Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Player Acquisition and Shirt Sponsor: Package Deal

For the last few weeks we have heard things from sources close to the front office, that the club was looking to make a significant roster move. Rumors as to who the player actually is have been floated around in other areas. MLS Rumors reports today that Figo's agent was in Foxboro, meeting with Revs Front Office members. The validity of these claims is a bit shaky, as it comes from an anonymous emailer. However, we have heard from a reliable source, that the Revs are actively pursuing a player that will help them both on the field, and off. A few names have been given to us, and a couple of them were fairly significant international names. If we can track down anymore info on them, we will put their names out there.

Revs management have been more aggressive in the last 12-18 months in trying to attract fans, and build their reach in the local community. As it has been stated many times before, New England has a very large expat Portuguese community, and their offspring. The Fall River/New Bedford area of South East Mass. and the Hudson/Marlborough MetroWest region are hotbeds for Portuguese immigrants, and their later generations. Without rehashing the story too much, a move for one of the most famous and popular Portuguese players of all time could very well help the Revs tap into a demographic of rabid soccer fans, which they have had trouble really connecting with. There are differing opinions on how effective a signing like this would be (will Benfica fans embrace him? will the Portuguese embrace the player who embodied their international failures over the past decade plus?), but the aggressive nature of the move cannot be denied.

We have also heard for quite some time that the Revs were also looking to add revenue by putting a sponsor on the front of their jersey. There has been talk of a few local brands, as well as a global ones. Without getting into the specific rumors, we can tell you that they are close to signing a long term deal to put a brand on the front of their jersey. Our source indicates to us that the Revs have been waiting for the right time (i.e. after signing a DP), the right brand and the right deal. Everything seems to be coming to a head, and the results of this labor could be seen very shortly.

We have heard that the club is trying to finalize the player acquisition within the next 7-10 days. Could this be a DP signing, or could it just be a trade? It could also possibly be another, less star powered international signing. The rumors are certainly flying around, and nothing seems to be too concrete at this point. We do know that the team is trying to improve its roster right now.

We will be twittering any information that we receive, and hope to have some quality news to bring you shortly. You can follow us on twitter @GloryGloryRevs.

Feel free to comment, as we would like to get a running discussion

GLORY GLORY REVOLUTION!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Academy Tryouts

New England Revolution Academy tryouts begin today. Here is the entire schedule.

Next week we will be doing a wrap up of the academies first full season. We will showcase some highlights, and players. Also to be included will be information for next season, and a look ahead at the future of the program. Soon there will be a weekly segment dedicated to academy news, players and other information. So, check back soon.

Glory Glory Revolution!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Help on the way?

We have received word from an anonymous source close to the Revs that "a major player transaction" is close. We also have an even less stable rumor that the player is Luis Figo.

One is an anonymous source, and the other is a rumor, so take them both with a grain of salt. We do know for sure however, that the Revs are actively pursuing an upgrade to their attacking line.

GLORY GLORY REVOLUTION!

Monday, May 18, 2009

Anemic Attack

Prior to the game on Saturday, word came out that both Ralston and Joseph would be playing up top in the striker roles. After the initial shock of the announcement I realized the decision to make a great deal of sense. The team has lacked a real scoring threat from striker for well over a year now. They had relied upon the creative genius of Steve Ralston, and the endeavor and work-rate of Shalrie to provide almost all of their attack. Twellman's absence from the lineup is only proving to be more and more painful for the team, as it has yet to find anyone to fill in the role of scoring goals.

Last season the teams attack was hoisted on the shoulders of Steve Ralston. Without a striker who could hold the ball up, knock balls down or create a chance inside the 18, Ralston was relied upon to do almost everything in the offensive third. When he went down late in the season the impact was felt almost immediately, and the team ultimately fell off quite precipitously, and ultimately bowed out of MLS Cup.

Coming into this season, Twellman has still failed to regain fitness after a serious concussion. Still, the team did not seriously pursue any new attacking options during the off season. Instead, it seems, they decided to rely on the growth of some young attacking players like Mansally and Nyassi. Kheli Dube while not very young, was still only coming into his second season, and hopes of his growth as a professional was also to be relied upon. Neither of the three aforementioned players has shown much growth this season. In the cases of Mansally and Dube they have only shown their inability to hold a ball up on attack, be patient, and create opportunities on their own. Mansally showed brief flashes of ability only when playing alongside the maestro Ralston. Nyassi has found himself on an island on the right side of field. He is much more willing to attack players down the flank, but his poor final balls, and turnovers have been frustrating to no end.

The team also saw the loss of Khano Smith to the expansion draft. Khano received a lot of criticism from fans and media during his career with the Revs, but the impact of his loss has been shown this season. With Castro also out with injury, the left hand side of the field has been an adventure for the Revs all season. Thompson shows a lot of effort during games, but his skills and decision making cause many more problems than they solve. Recently Tierny has been given a shot down the left, but his lack of pace, and skill only leaves the Revs with a void of attack from the left hand flank.

Through all of this it should be noted that the team has scored just 7 goals in 8 games, with Ralston and Joseph both leading the way with a pair of goals each. Both of Ralston's goals have come from the spot, so the Revs have only scored 5 goals within the run of play. Dating back to last season, the team has only score 12 goals in it's last 16 matches (including MLS Cup playoff games vs. Chicago). Ralston missed the last 5 games of last season (including the game against KC where he picked up his season ending injury), and the team only score 2 goals in those final 5 games.

So after I considered everything I stated above, the pregame lineup announcement was really not a shock to me. This team has lacked true scoring threat, and ability to possess the ball in the offensive third for far too long now. While poor marking may have led to the goal against Colorado, it is hardly time to criticize a defense which has let up just 7 goals in 7 games outside of the RSL debacle. The ability to attack and posses the ball for long stretches of games has limited the teams scoring chances, and put far too much pressure on it's defensive unit. Ralston and Shalrie did a fine job up top on Saturday, but their absence in the midfield was also felt. Larentowicz and Phelan are what they are, and they do not have the same creativity or play making ability as Shalrie or Ralston.

They have brought in the young Cameroonian striker Stephen Assengue, but right now he looks to be more of a project than a solution. Michael Videira is also a very raw central/attacking midfield player, who at the current time cannot be relied upon to score goals, or create goals. Mauricio Castro also fights to gain fitness, and his creative (although frustratingly tentative at times) play is also missed. So, where will the goals come from? Without a healthy Twellman, the team may need to look away from their current roster to answer that question. A trade possibly? Waiting for the European closed season, and potential free agents? DP? Other international signing? The team has been reluctant to go those routes in the past, but they may be lead to go down no other path. The window for players like Reis, Ralston, Shalrie, and even potential free agent Larentowicz, is closing quickly. Those players are not getting younger, and although still among the most talented in the league, they will not be around forever.

If the team has any aspirations for glory this season, they rely almost solely on the health of a couple aging veterans who have seen some significant injuries in the last year or so. With Ralston, Reis and Twellman healthy and in the lineup, I will take my chances against any team in the league. Without one or all of them, the team will languish near the bottom of the table, fail to score enough goals and be threatened to miss the playoffs for the first time in years. Maybe now is as good a time as any to bring in a quality high profile international striker, but that may be hoping against hope at this point.

GLORY GLORY REVOLUTION!

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Futbolito

The grassroots soccer/futbol tournament called Futbolito, will debut at Gillette Stadium on June 21st

Friday, May 15, 2009

Superliga Schedule

Revs Superliga schedule announced. These are the dates where the Revs will try to defend their crown:

Sunday, June 21 @ 6:30 pm
New England Revolution vs. Santos (Gillette)

Wednesday, June 24 @ 7:pm
New England Revolution vs. Kansas City Wizards (Gillette)

Sunday, June 28 @ 4:30
New England Revolution vs. Atlas (Gillette)

Wednesday, July 15 @ TBD
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2

Wednesday, August 5 @ TBD
Final

GLORY GLORY REVOLUTION!

...and we're back!!!!


It has been a long time since we last updated, and a lot has changed. We spent the entire off season trying to build contacts, and floating ideas for the direction of the site. While we haven't completely implemented everything that we want to do quite yet, we do have some things ready to go that we are excited about.

First, we have become more mobile. This is huge for us considering how busy we are. Our ability to post from the road, and give updates on the go gives us the ability to give you guys information as we get it. We hope that we can give you guys up to the minute news, rumors and incite as we get it.

Next, we are on Twitter. You can follow us @GloryGloryRevs. Using Twitter will allow us to build our network and reach out to the rest of our rabid fan base.

The next phases of our project will hopefully be implemented soon. We are looking to add some new contributors to the site. We would like to add full game reports, training reports, pictures, rumors etc...

We are also in the midst of an entire site redesign. We are trying to make it a bit more sleek, and user friendly. It will uploaded as soon as we are done and happy with the design.

So check back soon, because we will be updating much more than before, with some exciting news that we have dug up...

as always GLORY GLORY REVOLUTION!