Saturday night in New England, the Revolution’s mission is clear: attack. Recent form for both Houston and New England suggests that our Revs can take this game from the Dynamo. The Revs are coming off of a win during which they scored four unanswered goals and then had a full week between games. The Dynamo played their first home game of 2012 Saturday, a 1-0 win, and then played again Tuesday night, a 0-0 draw. If Houston has a hangover from their stadium opening, what a great time for the Revs to get them at home.
This week on The Rebel Alliance Podcast we spoke with Brad Feldman, who you know as the Revs play-by-play man on TV, and Dustyn Richardson of Total-MLS.com. You can find us in iTunes or on Stitcher Radio.
While BBVA Compass Stadium looks ORANGE great the Dynamo attack is sputtering. Perhaps their let down was the Tuesday night game that ended 0-0 against Portland. Talented and left footed Brad Davis seems to be the only reliable player Houston has going forward. Calen Carr, Will Bruin, and Brian Ching all have the potential to turn a play in their favor, though, none has established themselves as a consistent difference maker this season. With a seven game road trip to open 2012, Houston has been efficient. The Dynamo have only played 9 games so far, three fewer than the Revs, but these two teams are even in the standings with 12 points each. Defense seems to be the key to Houston’s success.
The Revolution just beat Vancouver, another vaunted defensive team, by three goals, can they put on a similar performance? I think so, yes. New York beat Houston 1-0 by capitalizing on a turnover in the back. The Revs have attacking talent all over the field with Saer Sene at forward, Benny Feilhaber, Lee Nguyen, Fernando Cardenas, and even Kelyn Rowe as options for the wings, and while Clyde Sims and Shalrie Joseph play more as defensive midfielders they can contribute to the attack. Our left back, Tierney, pressured loose a ball that lead to ousesame winning goal against Vancouver. I expect our Revs to take shots on Houston’s goal.
Houston’s Tally Hall has proven to be a reliable goal keeper and he has an impressive defense in front of him. Geoff Cameron and Bobby Boswell are the center backs. Jermaine Taylor, Corey Ashe, and Andre Hainault have all seen time as outside backs. Taylor has, recently, earned minutes consistently playing on either side. Adam Moffat typically sets up in front of the defense and coach Dominic Kinnear rested him Tuesday night, so I expect to see him Saturday. I don’t expect it will be easy to beat this Houston team. They are usually disciplined and always tall enough to at least threaten during their set pieces.
If New England can’t find a way to open up Houston’s defense then I expect this game will be decided on set pieces, perhaps even one set piece. This is an Eastern Conference match up and therefore potentially a six-point game in the standings. I have to believe that Houston would be happy to earn a road tie. Set pieces have been a relative weakness for the Revs and both Will Bruin and Brian Ching will do,their best to get open. If we foul the Dynamo or give up corner kicks, Brad Davis will put the ball in threatening positions. Most important for our Revs to start the game attacking aggressively and concentrating on playing tight defense – no jogging through the first 5 or 10 minutes. Second will be to continue that concentration on defensive assignments all game long and especially, ESPECIALLY, during set pieces. The Revs are 3-1 at home so far this season. We have defended New England and I expect we will do so again this weekend. Check with Dustyn for his more orange perspective, I predict a 2-0 New England home win.
LATE UPDATE: Clyde Simms is listed as OUT on Friday’s Injury Report. This means that our midfield will look different than expected. I expect that Shalrie Joseph will shift back to play a more defensive or holding midfielder role. That opens up a position in in central midfield. Previously this season we have seen Kelyn Rowe play centrally, though, he hasn’t earned minutes since he has returned from injury. Lee Nguyen is certainly in form if we consider his player of the week performance against Vancouver. I suspect that we are more likely to see Benny Feilhaber line up in the center, forward of Shalrie Joseph, with Nguyen and possibly Rowe or even Ryan Guy on the wings.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
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