Slightly late but I can do what I want here. Needed some time to digest the brutalness of that 1-0 loss to the Pittsburgh Riverhounds in “We *don’t* want the Cup!” play. Won’t take long with this one but there are some takeaways.
I think my favorite part (least favorite part) of the whole loss was after the goal, our Captain Omar Gonzalez (lol) showed off he goes to the captaincy school headed by Harry Maguire, The School of Pointing Directly At Where You Made Your Mistake. It was hilarious that Omar let the attacker go, put the onus to defend on a 2023 MLS SuperDraft selection that’s playing out of position, then just pointed at where he (Omar) should have been to help break up the attack. Fucking classic. There is nothing better than a hulking, slow defender pointing at the spots on the field they want to get to, but can’t.
- Yeah, we’re fucked if anyone else gets hurt on defense. Omar and Ben can’t run, Bolma isn’t a defender, and Makoun isn’t healthy yet (although he did look slightly more comfortable). It was just hard to watch. Pittsburgh kept carving out chances, and New England looked pretty hopeless to stop it.
- The 4-4-2 backfired, IMO. Jack and Latif didn’t have enough time to wrestle control of the midfield, Vrioni looked isolated up top despite having a strike partner, and Rennicks and Tico aren’t good enough to create on their own. The Google machine is indicating this lineup was a 4-3-3, but if it was, then it was really messed up because the shell of Jozy Altidore isn’t a winger.
- Speaking of Jozy…those attempted finishes…woof. He’s a legend of the game here in the states give him his dues, but he just isn’t that good anymore. Or, at least, he wasn’t in this game.
- Speaking of Tico and Rennicks…we need wing depth, they’re going to get chances to fight for the spot. I think Tico came out looking better overall after the game, but neither draped themselves in glory. Creativity on the wings is key for this team’s success, so I’m expecting more out of both of these guys as we continue to wrestle with no Dylan Borrero.
- Did you know, BTW, that it was only the second time he played in the Cup? The announcers told us enough times to remember.
- And did you know if you take the ball toward the opposition’s box, then turn around and pass it back, you can call it “recycling”? Because the commentators used the word “recycling” more than any other word in the broadcast. I never want to hear that word used in soccer again.
- Don Garber talked shit about the U.S. Open Cup late last week and I want to take this chance to say that Don sucks and is holding U.S. soccer back. Instead of talking shit about the Cup, why doesn’t the MLS do more to make it better? Every other country (OK the big ones) has a national soccer tournament open to everyone. Why shouldn’t we? Oh, yeah, that’s right, acknowledges the elephant in the room that we have two separate soccer structures. But bug off, Don. Keep the Cup, make it great. Yes, the Revs were on the bad end of a Cupset this week, but having them period is good for the game.
Now it’s a trip to Miami to face Inter Miami. Big weekend to remain on top of the East and to wash the stench of this loss away—hopefully they’re up for it.
A Whately Devil 