New England Revolution

[IcyPatriot]

Went to the Revolution vs fire game last night. Had comp tickets from my son going to a Revolution soccer camp. They are awful - really awful. A few good players on a team that cannot finish. Shalrie Joseph has to be the laziest midfielder in the league. He either plays the balls he can get to or he dives if it turns out to be a 50/50 ball.

They were neither winning nor losing the midfield but they play long ball over the top anyways which is so boring. Kids going to the game are not learning too much - many of them disinterested because they are learning more about ball movement on their youth teams than they are seeing here.

Bob Kraft - what are you doing here. This team is not in the Patriots mold ... not even close. This club does not represent properly at all - time to clean house. You want to fill the seats a bit better Bob then hire a coach who will mold you an exciting team that knows how to move and possess the ball. People go to games seeking entertainment - that is just horrible and boring to watch - not going back unless I get more free tickets.

:enranged::enranged::enranged::enranged::enranged::enranged::enranged:

 

[Angry Man]

I will agree that there needs to be major change to the Revolution. Steve Nicol just isn't the person who should be head coach at this point as the team will continue to flounder with him at the helm. Joseph can be good when he's got the likes of Taylor Twellman and Clint Dempsey around him but sadly Twellman is now retired (concussion) and I just can't see Dempsey leaving Fulham to return to an struggling Revolution team. Plus honestly I'm not fully sold on Benny Feilhaber at this point as he's been inconsistent so far. That might be why both Chivas USA and the Philadelphia Union both passed on picking him up.

 

[Patsrock]

Hey guys I am Revs STH and we in the supporters section The Fort had major problems Saturday Night. 12 fans arrested for say the f word and a lot kicked out.

Here is a summary of what happened

The Drug Is Football: Fortgate

 

[IcyPatriot]

Hey guys I am Revs STH and we in the supporters section The Fort had major problems Saturday Night. 12 fans arrested for say the f word and a lot kicked out.

Here is a summary of what happened

The Drug Is Football: Fortgate

I'm not a regular ... but I noticed you guys and I was like give these guys credit, the game is not that exciting but without them this place would be dead. Then I noticed the box empty and the silence and the game was real boring from there except for a few scoring chances.

On the way out of the lot we were on route 1 for about 1/3 mile when we saw 4 police cars screaming towards the stadium. they turned into one of the lots near the stadium and i was like someone getting arrested from that boring game - no way.

In any case ... nice job and great spirit :rocker: in there ... without you guys those games would really suck with this current team IMO. My son is in the 5th grade and they hear that and more at the public schools. He was at the Spain USA game and witnessed all the drunk, slobbering and swearing fans - except for a fight near us I did not see anyone get ejected for that one.

EDIT: Was that you guys at the Spain game sitting in that section? If it was we videoed you going through the tunnel singing ... across the street ... that was great ... my 11 year old loved it.

EDIT-2 ... That game all the kids from the Revolution soccer camps got free tickets (like me). So I guess they figured put on a clean show and get more families in there to come back???

 

[Angry Man]

So that's why suddenly the infamous "YSA" chants were lacking during the second half. Very "classy" by security and the team in general to start treating the supporter groups like that after years of allowing said chants.

 

[Calciumee]

MLS is awful!

We had a MLS highlights show when David Beckham first moved to the LA Galaxy, but it didn't even last the season!

Terrible quality football!

 

[IcyPatriot]

MLS is awful!

We had a MLS highlights show when David Beckham first moved to the LA Galaxy, but it didn't even last the season!

Terrible quality football!

When that league came out I said they should have teams consisting of aging world players mixed with local USA talent. But they had that stupid Americans on the roster rule - I forget the number.

I said at the time for the Revolution give me 1 player from Italy, France, UK, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal- etc ... people would go to see that. Instead they expect people to buy tickets to see these horrible college kids who play long ball.

I have coached U-10 and U12 boys that have played give and go and moving triangles soccer. Kids that will start the game 4-4-2 and switch to 4-5-1 and 3-4-3 as needed during a game. Exciting soccer for kids - then they watch boring MLS style soccer .... booooooo.

Also - let the coaches sub players in and out so they won't fake injuries to catch their breath. No need to emulated FIFA rules when you cannot even play legitimate FIFA soccer. It's something else - not really soccer. Do any of our better Team USA players play in the MLS?

 

[bigcountry75]

When that league came out I said they should have teams consisting of aging world players mixed with local USA talent. But they had that stupid Americans on the roster rule - I forget the number.

I said at the time for the Revolution give me 1 player from Italy, France, UK, Brazil, Argentina, Portugal- etc ... people would go to see that. Instead they expect people to buy tickets to see these horrible college kids who play long ball.

I have coached U-10 and U12 boys that have played give and go and moving triangles soccer. Kids that will start the game 4-4-2 and switch to 4-5-1 and 3-4-3 as needed during a game. Exciting soccer for kids - then they watch boring MLS style soccer .... booooooo.

Also - let the coaches sub players in and out so they won't fake injuries to catch their breath. No need to emulated FIFA rules when you cannot even play legitimate FIFA soccer. It's something else - not really soccer. Do any of our better Team USA players play in the MLS?

Landon Donovan Says HI!!!!

Anyways I get sick of watching this soccer as well....My dad played soccer for 15 years in Argentina and 13 years in the U.S. and he says this soccer is garbage and the faking injuries is pitiful.....We came up with a good solution and that is if you go down hurt then you have to come out of the game for 5 minutes.....If you are really hurt then you will be out of the game for anywhere from 3-5 minutes anyways so this will prevent players from faking injuries to catch their breath or waste time.....

 

[Calciumee]

legitimate FIFA

Can't say they are words I expect to see together!

 

[Scouse Patriot]

MLS will always continue to struggle until soccer becomes mainstream in the US. American soccer will simply lose talent to the main sports and the kids who choose soccer, to Europe at some point.

 

[IcyPatriot]

MLS will always continue to struggle until soccer becomes mainstream in the US. American soccer will simply lose talent to the main sports and the kids who choose soccer, to Europe at some point.

Yes ... and the kicker is for Team USA to get better we need them to be playing in better leagues overseas which is ironic ...

 

[Angry Man]

What a difference two years makes. 2013 has brought us one of the best teams defensively in the MLS and an offense that's only getting better every game. Young talent such as Diego ***undez, Saer Sene, and Lee Nguyen are leading such a great charge and getting Juan Agudelo is going to really help. The first round pick of Andrew Farrell has brought some speed to the defense. And I'm very happy to see Chad Barrett on the Revs always liked him during his time with the LA Galaxy (along with Toronto FC and Chicago Fire).

Oh and there's some up and coming goalie who's proven me wrong. Think he name is Bobby Shuttleworth. A year ago I didn't think much of him but he's really earning respect from me this season. I feel at this point our Revs will make a great push to the playoffs. MLS Cup chances? Maybe but we'll see. I just like our odds this year. I really do.

 

[CelticPatriot]

Juan Agudelo is supposedly quite highly rated, was over in Scotland training with Celtic for a while (and with West Ham in England I think).

Think the main issue with the MLS is that the potential fans in the US are used to having the best of the best playing in America. In the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB the best players in the world all play in America. Whereas with "soccer" the best players play in Europe and that will never change. You may get the odd top player near the end of the career coming to America for a big payday (Beckham being the best example) or some decent younger players looking to kickstart their career....but 99% of players don't want to play in America. The sooner the fans realise and accept this, the sooner the MLS will improve and the chances of seeing top class players will increase.

Also think that it would help significantly if America managed to host another World Cup. People would get to see the best players playing in competitive games at the top level.

 

[Angry Man]

I certainly agree with you. MLS will never overtake the likes of the NFL but the league will certainly have its niche in sports and will certainly keep becoming bigger. Of course what's hurting the league right now is several things:

1 - Bad officiating. The game between Sporting Kansas City at Real Salt Lake is a prime example of this. Especially at the end with the no second yellow card aka red card call on Aurélien Collin when he knocked down one of RSL's players (forgot who) right in front of the ref. The Revs recent game against Houston also comes to mind with some bad officiating including several potential penalty kicks that the refs didn't call.

2 - Ownership. While there's some great owners in MLS such as Seattle, Portland, and Kansas City for instance... then you got Robert Kraft who while I love and respect as one of the best NFL team owners (Patriots) I just wish he wasn't invisible with the Revs. I mean how many years has the whole soccer specific stadium talk has been going on with it never going anywhere other than being brought up right around the starting time of selling season ticket packages?

3 - Some kind of news/highlight program on TV. While there is a few documentary type shows that air on NBC Sports (MLS 36 and MLS Insider) the lack of a news/highlight program really doesn't help much. Yeah occasionally you'll see something pop up on Sport Centers Top 10 of the day but you never see actual game highlights and the like on there. Even if MLS had say a weekly one hour show on say Sunday night or Mondy night or whatever that breaks down the week in the league that's better than nothing. MLS did a series like that a few years ago on YouTube which was great and helped me follow every game that happened during the week.

I'm sure there are other things I could think of but I need to get some sleep.

 

[CelticPatriot]

Juan Agudelo from the Revs signed a pre contract with Stoke.

Anyway, the Champions League group stage draw is today. Good draw please Celtic.

 

[Angry Man]

Juan Agudelo from the Revs signed a pre contract with Stoke.

Reportedly Stoke is trying to pay off the Revs (and MLS) to get him now instead of waiting for the MLS season to end. 7 figure numbers is the last I heard. Revs aren't willing to go through with the deal given the team is still in the playoff hunt. As of typing this 5th place in the East which if the season ended right now we'd be in the playoffs and would play in a 1 and done game against the 4th place team in the MLS Eastern Conference which right now is... Philadelphia Union.

Of course this can all chance depending on what happens with today's games. We got...

Houston vs New York (Unimas, 5 PM EST)- Houston is technically tied with our Revs for 5th place but the Revs win 5th place due to goal differential. Houston to be honest has been on a very weird-ish streak of games lately where either they dominate and play well (beating both Columbus and Seattle 3-1 each) or they crumble badly (losing to Montreal 0-5). Meanwhile you have a New York team that with a win can tie for first place with Kansas City. New York hasn't had the most prettiest soccer lately either with a 0-2 loss to Columbus but they are in a better position right now compared to Houston. Ultimately I feel that New York might pull off a 2-1 win.

New England vs Montreal (CSN New England/Direct Kick/MLS Live, 7:30 PM EST)- I feel that it all depends on which Revs team goes on the field against Montreal that will determine things. If we end up with the lethargic one that walked out of BMO Field against Toronto in a 1-1 draw then it'll be a very long 90 minutes. If we get the one that scored 4 goals in roughly 10 minutes against Philadelphia a few weeks ago then we got a great chance of beating Montreal. Montreal while they are a tough team they are also beatable. If a horrible already out of the playoff run two months ago DC United can beat Montreal then surely a far superior Revs team can beat Montreal too. My heart says 3-1 win for our Revs.

San Jose vs Philadelphia (ESPN2, 11 PM EST) - This is by far the biggest must win game for the struggling San Jose Earthquakes this season. If they lose this then they are pretty much out of the playoff picture barring some kind of miracle. Meanwhile we got Philadelphia barely hanging onto the 4th place spot in the Eastern Conference. Both teams has been on a bit of a struggle to get wins lately including San Jose getting annihilated by the Landon Donovan freak show I mean LA Galaxy last week. I feel that San Jose is wanting to make this a statement game. I got San Jose winning 4-1.

There's also some game between Chivas USA vs DC United (Direct Kick/MLS Live, 9 PM EST). Best summary on that game... yeah... it's the two worst teams in the league. Even if both teams have pulled off some kind of upset win lately they are both pretty tough to watch. With that said I think anyone daring to watch this one will find themselves in for a 1-1 draw.

 

[Angry Man]

I think it's best I never write MLS predictions ever again here.

 

[meatface]

Im by no means an expert but I think that the biggest obstacle for the MLS is probably going to be that networks are showing more Premier league games and American soccer fans are going to watch the better quality soccer over MLS.

 

[IcyPatriot]

Im by no means an expert but I think that the biggest obstacle for the MLS is probably going to be that networks are showing more Premier league games and American soccer fans are going to watch the better quality soccer over MLS.

when MLS started they really shot themselves in the foot with that foreign player per team limit which they later modified. I said then and I still say it now ... MLS should be a combination of young homegrown stars ... which the academies are starting to develop ... and older well known veterans to bring in the fans.

Just speaking for the Revolution I would try to have at least 3 older stars from other countries who may have a year or 2 left in them on each team ... like when Valderama was here and Henry also and there are others. these mediocre college players suck ... but they are cheap to pay ... that strategy is a loser for the league as they are more interested in saving money than filling stands.

 

[meatface]

when MLS started they really shot themselves in the foot with that foreign player per team limit which they later modified. I said then and I still say it now ... MLS should be a combination of young homegrown stars ... which the academies are starting to develop ... and older well known veterans to bring in the fans.

Just speaking for the Revolution I would try to have at least 3 older stars from other countries who may have a year or 2 left in them on each team ... like when Valderama was here and Henry also and there are others. these mediocre college players suck ... but they are cheap to pay ... that strategy is a loser for the league as they are more interested in saving money than filling stands.

did they possibly miss their foot and still fall to teh ground clutching it in agony in hopes that other sports would get a red card?