Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Fire End The Revolution


They needed six points from their final two matches, and then some help, to make it to the playoffs, a place where anything can happen. Alas, as Gil Scott-Heron put it, "The revolution will not be televised." Montreal drew with Toronto, meaning a loss could help the Revs. Orlando took care of their end of the deal, beating Philly 2-0. New England trailed the Union by three points for the final playoff spot, so a win would have brought them level with one match left.

But none of that matters anymore. The Revolution have been eliminated from the 2016 MLS Cup playoff race. Not mathematically, of course. They can sneak in if they win and Philly loses. Oh, and they have to win in a way that erases the 13 goal differential (Philly is -1 in GD, NE is -13 [!!!!]). So realistically, they are finished. Not just done, but finished, folks.

Being that there are still two blogs to write for this team in this season with one game and a wrap-up to go, I' going to try my best to keep to this game. And I didn't get to watch the game, nor do I really want to write this because of my disappointment, hence the lengthy delay between final whistle and now. Again, I'll try and save that for the post-mortem. And this is my first time seeing any of the highlights. Let's go...


Jesus Christ. What in the absolute FUCK is that defending? How do you let that happen as a professional soccer team? In my mind, that's JoGo's man. Woodberry can also be at fault but I think his priority is the man on the back post. Farrell out on the ball, Caldwell takes the initial passer. It doesn't help that Watson tripped and left a runner open, putting JoGO out to dry a little, but take the man closer to the net and trust your keeper to make a save if that ball gets pulled back to the open man at the edge of the box.

This would be a lot funnier if we were good...

HAHAHAH this defense is TOP comedy. Just absolutely emasculated and only saved further embarrassment by Big Balls Brad.


Maybe a perfect microcosm of the Revs season? Somehow capitalize in a shitshow to make you think you're still in it.

Take the defense, except maybe Farrell and Tierney, out back and end this all.

And that was all she wrote. This was peak New England defense for the year. About as bad as I have ever seen it. We were just lucky Chicago isn't good, or else they may have dropped a 10-piece on our heads.

As for the final game of the year, the Revs are saying it's for the fans. It's apparently going to be a crowd nearing 40,000, compared to the season average of about 19,000, and would be close to the franchise attendance record of 42,947 set in last years home finale against Montreal. And make no mistake about it, the team wants to win desperately for its home crowd. They want to prove they'll still fight until there are no more games left to play. They want to inspire hope for next year (I am trying so hard to refrain from making a joke here).

For those in attendance, Jay Heaps is expecting to trot out a near-first string lineup, indicating one or two changes on match day. Watson and Femi have both been ruled out already with injuries, and Tierney is questionable. I'm very much torn about the lineup. On one hand, you do want to give the fans a good show, and not playing stars like Lee or Kei feels wrong in that situation. But on the other hand, there is no postseason to fight for, so why not give a few guys a chance to make an impression heading into the offseason? Why not let Jordan McCrary play in place of Tierney? Why not let Cody Cropper, who was given the #1 jersey, get a game in before the expansion draft, of which he is a candidate to go to either Atlanta or Minnesota as he has personal ties to each locale. He may even show you something that prompts you to protect him from the draft. Let Zach Herivaux, who for all intents and purposes should be one of the bright futures in this club, play in front of the Revolution faithful? It's tough to decide.You have guys like Kei and Gershon Koffie who may not be back after this game either, so do you try and get your money's worth? Do you reward Brad by letting him finish what may be his breakout season instead of putting him on the bench? Heaps may already know his plan,  but i have a feeling it's giving him some trouble to nail down.

What I would go with:


On my bench: Cropper, Barnes, Daigo, Koffie, Herivaux, Teal, Smith Keep the attack the same. Put McCrary in for Tierney. Sub Koffie for Caldwell, especially if Scott is getting bodied out there. Teal can sub in for Kei at some point. And depending on how the game is going, Daigo (if leading) or Zach (if losing) for any of the three midfield roles sans Scott/Koffie.

Man of the Match
Diego scored the goal, he gets the honors.

Like I said before, only one game left. 4 PM on Sunday (problematic with the Patriots playing at 415 in Pittsburgh). One last time, let's have it.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)