New England avoided setting a club winless streak record and gets a chance to put together this season’s first two game winning streak on Saturday. Compared to Sunday’s loss to Philadelphia, Wednesday night’s win on the road in DC felt like a warm patch of sunshine on a comfy chair. Do not, however, mistake the fact that New England tripled their win total for the season as a sign that our woes are completely behind us. Taking the precious three road points did provide a clear blueprint for this team to gut out future successes.
Matt Reis could not have had a better game. If he had actually saved Charlie Davies first half penalty kick, instead of CD9 skying it over the goal, that would have been the only thing to make this goal keeping performance more impressive. He made six saves and recorded his fourth shutout of the season. That is two shutout wins and two shutout ties. One of those ties came at home against the Colorado Rapids who we visit on Saturday night. A similar team effort with Matt Reis leading the defensive effort will be key to earning any points against the Rapids. Against DC United, though, our goalkeeper was my Man of the Match.
Shalrie Jospeh’s return to the field clearly demonstrated either that the team was rebounding off of our rock bottom or that he is the leader that can pull this team off of our rock bottom. His presence against DCU and the team’s cohesion on defense are a sharp contrast to the nightmare against Philly. I hope that Shalrie can have a similar affect on Benny Feilhaber in his return. Benny’s frustration during the Philly game boiled over, earning him two yellow cards and the ejection. While the passion is welcome, we need you on the field to compete Benny. Shalrie Joseph has been asked to carry this team for a couple years now, the job doesn’t get easier after the club has released several talented veteran players. Matching up against former teammate Jeff Larentowicz and Pablo Mastroeni will certainly be more of a physical challenge than playing against DC United’s midfield.
First year player Stephen McCarthy’s goal was well taken. He successfully faked his defender towards the back post before breaking across the face of the goal and glancing the ball back on frame. Perhaps the rookie will take confidence from that goal and step up his play. He could have had two goals from his head, and at his height he would do well to develop that skill. Aside from Joseph, Reis, Felihaber, and 25 year old Tierney, this Revolution roster is as youthful as rookie goal scorers suggest. Given the way the first half of this season progressed many fans want to give the goal scorers from our reserve squad some first team minutes. Steve Nicol has many challenges ahead of him as we approach the playoffs – managing this team’s youth comprises a set of challenges in itself.
That Steve Nicol is a good coach will not be disputed. Some have suggested that a clean break might be best for both the club and its coach. Nicol is the longest serving coach in MLS and has coached Cup contenders and brought home an Open Cup trophy – to date the only trophy aside from Superliga that the Revolution have won. This season the Revs have defended set pieces fairly well, and the only reliable goal scoring for this team comes from their set pieces. The recent purge of veterans like Perovic, Domi, and Dabo mean that Nicol will have to get the most out of his young roster, unless more help arrives in the next few weeks. It will be interesting to hear Nicol’s reflections on this season when it is over. His next challenge will be to chose between Pat Phelan and Stephen McCarthy when Benny returns against the Rapids.
The win against DC was great. We have beaten them three times this season and, unless we meet in the playoffs, that is a sweep. There will not be any playoff games for the Revolution if they cannot continue to play defense like they did against DC. The next challenge is a big one. Sanna Nyassi, twin brother of New England Revolution winger Sainey Nyassi, posted an impressive 4-1 win over New York Red Bull Wednesday night. Conor Casey may be out for the rest of the season, but if Omar Cummings and Sanna continue to combine they will be a handful. If the Rapids want to exchange physical presence for the speed of Nyassi they have Caleb Folan on the bench. Both teams are coming off impressive wins. New England will have quite a challenge when they take the field against Colorado Saturday night. I hope the Schilawski out wide experiment continues, let’s get more people involved in the offense, though set pieces seem the likely goal scoring source. I predict another 0-0 tie as the Revs frustrate the Rapids and develop their defensive identity and gain more confidence.
(image courtesy of revolutionsoccer.net)
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
