I'll try to make this short. Sometimes I post about non-Revolution MLS games and/or news, and forceably make it pretend to be Revolution news by comparing the actual news with its subject's counterpart in the Revolution. Know what I mean?
The Chicago Fire have said via Twitter (at least that's where I read it) that they will announce a DP this Saturday, July 17. Also, as has been well-publicized, NYRB have signed Thierry Henry (nice performance by TH14 on Jimmy Fallon). NY now has two designated players, and is highly rumored to be trying to exercise its relatively new right to sign a third. Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts recently said the Galaxy are going to announce another DP in the next few days, insinuating that that player is Ronaldinho (scroll a bit over 3/4 into the recording to hear that part).
I'll rope this into Revolution news by saying that the Revolution have, in fact, not signed a DP, and are not rumored to be going after one, as far as I know at least. Maybe someone else has a scoop I haven't heard yet (other than Billelo's standard "we look into it on an ongoing basis but haven't found a good match" claim). This is serious, because each time another MLS club buys a DP or builds a stadium, it makes the Revolution's lack of those particular items more and more noticeable. By comparison, it makes the Revolution a less and less exciting team to follow, and it also makes Bob Kraft a cheaper and cheaper owner (again, relatively speaking).
See how I did that?
-John
Showing posts with label NYRB. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NYRB. Show all posts
Friday, July 16, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
MLS Game Of The Week
There were two really good games last night. At 9 o'clock eastern, I watched Colorado draw NYRB 1-1. By the end of that game, the ESPN2 Game Of The Week was about 20 minutes in, and I watched the Galaxy beat the Sounders 3-1 in the remainder of that one.
When I watch non-Revolution MLS games, I tend to ask myself why we can't have such a quality team here in New England as the ones I'm watching. Yesterday was no different. All four of these teams were noticeably better than the Revs, and deservedly have better records as a result.
When 10:30 rolled around, I had to make a decision about whether to finish watching Colorado-NY or to watch LA-Seattle from the start. I chose to finish Colorado-NY because it had been such a great game, and I didn't expect LA-Seattle to quite measure up to it. Omar Cummings stood out-- not only for his goal, but for creating a handful of exciting scoring chances and half-chances. Not only that, but the two teams generally passed the ball exceptionally well. Colorado were clearly the better team, but NY were decent too. It was just a great game to watch.
Having said that, ESPN got it right when choosing the Game Of The Week. This was the game they advertised during World Cup quarterfinal games, hoping to hook in a few casual soccer fans to try watching an MLS game. The fact that it was Donovan's return was reason enough to show this game over the Colorado-NY game. Casual American fans who've watched this World Cup, but hadn't watched a soccer game previously since the last World Cup, have no idea who Omar Cummings is. Or Conor Casey. Or Juan Pablo Angel. Landon Donovan is the guy they'll tune in for.
About the actual game, it was almost as exciting as the first one. The main reason it didn't quite live up is that it was definitely more one-sided. The LA defense had one lapse that led to the goal-- which Steve Zakuani took very well-- and Seattle had a few half-chances and counterattacks late in the game; LA bossed the game otherwise. That said, casual viewers would not be let down by the quality of the game; the passing was great, there were great goals, teams attacked, there was no diving or injury-faking. It had everything I expected from a top-level MLS game. Plus, they got to keep the camera on Donovan when the ball was out of play, and talk about him when there was nothing else to talk about.
It was a great pair of games, and MLS's Game Of the Week turned out to be a very good advertisement for the league. I hope people actually watched it.
-John
When I watch non-Revolution MLS games, I tend to ask myself why we can't have such a quality team here in New England as the ones I'm watching. Yesterday was no different. All four of these teams were noticeably better than the Revs, and deservedly have better records as a result.
When 10:30 rolled around, I had to make a decision about whether to finish watching Colorado-NY or to watch LA-Seattle from the start. I chose to finish Colorado-NY because it had been such a great game, and I didn't expect LA-Seattle to quite measure up to it. Omar Cummings stood out-- not only for his goal, but for creating a handful of exciting scoring chances and half-chances. Not only that, but the two teams generally passed the ball exceptionally well. Colorado were clearly the better team, but NY were decent too. It was just a great game to watch.
Having said that, ESPN got it right when choosing the Game Of The Week. This was the game they advertised during World Cup quarterfinal games, hoping to hook in a few casual soccer fans to try watching an MLS game. The fact that it was Donovan's return was reason enough to show this game over the Colorado-NY game. Casual American fans who've watched this World Cup, but hadn't watched a soccer game previously since the last World Cup, have no idea who Omar Cummings is. Or Conor Casey. Or Juan Pablo Angel. Landon Donovan is the guy they'll tune in for.
About the actual game, it was almost as exciting as the first one. The main reason it didn't quite live up is that it was definitely more one-sided. The LA defense had one lapse that led to the goal-- which Steve Zakuani took very well-- and Seattle had a few half-chances and counterattacks late in the game; LA bossed the game otherwise. That said, casual viewers would not be let down by the quality of the game; the passing was great, there were great goals, teams attacked, there was no diving or injury-faking. It had everything I expected from a top-level MLS game. Plus, they got to keep the camera on Donovan when the ball was out of play, and talk about him when there was nothing else to talk about.
It was a great pair of games, and MLS's Game Of the Week turned out to be a very good advertisement for the league. I hope people actually watched it.
-John
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Revs 3-2 New York
The Revolution beat NYRB 3-2 last night in one of the most well-played games we've seen from at Gillette this season. Preston Burpo's injury was one of the focal points in the game, and not undeservingly, but there's a lot of other things to talk about in this one.
Hans Backe said after the game, "This was a joke the first half...it was absolutely ridiculous. They had one chance and scored twice. It was one way traffic for forty-five minutes." This is a slight exaggeration. Red Bulls were definitely the better team. They forced Burpo and Shuttleworth into a handful of really good saves, and they made the New England defense look pretty useless at times. However, New England played pretty well at times too, especially through the midfield. Joseph, Perovic, and Tierney were especially good in the first half.
The second half was a bit more even than the first. New York still passed the ball very well, and had some great chances. What killed them were the two red cards. The first was warranted; Mendes's tackle was pretty ridiculous, and he didn't complain too much when he was shown his second yellow. The second sending off was a terrible call, and we could tell how bad it was in real time from the Fort, at the other end of the stadium. It may not have even been a foul at all. Anyway, after that, it was only a matter of time before New England scored, and it was on a very nice headed goal by Schilawski from Joseph.
You know how at games, before the game and at halftime, they show messages from players on the big screen saying "Get Loud" and things like that, to pump up the crowd? Maybe I never noticed it before, but last night they had one where the PA guy said something like, "Let's show the Red Bulls why New England has the best home field advantage in MLS!" It was funny because the Revs hadn't won at home since the home opener against Toronto, and they have pretty low attendance these days. So low, in fact, that Brian Billelo said preseason that the reason they wouldn't build a new stadium is that the projected attendance numbers wouldn't be sufficient to pay off the cost of building it.
Anyway, it was a big win against a big Eastern Conference team, which they perhaps didn't fully deserve, and a very fun game to watch.
-John
Hans Backe said after the game, "This was a joke the first half...it was absolutely ridiculous. They had one chance and scored twice. It was one way traffic for forty-five minutes." This is a slight exaggeration. Red Bulls were definitely the better team. They forced Burpo and Shuttleworth into a handful of really good saves, and they made the New England defense look pretty useless at times. However, New England played pretty well at times too, especially through the midfield. Joseph, Perovic, and Tierney were especially good in the first half.
The second half was a bit more even than the first. New York still passed the ball very well, and had some great chances. What killed them were the two red cards. The first was warranted; Mendes's tackle was pretty ridiculous, and he didn't complain too much when he was shown his second yellow. The second sending off was a terrible call, and we could tell how bad it was in real time from the Fort, at the other end of the stadium. It may not have even been a foul at all. Anyway, after that, it was only a matter of time before New England scored, and it was on a very nice headed goal by Schilawski from Joseph.
You know how at games, before the game and at halftime, they show messages from players on the big screen saying "Get Loud" and things like that, to pump up the crowd? Maybe I never noticed it before, but last night they had one where the PA guy said something like, "Let's show the Red Bulls why New England has the best home field advantage in MLS!" It was funny because the Revs hadn't won at home since the home opener against Toronto, and they have pretty low attendance these days. So low, in fact, that Brian Billelo said preseason that the reason they wouldn't build a new stadium is that the projected attendance numbers wouldn't be sufficient to pay off the cost of building it.
Anyway, it was a big win against a big Eastern Conference team, which they perhaps didn't fully deserve, and a very fun game to watch.
-John
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