Rider Insider

This blog entry was God’s will, honest…

And peace be with you, Chase.

This team only needs one man to hand out communion and we all know who that is. Therefore we need to say farewell, Chase Hilgenbrinck. You accounted for yourself well in your brief time in the Revs’ red, white, and blue but now you are off to the clergy. I hope we get some allocation money or at least some cash considerations in return. One thing is certain, Chase, you willl be in my prayers to the Flying Spaghetti Monster in the Sky.

Hilgenbrinck’s departure, all future sainthood aside, appears to be the type of transaction that you find in small print at the end of the sports page. Hilgenbrinck is just a back up after all. A glance at the schedule ahead quickly ratchets up the importance of even the seldom used bench players on the Revs roster. If you thought the Revs faced a fixtures glut at the beginning of the season just wait until you see what is in store in August. Couple this with the news that the Revs could be without Michael Parkhurst due to Olympic team duties and the depth that Hilgenbrinck provides makes his role with team seem even more important.

Parkhurst could potentially miss up to nine matches for the Revs including the Super Liga semifinals and finals, the U.S. Open Cup semifinals and finals, and their first leg against Joe Public FC in the CONCACAF Champions League. Being without Parkhurst for these big matches, potentially some of the biggest of the season could really hurt the Revs chances of earning some silverware this year. Without Hilgenbrinck the Revs are left with only one defender on their bench with real game experience against another first division side (Amaechi Igwe) and as a result, if Parkhurst is lost Shalrie Joseph, Pat Phelan or Jeff Larentowicz will most likely be forced into central defense. Playing one of your more important players like Larentowicz or Joseph out of position is not something that a team that is competing for two international club trophies should need to do. This is why I think (and hope) that Steve Nicol will not allow Parkhurst to travel to the Olympics. One look at the upcoming matches and how important they are should be enough for even Parkhurst to draw that conclusion.

The upcoming schedule is a lot even for Steve Nicol. Nicol spent much of his career globetrotting with the Scottish National team and of course aiding Liverpool in successful quests for European glory. He knows a lot about a busy travel schedule but he has never played in 3 countries in one week, which is what the Revs will do when they take on D.C. United at Gillette Stadium on August 20^th, Toronto F.C. in Canada on August 23^rd and then wrap up their international tour on August 26^th taking on Joe Public FC in Trinidad and Tobago. The wildcard in all of this is the fact that U.S. Open Cup final is also scheduled on the 26^th. I can’t, for the life of me begin to predict which match will take precedent if this occurs but either way it would make for another fixture cluttered week.

Sure, the pressure of all of these extra matches may wind up wearing down the Revs but this year they seem to have the depth to cope, and when you consider the alternative of not playing in any competitions outside of the MLS this seems like a pretty good place to be.

Put the Red, In ‘Red, White, and Blue’

The Face of America!

A case can certainly be made that Jeff Larentowicz is most underrated player in the MLS. His consistency and high work rate have made him a perfect complement to Shalrie Joseph in the center of the Revs’ midfield. This season, however, Larentowicz has turned in some performance that should drag him out from behind Joseph’s impressive shadow. One match in particular, where he dominated current national team member Maurice Edu, gave me reason to believe that Larentowicz should be given a shot to wear the red, white, and blue. He plays a position where many players have been given a shot over the past few years and no one has really stuck. If Ricardo Clark and the aforementioned Edu are given the opportunity there also must be a chance for Larentowicz whose passing and vision this season have really improved greatly. If Bob Bradley wants to give his son some room to roam he should look no further than Larentowicz for protection.

So let the campaign begin, lets not let Jeff join a long line of snubs from the national team!

Of course, let’s just hope he doesn’t have to miss any important mid-season matches to get the respect he deserves.

Upcoming Match

Match day two in the Super Liga for the Revs is fast approaching on Wednesday and I see the same line up making its way onto the field to take on defending Super Liga champions Pachuca CF. There is a prevailing opinion that Pachuca is the best of the bunch in the Revs group which includes Chivas USA and Santos Laguna but this does not give me a reason not pick the Revs here. They played pretty conservative at times against Santos Laguna but I think they got some of the opening tournament jitters out of the way and couple that with a home field advantage I see the Revs clipping this one in a similar fashion to that of Santos Laguna match, 1 – 0.