I wrote a collossal wrap-up for last night's 2-2 draw between the Columbus Crew and the New England Revolution over on The Offside (LINK). As such, I won't get into details in this space, at least not about the Crew. For a fairly thorough look at the game from their side, interested parties should check out that piece...and, as I usually do, I wrote that before reading anyone else's work, so all errors and idiocies contained therein are entirely my own. I'll chuck out a bunch of links at the bottom; and, for the record, the one behing the "2-2 draw" above is MLSnet.com's official match report.
I'll touch quickly on the Revolution's game, but want to note something up front: while I did predict the draw last night, I got full of myself and named a specific score. As such, I'm counting this a blown call to punish my hubris. So, here I sit at 6-9 for the season; we're talking LA Galaxy bad.
Now, here are some quick thoughts on the game:
- A familiar Taylor Twellman showed up last night: he buried a beauty from range (that he really should have never been made available to him), but missed the silver-platter set up delivered by Pat Noonan late in the game; he scores that, the Revs win over a conference rival and perceptions go crazy.
- Speaking of Noonan, the manner in which he used his head when his body didn't totally cooperate - e.g. he looked a bit tentative out there, if not outright constrained - really impressed me. Even in his limited state, he provided two sterling opportunities that teammates failed to finish.
- What the hell happened to James Riley last night? Even with Twellman missing, the win could have come through surer defending or, failing that, competent trapping. Bad one, James.
- In Riley's defense, it's possible he got caught napping. The Revs got into a great, positive rhythm in the second half and, by the 85th minute, looked to be cruising home. The breakdown is still inexcusable - especially on the individual level - but it's also fairly easy to comprehend.
- That left side is proving problematic - or, put another way, is it possible Khano Smith's golden outing against Toronto FC had more to do with the opposition than him? His replacement, Wells Thompson, showed nice aggression, but he was also clumsy/spazzy. Seeing as he's a rookie, I'll over look it for now. But Revs coach Steve Nicol ought to be open to options (Miguel Gonzalez, Amaechi Igwe, especially Arsene Oka) in that position.
- That first half? Friggin' nightmare. New England looked scrambled and stupid far too often; they couldn't connect passes, etc. It's a small wonder Nicol was pissed.
Now, on to the links, and I've only read the first one:
The New England Revolution Offside LINK - short, sweet and primarily concerned with Andy Herron's elbow.
The Boston Globe LINK
The Boston Herald LINK
Columbus Dispatch LINK
Sensory Overload LINK - looks to be a live-blogging run-down; should be interesting.
Hunt Park Insider dang...not up yet...maybe later, maybe next week...
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