New England at Inter Miami, Matchweek 12: Them’s the breaks sometimes

A loss to Inter Miami was never going to be easy to stomach, but last night’s 2-1 defeat left a particularly sour taste in this writer’s mouth because so much of this game was out of the Revs’ control, and instead was left to odd, erratic twists of fate. Without even getting into the officiating and how VAR was implemented, a lot of this game can be summed up by saying Miami put one rocket, off-target shot into the box 7 minutes in, and it caromed off Dave Romney and into the net. In the second half, the Revs pinged two balls off of Dixon Arroyo (at least I think it was him both times) inside his own six and the ball ricocheted away from the net. Sometimes, them’s just the breaks.

What was also concerning is how sluggish the Revs started. Coming off that letdown against Pittsburgh in the U.S. Open Cup, one could have expected a fired-up Revs team to come out and reassert their dominance against a Miami side that’s resurging, but still not a finished product. Instead, the first 10 minutes were just not pleasant to look at. Then, in the sixth minute, disaster struck. The Ruiz kid hit a freakin’ bullet so good for him, but Dave’s unlucky there to have the ball go off him and past Djordje. From there, nothing went right. Bad VAR decisions, lack of cards shown, cards shown to the wrong people—it all went to shit.

• The first thing that went to shit was VAR overturning a Goal of the Year candidate by Noel Buck. How is this kid only a teenager? The control by him to weave around the defenders, remain composed, then get off a shot like that shows that Noel’s going to be special. It’s an absolute disgrace that whoever coaches the U.S. U20 men’s team couldn’t find a roster spot for him. Show me the five to six other U20 midfielders that are better than him. I’m sure there are one or two—but all of ’em?
• The one thing that did go right was Capi’s goal. His goal, since it stood, does go right into the list for Goal of the Year. Gil’s close control has always been fun to watch and his movement here was as nice as ever, but what you love to see is the shot quality he got using his weaker, right foot. I had some problems with how Gil conducted himself late on (he was frustrated, though, and IDK how much I can blame guys for being frustrated last night) but he did his best to pick this game up by the scruff of the neck and do something.
• Was part of the problem last night that this lineup was just…weird? Was Noel playing as the right winger? Thought I saw Blazing Musket put him as a DM last night but either I was hallucinating or it was just so jarring that BM defaulted to his regular position, but Buck certainly seemed to be higher and wider up the pitch than I’m used to.
• Also thought it was curious Blessing retained his place, especially since he sucked last night. I don’t fully blame him for the second Miami goal, but IDK how he didn’t come away with the ball in this situation, the defender has to. Guys have off nights, not going to hold it against him, but Blessing was by far the lowest-rated starter on the night…
• …or was it Brandon Bye? I love Brandon, think the Revs have such a unique tandem in him and DeJuan at fullback, but Bye couldn’t get shit going last night, he got beat too easily at times, and was otherwise a passenger in the game. Our lack of defensive depth is considerably alarming, when you realize that rookie winger Josh Bulma has been the preferred backup to Bye at RB this season. Plz come back, Henry.
• Conversely, thought DeJuan had a blinder last night. Kid’s playing inspired ball right now, and should be a lock for USMNT defense this next cycle. I love this kid’s game.
• The subs last night didn’t work. Esmir tried but his passes went everywhere, Justin Rennicks plays like he’s eternally apologizing for running into you (but I’ll give credit where it’s due, he’s being asked to play all over the pitch), and Jozy is just stealing a living at this point. Jozy came on, and his first touch was to lose possession in the attacking third. Like, seriously, there’s no one better? And apparently there isn’t, because the substitution sheet will show Giacomo Vrioni played for over 20 minutes last night. He had how many touches? One Redditor said 1 touch, I don’t think it could possibly be so low, but then again I wouldn’t be surprised!
• OK, back to the ref: How did Ruiz not get a second yellow when he took out Gil, only to get sent off moments later for…time wasting? This ref was truly, truly awful, and I can say that because he let Matt Polster dress him down like Matt was his daddy and did nothing about it. Show some spine, ref, tell Matt (who isn’t even the captain) to get fucked. This ref had no control over the game, his assistants did him no favors, and VAR intervened when it shouldn’t have, didn’t when it should have, and turned this whole game into a farce. You have to overcome the officiating sometimes to win, but sometimes the officiating is so bad, it keeps you from even getting a point. Revs got worked last night by the entire MLS officiating structure, and it ain’t the first time this year.

Now the Revs get a week to forget about all of this, before heading off to Philly next Saturday to face the resurgent Union. Philly crashed out of two competitions in the last two weeks, so they have as much of a reason to be fired up for next week as the Revs do. Here’s hoping New England comes out better in the opening stages, and that VAR starts doing its job again.