Absolutely agree that Giacomo is a talented player and that the system they built up around him failed to put him in the best spots to succeed. Across 2 coaching staffs no less. I’m legitimately interested to see how he does in Montreal.
But he didn’t cover himself in glory when given clear opportunities to score. He was always at his best trying to beat a high line and splitting the CBs but far too often his shot would let him down or he would pull back and look for a foul.
No mention when it comes to Revs international flops to the Costan Rican flopmeister himself, Mr. 4 Goals on 65 shots William Sunsing of the 2000-1 era?
Someone was always going to be left out, Saer Sene is another one of that injury crowd too...Sunsing was well before my time though the early chaos of MLS likely had a lot of weird signings
Very interesting and thoughtful analysis. To some extent, I agree with you. I've often thought that Vrioni wasn't being utilized correctly. At the same time, I've seen a lot of awful play from him when he did have opportunities. His touch was often poor and he missed many chances that any self respecting forward should have put away. It will be very interesting to see how he performs for Montreal. He seems like a decent guy who tries hard so I wish him success.
It's a double-edged sword for sure...Vrioni squandered a decent amount of the very few chances he did especially early on last year. But when you spend most of your time barely getting the ball/finding the game that to me is team issue and worth pointing out.
100% agree Vrioni was not playing the style he’s best at. How many times did we have to watch him flail at a header in vain? It’s just not his game.
Love this article. So many throw-backs. Bengston is another great nod to a player who didn’t fit the Revs system. I think Julian Cardillo had a great article on that maybe ten years ago. Kamara yet another one.
To your larger point it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Vrioni balled out in Montreal. How many times have we seen a Rev player underperform only to make multiple all-star rosters elsewhere? Many such cases.
Only place I disagree with you is on Caraglio. I thought he showed enough to warrant being signed. We could’ve avoided the Pepe Moreno and Bengston sagas altogether.
If the Caraglio loan had been a year later I think there's a chance he sticks on the team...a striker combo of him and Charlie on that 2014 Cup squad could have been neat
The Revs got Vrioni very few, limited chances and it shouldn't be any surprise that he became a less confident finisher the fewer chances he got. Knowing you'll get very few opportunities just amps up the pressure and makes it more difficult to perform in the moment.
People forget that Taylor Twellman, our best finisher ever, pretty much always needed 5-6 good chances before he potted one. He scored 100 because his teammates: Cancela, Joseph, Ralston, Noonan, Dempsey, etc. were so good at creating chances. Vrioni never had an environment anything like that.
Really good take. Kind of like chicken / egg. Player to fit system or system to fit player. As you point out they have to match and it is a disaster when they don't. It is hard to see what way the team will play with so many new faces but I remain optimistic that we will be better than last year, albeit a very very low bar.
Absolutely agree that Giacomo is a talented player and that the system they built up around him failed to put him in the best spots to succeed. Across 2 coaching staffs no less. I’m legitimately interested to see how he does in Montreal.
But he didn’t cover himself in glory when given clear opportunities to score. He was always at his best trying to beat a high line and splitting the CBs but far too often his shot would let him down or he would pull back and look for a foul.
A lot of good points here. And, good history for those of us (ok, me) who are relatively new to following the Revs.
It's a very painful rabbit hole to go down that Revs history, do not recommend ;)
Good to know! Thanks for suffering for us all!
No mention when it comes to Revs international flops to the Costan Rican flopmeister himself, Mr. 4 Goals on 65 shots William Sunsing of the 2000-1 era?
Someone was always going to be left out, Saer Sene is another one of that injury crowd too...Sunsing was well before my time though the early chaos of MLS likely had a lot of weird signings
Very interesting and thoughtful analysis. To some extent, I agree with you. I've often thought that Vrioni wasn't being utilized correctly. At the same time, I've seen a lot of awful play from him when he did have opportunities. His touch was often poor and he missed many chances that any self respecting forward should have put away. It will be very interesting to see how he performs for Montreal. He seems like a decent guy who tries hard so I wish him success.
It's a double-edged sword for sure...Vrioni squandered a decent amount of the very few chances he did especially early on last year. But when you spend most of your time barely getting the ball/finding the game that to me is team issue and worth pointing out.
100% agree Vrioni was not playing the style he’s best at. How many times did we have to watch him flail at a header in vain? It’s just not his game.
Love this article. So many throw-backs. Bengston is another great nod to a player who didn’t fit the Revs system. I think Julian Cardillo had a great article on that maybe ten years ago. Kamara yet another one.
To your larger point it wouldn’t surprise me at all if Vrioni balled out in Montreal. How many times have we seen a Rev player underperform only to make multiple all-star rosters elsewhere? Many such cases.
Only place I disagree with you is on Caraglio. I thought he showed enough to warrant being signed. We could’ve avoided the Pepe Moreno and Bengston sagas altogether.
If the Caraglio loan had been a year later I think there's a chance he sticks on the team...a striker combo of him and Charlie on that 2014 Cup squad could have been neat
Totally agree.
The Revs got Vrioni very few, limited chances and it shouldn't be any surprise that he became a less confident finisher the fewer chances he got. Knowing you'll get very few opportunities just amps up the pressure and makes it more difficult to perform in the moment.
People forget that Taylor Twellman, our best finisher ever, pretty much always needed 5-6 good chances before he potted one. He scored 100 because his teammates: Cancela, Joseph, Ralston, Noonan, Dempsey, etc. were so good at creating chances. Vrioni never had an environment anything like that.
Really good take. Kind of like chicken / egg. Player to fit system or system to fit player. As you point out they have to match and it is a disaster when they don't. It is hard to see what way the team will play with so many new faces but I remain optimistic that we will be better than last year, albeit a very very low bar.
Jake! Care to predict how Giacomo will play against our beloved and often star-crossed Revs this season?