On Saturday, March 30th, the New England Revolution (1-1-1) will play FC Dallas (3-0-1) as they conclude a two-game home stand. The returns of Jerry Bengtson (international duty) and Kalifa Cisse (injury) should help the Revs as they try to erase memories of the scoreless draw seen in the home opener.
Since Jay Heaps became head coach, the Revolution has taken pride in calling Gillette Stadium a fortress. The team collected 27 of their 35 points at home last year with a final record of 7-4-6 while in Foxboro. Being at home also proved to be a catalyst for the attack as the Revs scored 23 of their 39 goals when playing in front of the home crowd. Heaps and company worked hard to make New England a challenging place for opponents to visit.
Last Saturday’s game was not an extension of this trend since the team only managed three shots with none on target. Sporting KC proved to be more effective on the night with 13 total shots, five being on-goal. A shot in the 19th minute would have surely found the back of the net if it wasn’t for a heroic stop by Clyde Simms. The Revolution knows that they have to do a better job of making Gillette Stadium a feared venue for MLS opponents.
Speaking to the media after the game against Sporting KC, forward Chad Barrett explained, “What the guys have been saying from the get-go is that we need to get wins. That’s something that we want to establish. We want to make sure that when people come in here that they try to get out of here with a tie. They don’t even think about winning.”
To make Foxboro a more dreaded location, the team will need to focus on making the best of their possession by creating chances. Against Sporting KC, the Revs held 55% of the possession but often failed to do anything with it. When it came time for the crucial moment, players often missed the mark with the team only completing 58.5% of their passes.
Kelyn Rowe’s play was particularly troublesome with the Washington native making 16 successful passes and 18 unsuccessful ones while losing possession 23 times because of a tackle. Lee Nguyen wasn’t much better as he lost possession due to a tackle 30 times while making 24 unsuccessful passes and 29 successful ones. The play of these players, along with Juan Toja (30 successful, 12 unsuccessful, 18 tackles), needs to be sharper if the Revs want to make their home a fortress.
A large part of making Gillette Stadium a feared location is fan support. While the 12,215 fans at last Saturday’s game were tenacious, a better product will be needed in order to keep spirits high and increase the number of people in the stands.
Heaps addressed fan support in his press conference by saying, “Obviously, you want to leave with three points. I hope (fans) saw something a little bit different from us in terms of how we go out there and fight.”
Now that fans have seen the newfound fight from Revolution players, they are going to want to see better play and results. Against FC Dallas, the Revs have the opportunity to redo the season opener and ignite the fan base.
What to Look for Against FC Dallas
1. The Revolution may be looking to try a new formation. The 4-2-3-1 formation that that Revolution has been using this season worked well against the woeful Chicago Fire but didn’t produce results against the Philadelphia Union or Sporting KC. The Revs used a 4-4-2 throughout preseason with Diego Fagundez and Jerry Bengtson leading the frontline. The big man-little man arrangement could make an appearance again. Another option is to swap Fagundez for Chad Barrett, who looked lively in the opening minutes against Sporting KC. While none of these ideas may come to fruition, it’s likely that we see some changes to the lineup to improve the style of play.
2. Set pieces, set pieces, set pieces. The Achilles’ heel for the New England Revolution has to be set pieces. The only goal scored on the Revs this season came when Jack McInerney headed home a free kick. FC Dallas can be impressive in dead ball situations as evident by the two scored against the Houston Dynamo. With targets like Kenny Cooper and George John, the Revs will have to be focused when defending set pieces. On the flipside, the Revolution will need to make the best of their own opportunities. The play of Toja, Rowe and Nguyen can attract plenty of fouls and it will be crucial that the team does better when given free kicks.
3. The Revs need to attack from the wings. While the backline offered a lot of great defending against Sporting KC, they weren’t much of an offensive threat. Farrell made a rare journey forward in the 53rd minute and offered a dangerous cross that could easily have been whistled for a handball. More of these moments are needed in order to vary the attack and give the midfield more freedom. To help with this, Heaps may want to consider implanting Chris Tierney into the starting lineup. Tierney showed a positive relationship with Lee Nguyen in the preseason and takes some of the best free kicks on the team.
