7 Comments

I'm a big Farrell fan. Love the guy and reject the hate he gets. I don't think he had a great game, but the whole back line just looked unstable, out of sync. When it comes down to it that comes back to coaching and really isn't on any one player. Having said that, I do think Farrell is better at CB these days (though I enjoyed a few of his forays into the attack), and I don't think it's *unfair* of Porter to point that out.

I think Porter has lost the locker room, though. I don't see it getting better from here.

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Can not blame one player, the whole back line played terrible. But the King of I do no wrong Porter will blame someone. It is so sad to see that Calab and Curt have destroyed this team.

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I think the demise started with Peay who tried to change the system with 4 matches to go in the season. I think they have not found their way since.

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I commented on the Discord, but great analysis, Thomas! Perhaps it is confirmation bias, but I appreciated your comment that Porter blames everyone else for the myriad of things that go wrong on the pitch: Players don't listen; other coaches not organizing their players/end correctly; not having the 'right' players on the squad; etc. It's true. This is largely the same squad Arena had playing winning ball. In my view, every attack Porter levels on someone else is an indictment of his own shortcomings and ability to manage.

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May 13Edited

While you don't discuss Farrell's penchent for the bicycle kick, I appreciate this defense of his defense. I also appreciate his multi-lingualism as it enhances the communication with some of the international players. I will forever be a fan of his, though I would like him to do the beard thing again until he scores. If he had done it after he scored in 2018 it would be Rip Van Winkle length now.

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Agree with the defense of Farrell, don't care if anyone's offended by Porter's 'throwing players under the bus' - they're big boys and they are far from first selections, so that's a fact. That said, I would have kept Lima on his natural side and started Romney on the left.

But, enthusiastically agree that our dmid pairing does not support the defense and is also dismal in transitioning to offense (Kaye and Polster nearly always have the body language that they are inclined to pass laterally or back - and then, shockingly, they do). If Porter doesn't find a way to fix that the Revs aren't getting any better.

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THANK YOU. I feel like Farrell gets pooh-poohed by people who aren't necessarily watching all that he does up and down the field. He's not hanging back like Arreaga or Kessler due to the position he's playing, but he manages to do a lot of good things.

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