absolute dud 3-1 loss to Orlando the next week. Give up three unanswered goals to take a massive L. Luckily the Eastern Conference is absolute booty so we aren't out of the playoff picture just yet. But other teams have finally figured out the winning formula against us. Put Lee Nguyen and Kelyn Rowe in the broom closet and you take away the engine of the attack. After that its just a matter of time before you break our putrid defense. Our goalies stink. Our defenders are either mediocre or inconsistent. Its like we cant adapt our play style in-game. If its not happening in the first half, it aint gonna start in the second half. There are games we look brilliant and then a week later we cant string two passes together. Absolutely maddening. And for the love of God can we stop starting Teal Bunbury. He's so out of form right now. Let Diego get some playing time opposite Kelyn and let the young guys do work. And try as we may, Tierney's crosses just cant find the head of Kei Kamara. This needs to all come together at the perfect time if we want to make any type of push. 
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