Know Thy Enemy: Revolution vs Red Bulls International Break Edition
No really, the people who make the soccer schedules should not make more money than most of us.
I understand the difficulties of trying to fit a 34-game regular season in between international windows and the fact that the New England Revolution have played an MLS-low 14 games so far this year.
It is completely reasonable that the Revs should be playing this weekend, why Columbus isn’t I don’t know - this seems to be a pretty good spot to have the CCC participants catch up, but nothing about this four-game MLS slate makes any sense.
The USMNT and Colombia play at 530 pm EDT on national TV today (TNT/Telemundo) and then all four MLS games at some point will run concurrently with the Revs-RBNY the “early” kickoff at 0730 followed by the other three games an hour later.
Oh and as far as I can tell none of four MLS games this weekend are designated as “free” on MLS Season Pass which is dumbfounding.
I know the league has no obligation to do anything other than line their own pockets with Messi-promoted subscriptions and ticket packages (though that might be backfiring in Vancouver right now) but even without trying to lead into or play around the USMNT fixture, what’s the benefit of playing four games during an international break at the same time behind a paywall?
The product the league is offering to its fans this week will be substandard due to international absences and offers zero chance for subscribers to watch two full games. At the very least there should have been an afternoon window with two games to allow for sickos to attempt a triple-header of games with the USMNT friendly.
Instead the message the league is sending to its current customers and potential future ones is that they absolutely do not care about these four games at all. Which means they shouldn’t be played and maybe could be made up during August when there should be several available weeks of game were it not for the other self inflicted scheduling wound of the Not SuperLiga 3.0.
Anyway, the extensive list of Revs-Red Bulls non-participants can be found here but New England will be without Esmir Bajraktarevic and Noel Buck due to YNT call ups while RBNY will be without GK Coronel, LB Tolkin, ST Morgan, and LW Forsberg. The Revs biggest question mark will be at one of the winger spots with Chancalay and Nacho Gil out injured and Esmir unavailable it has prompted a recall of Jack Panayotou from loan with Rhode Island FC and I would hope/expect to see him get some minutes likely in relief of Ema Boateng.
In case you missed it, several really excellent posts this week: first from Andy Judd on Giacomo Vrioni’s usage and second from Seth on the tactical breakdown from the Nashville game. Finally Thomas Pinzone on the simpler facts that the Revs play better when they possess and cross less…and also play shite teams which Nashville in their current form absolutely qualifies.
I concur with Andy that Vrioni’s struggles are hard to quantify and I think blame lies with the Revs not doing more to get him touches and consistent minutes prior to this season but the numbers don’t lie - Vrioni should be more productive in front of goal regardless. Seth and Tom are preaching what I think most of us have said all year, that Porter’s current slower style does not suit this Revs team at all.
Also we need to push back more on any narrative that says Caleb Porter needs more of his guys to make this roster work - that’s not what he was hired to do. He was hired to quickly turn around a low morale side bolstered by a few key returnees from long-term injury and get back into the playoffs. If the Revs can’t beat a depleted Red Bulls team at home with two DPs and a U-22 starlet then we need to seriously start having conversations as to who should be making decisions about the roster for the summer window…across the whole organization.
New England needs to win their next two games to get to a 1.00 PPG (16 pts in 16 GP) and yes, this is going to be a bit the rest of the year.
TBM Interviews Steve Cangialosi Of MLS Season Pass
As always, we joined by our good friend Ben Cork who I’m sure has been showering in celebration in many flavors of globally renowned energy drink after three wins in four games. Yes the loss to the Pigeons probably stung but someone needs to win a game at Citi Field this year and it’s clearly not the primary tenant and the RBNY slate for June is not that strenuous.
Be sure to check back later tonight for all our postgame coverage of the Revs and other action around New England.
TBM: I'm sure RBNY doesn't want to be playing through the international window especially without Lewis Morgan who was a late call-up to Scotland, but who else is missing and will there be any major adjustments tactically with the rotated lineup?
BC: At this point it probably saves us time to go over who is going to be available rather than the long list of who’s out.
Lewis Morgan will be indeed be missing the next month with his long-deserved call up to the Scotland team for the Euros, while inspirational goalkeeper Carlos Coronel is expected to be with the Paraguay team through this summer’s Copa America. More concerning is that supposed captain and talisman Emil Forsberg will be skipping this game against the Revs to play (or sit on the bench, apparently) in friendlies for the Sweden team that did not qualify. Additionally, defensive mainstays John Tolkin (USA) and Noah Eile (Sweden) will be with their youth national teams. I know MLS is very proud of all its international call-ups (and the resulting rises in transfer value) but the next couple weeks of games are going to effectively be MLSNextPro fixtures.
Tactically, Sandro Schwarz has hinted that the absence of Forsberg and Morgan means he will likely operate without a central number 10 role. This would mean a likely detour to a more direct 4-2-2-2 formation that could play a more rudimentary version of the Red Bulls pressing and transition format than the more possession-based style under Schwarz.
TBM: It's been a pretty solid run of form aside from that loss to the pigeons at Not Shea Stadium, is this the Top 4 type of team you alluded to prior to the meeting a month ago?
BC: I said in my preview last month that the team hadn’t quite had an explosive offensive performance yet, and then Caleb Porter was nice enough to grant us that performance in the 4-2 win over the Revs. Lewis Morgan has continued his unconscious form, Emil Forsberg’s production has picked up, and even Elias Manoel has found some good fortune in the final third.
But unfortunately, with the aforementioned international absences, this team will be built around Dante Vanzeir the next couple weeks. For the sake of politeness, let’s maybe not discuss Vanzeir’s last few weeks of form…
TBM: Summer transfer window silly season is almost upon us, any interesting rumors and/or a position that RBNY might look to or should upgrade?
BC: Outside of some rumblings around erstwhile Swedish international midfielder Gustav Berggren, currently in the Polish league, the rumor mill is slow. In the wake of the Forsberg move, it increasingly seems like New York will only receive blockbuster signings as surplus goods from one of their sibling clubs in Europe — but even recent whispers about Leipzig gifting New York with striker Timo Werner have quieted considerably.
Berggren is at least a signal that the team sees central midfield as an area to upgrade after the loss of Peter Stroud to a season-ending injury. This would likely be a prudent course of action rather than adding yet another half-measured striker signing as this team does practically every window during this decade.
Lineup/Injuries/Predictions/Etc.
4-2-2-2?: Vanzeir, Manoel; Gjengaar, Carmona; Amaya, Edelman; S. Nealis, Reyes, Duncan, D. Nealis; Meara
I would say the depleted squad would leave the Red Bulls vulnerable this weekend — but part of running the Red Bull tactical dogma is that even randos know their job and the team has a high floor. They might actually screw around and win this one…let’s say 3-2.