Revolution Postmatch

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So. Much. Rubber
Looks like a fighting game's SFX.
 
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Super Frank was third lowest on team in touches behind Tmac, who was subbed off 15 minutes before him, and Jack Jack. ZERO tackles, interceptions, clearances or blocks. 66% of his goals this year could have been scored by the yellow practice dummies, one off his hand, one off his weiner.

Just can't understand the love for this guy
There's no stat that encapsulates astute defensive positioning that shuts down passing lanes, or astute offensive positioning that opens up space for others.

It is surprising to me that people consistently underestimate how much his positioning and spatial awareness contributes to his (stellar) goal scoring record. Keep your eyes trained on him. His head is on a swivel. It's one of the things that separates the standouts from the ball watchers at every level of the game.

Having said that, he totally lost Bunberry on one of the Revs' more obvious chances :)
 
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This graphic is not accurate - I specifically remember at least 2 interceptions he had, and the commentators made mention of them.

I've often wondered how reliable the MLS stat tracker really is, because in the run of play, how the hell is the IT/Stats intern able to keep up with who has the ball, where on the field they are, where the pass goes & how far, etc. I'd wager that a majority of the stats are Wild Ass Guesses that nobody will go back and check.
I wanted to point out a few of those defensive contributions too, but couldn't back it up with video. They don't quite count as interceptions or tackles, but a couple of times he made a step from behind a receiving Revs player who wasn't awake to his defensive position.
 
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I'm sorry to see Shelton kinda suck once he gets the ball. I like the kid and I think PV does too. He's just not soccer savvy, yet. Mendoza is just slightly better. T-Mac does his job well, but it sure would be nice if he was faster. If we had another scoring threat, we could make a real strong run. I still would love to see Villa at LW, Harrison at RW and big body in the box.

That first half, our attacking flow looked like a different level from what I've seen in MLS. It keeps getting better too. We could have a very dangerous team here.
 
There's no stat that encapsulates astute defensive positioning that shuts down passing lanes, or astute offensive positioning that opens up space for others.

It is surprising to me that people consistently underestimate how much his positioning and spatial awareness contributes to his (stellar) goal scoring record. Keep your eyes trained on him. His head is on a swivel. It's one of the things that separates the standouts from the ball watchers at every level of the game.

Having said that, he totally lost Bunberry on one of the Revs' more obvious chances :)
That stat is called we didn't move the ball through our midfield and they did.
 
Super Frank moves well in the box and he has an amazing nose (or knee or wrist) for the goal.

However, when we are moving the ball forward he is a huge concern. His go to move is to tap the ball back to Andoni or a CB. He appears too slow and his passing skills too degraded too get the ball cleanly forward to the front line.

We are going to have problems when we are down after '60. We are getting good at parking the bus (sub Hernardez for TMac), but there's are going to be times when we can't score and we don't have anyone to bring in to fix.

My son an I were in section 108 at Foxboro. Great seats. Great sight lines. We were in the middle of a bunch of revs season ticket holders. I couldn't believe how many were chatting the whole match or on their phones. How many didn't care when Frank scored. Bob Kraft says they need a smaller fuller stadium to get people to care about the matches. Lucky for us we get to play teams like this and Seattle during times when they just can't get the ball on or in the net.
 
Did we discuss TMac in this thread yet? I skipped some posts.

His 7th assist of the season. I think he's such a clever player. What he lacks in pace, he more than makes up for with on the ball skill and awareness.
Don't get ahead of him yet - 6 assists tied with Pirlo.
 
Did we discuss TMac in this thread yet? I skipped some posts.

His 7th assist of the season. I think he's such a clever player. What he lacks in pace, he more than makes up for with on the ball skill and awareness.

Still, this is a fair point. His patience on the ball to get that pass in was first class. A lot of players would have rushed a pass or tried to dribble in. He took his time and picked out the right target. It was also a great run to anticipate the over the top ball from Pirlo.
 
Still, this is a fair point. His patience on the ball to get that pass in was first class. A lot of players would have rushed a pass or tried to dribble in. He took his time and picked out the right target. It was also a great run to anticipate the over the top ball from Pirlo.
TMac's instincts, awareness and knack for getting to the right spot are so good it's almost like he's more the Fat Lampard than Fat Messi, except Lampard already is the Fat Frank.:D

TBF, when you put Lampard next to TMac calling him "Fat Frank" seems a bit unfair.
 
TMac's instincts, awareness and knack for getting to the right spot are so good it's almost like he's more the Fat Lampard than Fat Messi, except Lampard already is the Fat Frank.:D

TBF, when you put Lampard next to TMac calling him "Fat Frank" seems a bit unfair.

If they are fat then I'm the mom from What's eating Gilbert Grape ...
 
I just rewatched the condensed game:

  • When I was watching live, I thought we were in a different formation than against the Red Bulls for the first 60-70' of the game. NYCFC twitter had our normal 4-3-3/4-1-4-1 formation and lineup but the Revs broadcast had our formation as a 4-2-3-1. Did look like Pirlo and Iraola were playing in a double pivot and Lampard more in the center than he typically is.
  • I thought the man of the match was easily Pirlo. I thought Mata looked good too but some of those balls by Pirlo were absolutely phenomenal.
  • I know Viera wants our wingers to cut inside, but Harrison needs to play the ball to the overlapping man. There are a couple times the last couple of games that he could have given RJ the ball making an overlapping run but chose to cut inside and go against 3-4 defenders.
  • One of the things that I have loved to see is Villa is more willing to pass the ball now rather than jack up forced shots from long distance.
  • Lack of a USL team I think has been really hurting us. We have a couple young guys like Shelton, Martinez, Gomez, Rawls etc. would have been in and out of the 18 who would really be benefiting if they could be temporarily loaned out to our USL team to get playing time. Shelton made a real bad decision off one of our counterattacks, and the only thing that allows players to make better decisions in game is to be playing in games. Not ready to give up on him, but he needs playing time somewhere.
  • I think Mena really showed that he is not a fit for our playing out of the back system and why Viera has been playing alot of Hernandez/White over him. Hopefully, we can transfer him somewhere and sign a CB.
  • Also want to say that we got really luck to get 3 points. Penalty should have been given on the Mena Rowe takedown and NE was very poor at finishing the chances that especially Mena gave them.
 
I just rewatched the condensed game:

  • When I was watching live, I thought we were in a different formation than against the Red Bulls for the first 60-70' of the game. NYCFC twitter had our normal 4-3-3/4-1-4-1 formation and lineup but the Revs broadcast had our formation as a 4-2-3-1. Did look like Pirlo and Iraola were playing in a double pivot and Lampard more in the center than he typically is.
  • I thought the man of the match was easily Pirlo. I thought Mata looked good too but some of those balls by Pirlo were absolutely phenomenal.
  • I know Viera wants our wingers to cut inside, but Harrison needs to play the ball to the overlapping man. There are a couple times the last couple of games that he could have given RJ the ball making an overlapping run but chose to cut inside and go against 3-4 defenders.
  • One of the things that I have loved to see is Villa is more willing to pass the ball now rather than jack up forced shots from long distance.
  • Lack of a USL team I think has been really hurting us. We have a couple young guys like Shelton, Martinez, Gomez, Rawls etc. would have been in and out of the 18 who would really be benefiting if they could be temporarily loaned out to our USL team to get playing time. Shelton made a real bad decision off one of our counterattacks, and the only thing that allows players to make better decisions in game is to be playing in games. Not ready to give up on him, but he needs playing time somewhere.
  • I think Mena really showed that he is not a fit for our playing out of the back system and why Viera has been playing alot of Hernandez/White over him. Hopefully, we can transfer him somewhere and sign a CB.
  • Also want to say that we got really luck to get 3 points. Penalty should have been given on the Mena Rowe takedown and NE was very poor at finishing the chances that especially Mena gave them.
I agree with everything except the comment about Mena. His distribution is usually quite good and he's fantastically calm on the ball (the Colombian in him?). I chalk his problems against the Revs to the crappy turf and he wasn't able to adjust to it - the ball's pace died so quickly for him and everybody, it was like playing on sand.
 
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  • I thought the man of the match was easily Pirlo. I thought Mata looked good too but some of those balls by Pirlo were absolutely phenomenal.
Agreed. I know there has been some discussion on Lampard not deserving MOTM, and I agree. IMO, Pirlo was hands down our best player Wednesday night with Mata behind him.
  • One of the things that I have loved to see is Villa is more willing to pass the ball now rather than jack up forced shots from long distance.
Its fantastic that he now has other options, and guys like Lampard and Harrison who can make dangerous runs. He is much more willing to pass, and its giving him more space to take better shots, like the one he sent off the crossbar.
  • Lack of a USL team I think has been really hurting us. We have a couple young guys like Shelton, Martinez, Gomez, Rawls etc. would have been in and out of the 18 who would really be benefiting if they could be temporarily loaned out to our USL team to get playing time. Shelton made a real bad decision off one of our counterattacks, and the only thing that allows players to make better decisions in game is to be playing in games. Not ready to give up on him, but he needs playing time somewhere.
Yes, Shelton especially could use some good minutes at a USL team. I think this team needs to add a decent veteran winger as depth, because at the moment, we can't afford to send Khiry elsewhere.
 
Lack of a USL team I think has been really hurting us. We have a couple young guys like Shelton, Martinez, Gomez, Rawls etc. would have been in and out of the 18 who would really be benefiting if they could be temporarily loaned out to our USL team to get playing time. Shelton made a real bad decision off one of our counterattacks, and the only thing that allows players to make better decisions in game is to be playing in games. Not ready to give up on him, but he needs playing time somewhere.
Is there a restriction on our ability to temporarily loan players to the Hammerheads?
 
no but its not ideal.

Hammerheads are not under our technical directions. I haven't watched any Hammerheads games but I would imagine they have their own system that is different than ours.

The distance issue is an issue as well. If we had a USL team playing somewhere in the metro area, they would be able to practice with the first team under our technical direction at our training facility. It would also be very easy to give 1 game loans if home games are being playing in the metro area.
 
  • Also want to say that we got really luck to get 3 points. Penalty should have been given on the Mena Rowe takedown and NE was very poor at finishing the chances that especially Mena gave them.

Good post, but I disagree with this one. Mena poked the ball away, and Rowe went down pretty easily. Would like to see additional angles - the TV angle was about as bad as it gets. Ref was well positioned.
 
I agree with everything except the comment about Mena. His distribution is usually quite good and he's fantastically calm on the ball (the Colombian in him?). I chalk his problems against the Revs to the crappy turf and he wasn't able to adjust to it - the ball's pace died so quickly for him and everybody, it was like playing on sand.
I thought he made a couple of bad decisions passing the ball especially up the middle of the field. If he got an interception and was able to quickly get the ball up the field, he was fine, but when play slowed down and he had to hold the ball and then make a decision it didnt look good IMHO.
 
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Also want to say that we got really luck to get 3 points. Penalty should have been given on the Mena Rowe takedown and NE was very poor at finishing the chances that especially Mena gave them.

I'm not sure that the Rowe takedown was a stone cold penalty (Rowe went in awkwardly). The one opportunity that I can think of that NE really scuffed was Bunbury's free header that the springy turf put over over the crossbar. Couldn't believe he missed that.

Call it karma for games like RSL where they scored 3 goals on 2 shots on target. Finishing is sometimes on, sometimes off.
 
no but its not ideal.

Hammerheads are not under our technical directions. I haven't watched any Hammerheads games but I would imagine they have their own system that is different than ours.

The distance issue is an issue as well. If we had a USL team playing somewhere in the metro area, they would be able to practice with the first team under our technical direction at our training facility. It would also be very easy to give 1 game loans if home games are being playing in the metro area.
Yeah, the Hammerhead affiliation is not well thought out... not sure what the point is since the only guy we can conceivably loan that wouldn't be a drain on the team is the 3rd string GK Rawls - he's never getting minutes with NYCFC if Lurch can't crack the lineup.
 
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