Sunday, November 13, 2005

Revs crack under pressure YET AGAIN; Nicol now 0-7 in extra time



The Revs are only the third team to make it to the "final four" in four consecutive years, but also the first with no titles to show for it. What's funny is that each loss has been heartbreaking. Out of the last four years, three times they've lost in extra time, and once on penalties.

During Nicol's tenure, they've also competed in the Open Cup three times. The results? They were eliminated twice in extra time, and once on penalties.

So that's 7 cup games that have gone to extra time, and 7 defeats. Shockingly bad. You have to wonder after this many times, if Nicol's coaching has something to do with it. In only one of those 7 games did the Revs score first.

Comments on "Revs crack under pressure YET AGAIN; Nicol now 0-7 in extra time"

 

Blogger bdure said ... (6:23 PM, November 14, 2005) : 

Interesting question. I wouldn't fault Nicol's tactics in this one -- the Revs got a lot of players involved, the Cancela sub almost paid off, and they didn't give up that much at the back.

Their set pieces were terrible, and maybe that's where you could wonder if something should have been different in training.

Other than that, their passes simply didn't connect.

 

Blogger scaryice said ... (6:34 PM, November 14, 2005) : 

It's funny, because they scored a ton of goals off set pieces in the regular season.

And I don't understand why he put in the rookie Latham, who has played only 157 minutes, rather than Phillips.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (3:05 PM, November 21, 2005) : 

Phillips played only 34 minutes with the Revs. If you think minutes matter, Latham is a no-brainer.

The idea with Latham in is to serve the strikers from the wings. That obviously didn't work. The other option would be to put in Edozien and let him use his speed to stretch the defense with balls over the top. Nicol went with Latham. I don't see much wrong with that move, in particular.

 

Blogger scaryice said ... (7:57 PM, November 21, 2005) : 

Edozien did not look good when he played. Phillips is a guy with big game experience, at least.

 

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