Halftime: NE Revs 2-0 Galaxy (OR: DAMN, Xavier Sucks)

Here's a thing I wonder about Klein: is Gullit telling him to go forward this aggressively? Is it part of a calculated gamble in which Gullit effectively has the team playing with a 3.5-man backline? Neither Gullit nor Klein lacks insight into the game, so they must know that Klein is often leaving space on the right. And it's not as though Gullit were so meek that he wouldn't tell Klein to stay the hell at home if he wanted that. And Klein strikes me as a pro, so he'd probably listen even to less forceful coach (like, say, Yallop).

Since so much of the play develops on the right (through Beckham), it would make sense to have your right back really pushing forward a lot so that Beckham has a safe but offensive outlet. After all, Beckham isn't very fast or explosive with the ball at his feet, so Gullit must want the team doing something to ensure that Beckham gets the ball in the right space with enough time to play it usefully.

I have been wondering lately, is it really our defense that is so bad or our midfield? Xavier and Franklin are individually pretty good. I know Xavier is slow and gets beat a lot, but that is in large part because he is left all alone to cover the entire back right quadrant.

Clearly our right mid is strong. But the center seems soft. And I don't even know who he is playing on the left these days? Defender Ante Jazic? Can Klein not switch to left mid?

i don't know how anyone can defend xavier's playing, just as he can't provide any defense for shaky steve cronin. xavier just doesn't seem mentally there. and from what i've read about his international career, this is something of a pattern. he didn't seem to even be aware that he was supposed to cover cristman.

the midfield had no rhythm, and too many wayward passes. and yeah, i think franchino needs to go. he plays like a hack. transfer window opening soon, please bring in some defense.

I ended up missing the second half, but everybody says it was a whole lot better. My perspective is skewed because I didn't see it. I'd probably feel more positive if I had.

Poor Xavier -- we can't blame him for everything. Sure he got beat, but if you're the only guy back with a relentless attack, sometimes that's going to happen. Franklin is super fast, which is nice, but he had a bad game. Jazic was fairly solid. And I'm liking Klein more and more in an overall sense, but agree wholeheartedly with previous post, when it comes to defense, where is he??? Put him up in midfield. And please, please get rid of Franchino and Pires. We need some solid play and ball control in the midfield (good defense must start in the midfield to be effective) If you watch the plays that led up to shots on goal for the Revs, they were mostly begun as incredibly poor passes or ball carries from those two. Our midfield needs to think quickly and actually know a decent place to put the ball to help get it on the other side of the field.

Also MUST mention that the second half was better by a mile. Landon completely changed the texture of the game when he came in and added a bit of a midfield presence. Yeah Donovan.

okay..from what i read in the bigsoccer (and anywhere else), the Gs actually played fine. they even outshot the Revs in the 2nd half. and you must remember, a lost from set pieces means the team still have a lot of hope to win next time. it is just unfortunate that they can't get an equalizer, but they really played well against the Best Team in the League! both of the Revs' goals meant they won the battle of who wanted the ball most. but their first goal was really weak/soft actually. like i said, we were just UNfortunate! lost 2-1 to the best team isn't bad, i think. if you really wanna say that they are suck, than the DC game was certainly qualified for the word.

but having said that, yeah, our defensive play (and our defence) is still sucks! Xavier maybe didn't try so much. and yeah..a new defender has been confirmed, a Honduran. i hope, next time we'll be better! cheers! ;)

As bad as Xavier was, he's been pretty good this season. The problem in the backline which is persistent is Klein. I love the guy, but Right-back isn't his thing. He's always late and is usually on the wrong side of who ever he covers. I'm not saying he should be traded, but he should be somewhere further up.
Surprisingly poor night for Franklin as well. He's the bright spot back there, though. Must have been an off night.

i was at the game, well Alan Gorden and Xavier sucked real bad! Xavier cost bothed goals and Alan killed almost every attacking moment we had going in the 1st half.

Carlos Ruiz can't make an impact in 6 minutes, he's got get into rythmn, y didn't he start instead of Gordon, or brought in at the 60 or 70th for that matter!

The last ten minues were just depressing because they couldn't get the ball up the field!

I didn't watch the game but read some post game write-ups and read both goals came from X-Man getting beat. come on defensive player transfer. other than the goals how did the Galaxy play? Donovan also had the flu I remember reading and Beckham had some sort of muscle strain. Sounds like a uneventful game for us again other than a full house @ 27,000. Glad Beckham registered a goal though.