In Alejandro Bedoya’s Union debut, Jim Curtin’s side put together its most complete performance in months, blowing out New England Revolution 4-0 on Saturday for their second road win of 2016.
Philadelphia Union announced their intent after just two minutes, with a marauding run by Fabinho rewarded by a great finish by C.J. Sapong. Just after halftime, Chris Pontius pounced on a loose ball in the box to make the score 2-0, while Richie Marquez joined the party with a headed finish three minutes later. The Union saw out the win with ease, capping the offensive eruption with a precision strike from Roland Alberg to conclude the match. The only black mark on an otherwise outstanding victory was a head injury that forced Sapong from the game at halftime.
First half
Jim Curtin made good on his midweek promise to throw the team’s record signing, Alejandro Bedoya, directly into the starting lineup. Bedoya started at the No. 8 in a new-look midfield trio, with Warren Creavalle replacing the injured Brian Carroll as the No. 6 and Tranquillo Barnetta preferred to Fabian Herbers at the 10.
It took almost no time at all for the Union to snatch the lead. In the second minute, Fabinho burst out of the midfield with the ball and led three helpless Revs defenders down the left wing, holding the ball and finally cutting in at the touch line. His cross found Sapong at the near post, who applied a delicate finish to beat Bobby Shuttleworth at his back post.
The Union began the match driving forward with regularity, but the hosts slowly worked their way into the contest. Diego Fagundez was the first to challenge Andre Blake with a blast from distance, but the All-Star keeper made a difficult save look smooth in the 19th minute.
Ilsinho, often maligned for his defensive work, sparked a golden chance in the 26th minute with a strip of Kelyn Rowe just outside the box. His pass, though, was just ahead of Sapong, and a cutback for Bedoya saw the new boy fire over the bar from 15 yards.
New England generated a few half-chances as the half neared its end. Chris Tierney made a driving run in the 37th minute, beating both Creavalle and Bedoya, but when Andrew Farrell received a pass in space in the box, he could do little more than fire directly at Blake. Moments later, a header by Kei Kamara bounced harmlessly off Blake’s post. Kamara, frustrated, earned a yellow shortly after that for a hilarious stream of profanity captured in glorious detail by the TV broadcast’s microphones.
There was a scary moment for Curtin’s men when Sapong was slow to get up from an aerial duel. The goal-scorer returned to the field after a brief trip to the sidelines. Sapong’s goal proved to be the only in the first half, and the Union took a 1-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.
Second half
Despite finishing the first half on the field, Sapong did not appear to start the second half, with Fabian Herbers appearing in his new No. 14 kit for the first time.
For the second consecutive half, it didn’t take very long at all for the Union to put a ball in the back of the net. A driving run by Herbers and a blocked clearance from Barnetta saw the ball fall to the streetballer extraordinaire in the box. Ilsinho kept the play alive, drawing four defenders to him before the ball bounced to Chris Pontius. Pontius made no mistake, finishing across Shuttleworth’s body low and to the corner. It was his team-leading tenth goal and gave the struggling squad a healthy two goal advantage.
Moments later, that advantage would increase again, this time through an unlikely scorer. Barnetta earned a corner off a long free kick, and his service was perfect. Pontius and Keegan Rosenberry combined to push the ball back to the near post, and Richie Marquez was there to head the ball neatly into the Revolution goal. His second goal of the year gave Philadelphia a comfortable margin to work with.
The game opened up at this point, with New England more urgently seeking any sort of attacking product. They settled for Lee Nguyen falling over in the box a bunch of times and replacing the ineffective Diego Fagundez with the anonymous Daigo Kobayashi. Philadelphia looked strong in possession, stringing passes together with abandon. The catalyst was Barnetta, alive again in his preferred attacking role, who also forced a save from Shuttleworth after beating two defenders in the 65th minute.
Bedoya’s subtle yet effective debut ended in the 72nd minute when Roland Alberg entered. The Dutchman immediately set up a great scoring chance, finding a pass from Ilsinho in space and fizzing it back to him in the box. Cutting back onto his right foot, Ilsinho couldn’t find enough space to squeeze his shot past the army of Revs defenders.
Charlie Davies entered the game in the 83rd minute for Ilsinho, earning a raucous ovation from a Gillette Stadium crowd that had little else to salute on the night. With the Revolution completely impotent, it fell to Roland Alberg to put the exclamation point on the evening. A great touch from Alberg, flicking a ball from Rosenberry to Charlie Davies, was immediately returned to him, and Alberg made no mistake with a ferocious blast past Shuttleworth from outside the box.
Alberg’s goal was the last kick of the match, a 4-0 win for the Union.
The win couldn’t have come at a better time for Philadelphia, snapping a four-game winless streak in Major League Soccer. The Union are back in action against Toronto FC at Talen Energy Stadium next Saturday, August 20. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
Philadelphia Union
Andre Blake, Fabinho, Richie Marquez, Ken Tribbett, Keegan Rosenberry, Warren Creavalle, Alejandro Bedoya (Roland Alberg 72′), Chris Pontius, Ilsinho (Charlie Davies 83′), Chris Pontius, C.J. Sapong (Fabian Herbers 46′)
Unused Subs: John McCarthy, Ray Gaddis, Joshua Yaro, Walter Restrepo
D.C. United
Bobby Shuttleworth, Jose Goncalves, Andrew Farrell, JeVaughn Watson, Kelyn Rowe, Chris Tierney, Scott Caldwell (Zachary Herivaux 68′), Lee Nguyen (Juan Agudelo 76′), Diego Fagundez (Daigo Kobayashi 59′), Kei Kamara, Teal Bunbury
Unused subs: Brad Knighton, Darrius Barnes, London Woodberry, Steve Neumann
Scoring Summary
PHI: C.J. Sapong (Fabinho) — 2′
PHI: Chris Pontius — 51′
PHI: Richie Marquez — 54′
PHI: Roland Alberg (Charlie Davies) — 90+3′
Disciplinary Summary
NE: Scott Caldwell (unsporting behavior) — 18′
NE: Kei Kamara (very loud dissent) — 41′
PHI: Fabian Herbers (unsporting behavior) — 80′
| Philadelphia Union | New England Revolution | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Shots | 18 |
| 7 | Shots on Target | 4 |
| 4 | Shots off Target | 8 |
| 5 | Blocked Shots | 6 |
| 3 | Corner Kicks | 9 |
| 10 | Crosses | 29 |
| 2 | Offsides | 2 |
| 9 | Fouls | 14 |
| 1 | Yellow Cards | 2 |
| 0 | Red Cards | 0 |
| 420 | Total Passes | 434 |
| 80% | Passing Accuracy | 80% |
| 48% | Possession | 52% |
| 56 | Duels Won | 38 |
| 59.5% | Duels Won % | 40.5% |
| 18 | Tackles Won | 11 |
| 3 | Saves | 4 |
| 8 | Clearances | 29 |
A complete team performance. Sound defense (except for a dangerous jaunt by Tribbet in the first half). Some brilliance (#savesbydre). Some cleverness. Some vision. Some runs. Some finishing. Some smarts.
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A good night!
Other than Crevalle that was a completely dominant performance. So needed and so well done. Shoulda been 6 points from the last 2 games but 4 isn’t bad. Keep it going next week. Fantastic stuff.
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Also, Alberg’s goal was just nasty. What a left foot.
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If Edu comes back healthy we are freakin stacked.
Yeah agree on Crevalle. He has insane athleticism but he makes poor decisions and poor passes. He can boss a game ever now and then, but it was clear in the first half that he’s a weak link. So many passes straight to a Rev player.
On the other side…good lord I love Herbers. So many great runs from him tonight, combining, getting back on defense…I really think his movement started to get the CBs dropping and opened up the game. And Davies looked good in the few minutes he got, though it’s hard to judge.
And nice job from the back line…Really did well to keep Kamara and Nguyen quiet. That’s not an easy task.
Crevalle looks to win the ball every time an opponent has it within 10 yards of him. Sometimes the better decision is to contain or usher him toward help instead of diving into a tackle every time. Hopefully he starts watching some tape of Carroll in action and gets in his ear about his positioning.
Hell,if BC gets back on the shorter end of his projected recovery time, we’re pretty well stocked for a playoff run.
Everybody hits * one in * Woo hoo!
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This is actually my favorite comment and comically timed.
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You are today’s winner I believe.
Good overall performance by the team. It’s funny that if the Union had beaten New England in the Open Cup last month, they would have been the team that played midweek rather than the other way around.
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Kudos to the New England fans for still cheering for Davies even though their team was down 3-0 at the time.
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I like the description of the Kamara yellow except VERY should probably be in caps.
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Anyone have any idea if the switch to Matt Kassel is temporary or permanent?
I was wondering the same thing about Kassel. Clearly very nervous, but I thought he did ok. Helps to have JP on the other side though.
For better or worse, I watched this one on MLS live, so I got the new England call. Paul Mariner is their color guy and he’s quite fair and knowledgeable. I’d love to have him
Let’s hope Kassel is locked out of the studio next time. First time or not, he has nothing to say. No information we couldn’t see with our own eyes. Overstating the obvious while incrementally raising the pitch of his voice was as annoying as Hell.
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Let’s meet bachelor #3…
Absolutely thrilled Kassel dude won’t be doing any more Bethlehem Steel FC games on Service Electric! … “Captain And What-Not” … Y’all figure out why I call him that soon enough, then … Please enjoy as much as I did!!!
To be fair, we have been spoiled a bit here with the Union when it comes to commentary.
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JP is one of the best play-by-play guys and that is why he gets called in to do national broadcasts and we have had the likes of Twellman, Martino, and Moreno come through for the color commentary.
YAY! Now everyone will be happy on here and will stop complaining about total nonsense until we lose and the cycle restarts itself.
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This is the team I know we are. And I don’t understand why everyone tries to argue that we aren’t. Everyone is human and they can’t be perfect all the time. I’m looking at you “PSP commenting elite” xP
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Let’s get rowdy af at this next game and kick the crap out of that Italian midget!!!!
On that note, I think one of our favorite scapegoats had quite a good game: fabinho. That first run marauding down the left was tremendous, and played very stable d by his standards
To be honest it’s quite simple I mean it’s not a coincidence that barnetta moves to his natural spot, Bedoya takes the 8, Alberg, Herbers, Davies are all now subs and we win 4-0
Agreed. It was a matter of two months of guys out of position. We have good players, but they need to be in the right spots.
Balance restored.
Agree that the guys out of position was the biggest problem. The departure of Nogs was sad and sudden,and the caused the player shift. @ CPfeif…indeed… balance restored!
I’m with you. I bitch and moan. I get that we aren’t perfect. I ranted last week pretty hardcore given the circumstances of the points lost.
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We’ll never be perfect but we have been inconsistent since early July and I think putting together 2-3 solid performances is what we want.
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Tonight was dominant. I was impressed and happy. Very well done
You’re comment regarding “YAY everyone can stop complaining about nonsense is pointless.”
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You go to any club around the world and every detail is examined under a microscope… every detail…you should be so lucky to have a place that conducts reasonable verbal intercourse over this club. What happens here is not exceptional and comments like yours actually display a general misunderstanding and youthful exuberance that can be safely compared to ignorance. Not to mention… welcome to Philadelphia- are you new.
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Sincerely,
possible or apparent PSP Commenting Elitist.
Darn forgot to reiterate for about the 20th time that hyperbole is a literary convention….
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Thanks Broseidon, for your comment. I spent most of last season trying to be a voice of reason. I was called things from a “Union troll” to a “Union intern” and more. The prospect of arguing with all the “Henny Pennys” and “Chicken littles”, this season, just was not appealing. So, I stopped commenting on most things Union, a few games in, and just tried to enjoy the growth of this team. It’s been blissful ever since.
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“How do you write women so well?”
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“I think of a man, and then I take away reason, and accountability.”
Feel better now?
Since reading and comprehension aren’t your strong suit, I’ll direct your attention to the last sentence in the paragraph above. Considering your lack of understanding the first time I shall also include a definition.
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blissful:(adjective) extremely happy; full of joy.
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Hope that helps.
Sarcasm is clearly beyond your own obviously limited comprehension skills. I find that unfortunate. I am also curious to know why you hate men so much.
When they play well, we acknowledge it. They played well Saturday.
Just what the doctor ordered. Great win and dominant. A week without fear and loathing in our future.
Amazing team effort. I’m all about this lineup. A tweak here and there and well-oiled machine come playoff time.
Also I was actually at this game in fox borough because I’m that dedicated haha. And I was blown away with the number of causal die hard union fans that were actually there. Not just SOB.
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Way more union fans were attending this game than we get at talen even compared to The likes of casual DC fans.
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Maybe there’s just a lot of transplants up there but it was still impressive to see
I went up for the open cup game in Boston, but Foxboro is just such a pain to get to and such a pain to get out of afterwards (although I must admit that I don’t think I’ve been there since ’89 or ’90).
Going to suggest that fans who travel great distances aren’t “casual”. Not everyone has to pay dues to be a diehard. Another way to look at it, those of us who sit in the middle sections die harder with our wallets than a Bro with a single TRE $240 card. But, as you were.
Hey now buddy my seats are in 107 at home. Which, if I’ve done the math correctly, are the most expenseive outside of the suites.
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Don’t go making preconceived notions, there’s a reason I chose this name and it’s finally starting to pay dividends. (See comments below)
Perhaps somebody shouldn’t be throwing the term “elitist” around so casually.
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(Psssst. You might have some stuck to your own shoe there. 😉 )
Fucking spot on.
Interesting… I was not referring to the fact that I’m not a “commenting elite” and pointing a finger and saying you are and I’m not. more so that I’m an optimist and not looking for an over the top evaluation of a simple answer.
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Didn’t mean to hurt your guys feelings lol
All good.
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Just my riposte.
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I’m a gentle spirit but very much enjoy the ascerbic respectful fencing that happens here. And to me it is sport just as fencing is.
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This is why I return over and over… more so than just commenting on the Union.
Interesting that when we needed to sub CJ off at half, we went with herbers and not davies. Seems he’s still first man up for us off the bench. More importantly, I hope CJ is ok.
Not that surprising. I don’t think Curtin has confidence that Davies can go 45 minutes yet considering how little time he had played with New England this season.
I sat with a friend during her chemo regime recently.
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I have no understanding of Charlie Davies’ diagnosis or course of treatment.
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That he has the energy to play soccer at all is somewhat amazing to me, the complete layman, given the controlled poisoning I watched my friend endure.
Soooo we’re going to kill you, that you don’t die.
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Strange this fight against cancer.
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Strange we even call it a fight as its ‘you’ turning against ‘yourself’. Wonder if we start thinking of cancer as a blending with instead of a fight against our relationship with it would begin to change… maybe a bit naive of me never having heard – nor hopefully ever hearing the jjaw dropping words… You have cancer.
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You’re a good friend OSC.
Have to assume he got put into the concussion protocol. Hopefully he heals as quickly as LeToux did earlier this year.
More than likely, yes. But if not, its good to see that the team wasn’t so renegade with CJ’s health like they were against Columbus earlier this year. Took a knock, had a healthy herbers ready to go and left him out there 10 more minutes until CJ went back to the ground.
With Davies now we have enough depth at forward that he need not be rushed back.
Davies’ minutes in MLS combined this season don’t equal a full half. It was interesting that he was subbed in at all, more of a on cruise control can’t blow it so why not move? Classy on Curtin’s part, but he wasn’t needed to close this out.
I will presume to refer everyone back to Matt Kirkpatrick’s guest article a few days ago on concussion treatment. Matt’s a certified athletic trainer. The info is more than useful..
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For CJ’s sake, I hope it is not a concussion.
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We are not woodpeckers.
Hope he is OK as well but if he had stayed on we may not have won by so much. Think the team plays better without him.
Not sure about better but certainly different.
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CJ is a physical presence, Davies a speed danger over the top, and Herbers is a combo guy. All play the position a bit differently which against any given opponent could be better or worse but regardless is a very good situation.
(turns off the ‘No’ on the Vacancy sign at the Union Cliff of Despair)
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At least for this week.
Can we put a temporary halt on the ‘Cliff of Ilsinho Despair’ as well. Let’s talk about the play where the Union were under a barrage for 10 minutes until Ilsinho intercepted the ball in his own 6 yard box, dribbled wide, passed to Rosenberry, sprinted to overlap, took pass dribbled away from his defenders passed to Barnetta and boom Union switched the field and were out of pressure going the other way. That’s why you need Ilsinho, because you can’t just boot and chase to close out games, you need some semblance of possession. (we’ll talk another day about why several guys including Ilshinho were fizzing in suspect crosses and through balls on occasions when they really could have used possession)
It’s funny… I kind of kick started the CUD commentary again recently, mostly as a means of pressure release.
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Coming back again to the use of hyperbole to express both concern about the state of play and have some fun bending language.
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From my POV taking everything into account and having argued at length the goal of the season was growth and maybe the playoffs and most certainly, Playing Well
That really has never changed. Course your team who for a while there was playing an increasingly smooth and clean game got all vomity of itself lately, the reasons aplenty… you’d think discussing it would be fun and welcome.
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IDK present company excluded… It seems some forget what the entire purpose of this place is. It’s the soccer version of 97.5 fm…
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…with some erudition and comic relief.
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And now apparently ELITISM.
Standing “0”, well said.
… the spectrum is broad. Literalism is not limited to this page, but infects wider society
Well said. Ilsinho was a much better player vs NE then he was vs DC the week before.
Fun game to watch. Barnetta, Bedoya, and Pontius worked well. Still wondering where Yaro is and why Tribbett starts over him. Alberg’s goal was pretty but seemed like the Revs were watching as much as we were back here in Philadelphia. Great game, boys.
I think in this situation tribbett was the better player to counter the brute force and hold up of Kamara. But there is the possibility that we see yaro next week to combat the speed of Toronto up top.
Agreed.
Curtin’s judgment of Tribbett’s psyche plays into it. He does believe in second chances.
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The other half of it is how well, or not well, Yaro has been showing in practice, a question we cannot answer at all.
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Yaro played decently in the last home game at Lehigh for Bethlehem. He was competent, stayed within himself and his role.
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On the general subject of center backs, file a name into your future file. Only time will tell, but I would keep an eye on Mark McKenzie. He is a rising senior at the Academy, so is a year behind Auston Trusty. In the limited minutes that he has gotten that I have seen, my intuitive sense has been that he “belonged” on the field with the adult male professionals.
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Coach Burke might try a teenage tandem of McKenzie and Trusty at CB should the Steel fall out of the realistic – as opposed to the mathematical – playoff picture. It would be fun to see how they would do together. The opportunity for success would need to be well judged, e.g., not against Louisville away, for example.
Bethlehem Steel FC lost to lowly Pittsburgh Riverhounds on Saturday night and have realistically fallen out of the USL playoff picture. Feel free to “have fun” and tinker away with what’s left of the inaugural season. Go ahead and start the whole damn Academy team and be sure to include the 15-year-old goalkeeper. The Philadelphia Union know damn well they have been aching to do it all season long — and I, for one, am finally ready to see it!
The key to this team, defensively and offensively, is the 8 and the 10. Bedoya and Barnetta were simply fantastic today. Bedoya played the connector role as good as Nogueira, but offered more defensive work and pressed better. Barnetta is a different player at the 10. Not only does he offer an amazing defensive and offensive work rate at the position, but he reads the game much better than Alberg. Those driving runs open space up or result in Barnetta being fouled, and he knows it.
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The amazing thing is that when our 8 and 10 are working and playing in accordance with the system we have, bad performances by other players are easily masked. For example, Creavalle was atrocious today. He wandered out of the pocket far too much and was a turnover machine, but we did not get burned because of how well Bedoya and Barnetta played. Even Tribbett had a questionable game early on with some bad giveaways that were masked by the work rate and positioning of Bedoya and Barnetta.
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With a proper 6 and better passing discipline from Tribbett and Marquez, this team can go far and no one will want to face them in the playoffs. We need Edu and BC healthy.
Bingo on #6, and we don’t have one! I don’t think BC will be back at all & Mo looks doubtful. Puts more pressure on young back line. TFC will be a big, big test.
Best thing Bedoya did yesterday was free Barnetta up to do what he does best
in a galaxy far far away….didn’t get to see game.
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Super pleased with this result. Nice to be dominant. Glad to here Bedoya is a member of team.
Sorry to hear. You would have been pleased, in the second half especially, with the periods of maintained possession. There has to be a critical mass of players who understand that and have the technical and mental skills to execute it. It happens best when Herbers is playing center forward as part of the mass.
Great win, we really needed that. Bedoya blended in so well and put in a very good performance considering that he didn’t have too much of a preseason. Ilsinho had a very strong match as well. Kept getting into dangerous areas. Barnetta was his usual self, bursting into the attack. Nice to see Sapong get a goal on a very difficult finish which he made look easy.
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Hopefully we can build on this in a very important match vs Toronto, but we can just enjoy this one today.
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Anyone see Crew-NYC? Five 2nd half goals with 2 in stoppage time. Crazy.
Bedoya is quality and is calm on the ball. He is very professional.
Great game. No stress whatsoever. Nice change of pace. Personally, I’d continue starting Tribbett because he’s an ANIMAL in the air for us. He and Richie looked impenetrable again last night. Very encouraging for our D to get back on track. Both Keegan and Fabinho looked like themselves again too thank goodness.
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And did anyone else notice Roland Alberg calling for the ball from Rosenberry prior to his gorgeous goal? He seemed pissed when he came on. Then he kept waving his hand, and waving his hand until Keegan saw him and bam…bam…GOAL. If we could harness his ego and tempestuous attitude he could be great for us in my opinion. Sniper. He wants the ball and he wants goals.
He displays the psyche of a striker, not that of an attacking center mid, but I wouldn’t trust him to do the dirty running on defense.
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If he were to train at that position under Jim Curtin, he would get training in defensive hard work that would benefit him as a #10 later on.
Cannot disagree with you. Perhaps he is the proverbial “POACHER” that great teams bring off the bench for an infusion of offense and bad teams rely on for 90 despite the defensive liability. And if he can be coached up on how to stick his man in mls without getting carded voila a baller!
The Shuttleworth response after the goal was hilarious. He basically chucked the ball as hard as he could at his CB.
No doubt Alberg is a wonderful player to come on for the last 30 odd mins. I’m ok with him bring our best option off the bench ever
Best option ever? How quickly we forget what’s his name, I mean Antoine Hoppenot! 🙂
“best option off the bench ever?”
Better than Floppenot?
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Edit: Andy beat me to the punch…GMTA!
Anyway you look at it Alberg is quality, clearly wants to start and clearly wants to play. Wants the ball and goals regardless of where he is on the field. Ultimately, I think comes next year he could be a great option on the left to fill a Pontius sized hole if he doesn’t come back. Alberg needs to learn how to harness his energy and control his emotions, but damn can he play and he puts shots on goal you can’t dislike that. I think Alberg will learn how to deal with defensive responsibilities and his 10 goals in 11 games is not what I expected when he was brought in. I would’ve been happy if he hit 5 to 7 goals. Alberg clearly can score in MLS and regardless of his defensive lapses and how he disappears from games he is not someone you can let go from this team. Just under 50% of his shots have been on target and just over 50% of those shots have been goals (that is a great ratio to have).
What a relief! Great all around effort from the starters and guys coming off the bench, and seeing the communication pick up in the 2nd half was awesome.
Not to nitpick, but I was concerned about possession in the first half. Was it just me, or did there seem to be a lot of errant passes?
I’m never comfortable seeing them with a 1-0 lead at the half!
Watched the game with friends from Boston on MLS live. We’re all at my place in NY. Normally we’re routing together against NY teams under any and all circumstances. However They got a little full of themselves after the open cup. These guys are amazing at not giving the Union credit for having a team that can really compete. Back in March they were full of excuses after losing in the Union’s stadium and last night they whined about the short turnaround. I told every team in MLS has a short turnabout at some point. I just laugh at them like I do with my NY friends. They are all terrified of playing Philly teams when things are on par. When the Union weren’t a threat things were hunky dory. Now they’re actually afraid of the Union under the leadership of Ernie Stewart. I tell them to get use to it.
Union. The some day version of NFLs Buddy Ball maybe.
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…. a team other teams feared…. unequivocally. Here’s hoping our Union become better closers though.
They played well Saturday. New England was a little gassed from the Open Cup Semi, a lot of the same line up. Having Bedoya makes a difference……played simple too. He and Craeville need to work on spacing defensively and when to press and when to hold…. that will come….some big gaps on occasion in the midfield, other than that…….good stuff. Good to see CJ get back on the scoring sheet and Ilsinho must have read the comments from last week and was pissed……….
So something I got from the game was that Bedoya doesn’t trust Crevalle. After one or two turnovers you could see Bedoya look at Crevalle and pass it else where no matter how much space Crevalle had. Also anytime Crevalle received a pass you see Bedoya loop back and sprint towards the back four. I’d be interested to see how many time they actually linked up can’t expect it was much. This will be very important going forward as teams are going to key in on Bedoya and Barnetta. You can already see it with the amount Barnetta gets fouled. You cut out Bedoya too and the Union have problems. Granted at least in this game Bedoya fit better at the 8 then I expected. I still think his best spot is out wide, but at least this freed up Barnetta. We need BC healthy and fast cause Crevalle can’t handle the 6.
While I don’t disagree, we are really just unlucky to be in this position. Creavalle is actually a great #3 option at the #6 (and that’s saying more about the depth of the league than anything). I do think if teams start focusing on others more he will be able to step up because he can make a play with a ton of time. Also, we have players who actually move now so I think we will be able to break out of these spots ok and may actually find more space if they over-commit to trying to take out the Barnetta/Bedoya combo.
While I agree they may be able to compensate I do not think Crevalle can. He had multiple times in this game and others where he had plenty of time on the ball and could never get things sorted out to make a decent pass. Yes, there is always the possibility that he improves and he was okay in the beginning of the year. But the drop offs are clear in this league especially when teams get better players. Bedoya will feed Barnetta Ilsinho Pontius Rosenberry Fabi those were his main plays. He did not distribute the ball very often to Crevalle, Marquez, Tribbet, or even CJ makes me think he doesn’t trust the feet of those guys. In fact I thought Bedoya seemed to be a huge fan of Fabi as he kept telling him to take the space on the left so he could feed him the ball. There were multiple times in the game where Bedoya was receiving the ball telling Fabi to get up the wing. His distribution from the 8 seemed to focus on Fabi and Barnetta which I am okay with, but makes it pretty clear who he thinks needs to be on the ball.
Creavalle had at least 2 or 3 bad giveaways 35-40 yards from our goal in the center of the field. If that happens against Toronto with Giovinco then look out. I like Warren because he can run around and cause havoc but his technical ability is average/below average which teams can key in on and press him hard when he gets the ball.