These two teams did scrap, didn’t they?
This New England Revolution team can play some defense. I’m comfortable saying that the Revs defense is in the top third of the league. Anyone have any stats that support or refute me?
Outside of Rajko Lekic who arrived this week, has this lineup played any minutes together in 2011? Preseason?
I turned to my friend (@mrjnelson on Twitter) during the second half and said, “we have a top half of the table defense and an incoherent offense.” He agreed. Marko Perovic still looks to be reintegrating himself, he sprayed lots of crosses out of reach of targets.
The Dynamo kept building slowly until finally a bounce gifted them an opportunity in a goal-mouth scrum. 88+ minutes of Nicol defense broke and Houston took the lead. One goal was all it took to take this game.
So, rookies and sophmores offer some hope while we wait for the future. Stephen McCarthy in the middle (without the suspended Shalrie Joseph) and AJ Soares on the back line both looked good. If this team can actually sign the mythical goal scorer AND he can get integrated with his teammates then we can make a run at the cup. Without some upgrade on offense through improved collaboration or outright roster overhauls our defense can only keep us in contention for a playoff spot.
Next week we test our defensive shape against newish Sporting Kansas City and give our offense a chance to gel.
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