Thank you, Coach Heaps. When you were hired you spoke about some of the changes you wanted to make and how you hoped that would change the way our club played on the field. We are only four games into your first season, so there is still plenty of time for any storylines or themes to emerge. In recent years our Revs have struggled to score and when we were able to get goals we struggled to hold onto games. We often fell deeper and more compact on defense – which had to have been tiring physically and mentally. In his post game comments after the victory in Los Angeles Jay Heaps was asked for his overall thoughts on the game. “…We know LA is so good on the attack, and the old the cliché, the best defense is a good offense and we wanted to keep the ball as long as we could at times and take our chances and that’s we did.”
The Revs went into LA with a game plan. More than knowing our own strengths and the oppositions strengths and weaknesses you could tell the New England players knew how to contribute their individual games to the team objectives. There were seams that Los Angeles exploited and Robbie Keane certainly played to win – he appeared to be the only Galaxy player competing towards the end of the match. The Revs, though, threw themselves into their roles. I loved how fired up AJ Soares looked at center back. There were times he was racing back and instead of flying in for a tackle he tried to gain position and simply harry and harass the Galaxy forwards trusting that if they got off a shot and if their shot was on goal Matt Reis was back there to make the stop. Aside from Keane few of LA’s shots were threatening and many went wide.
New England won the battle in the midfield. Clyde Simms and Shalrie Joseph left very little room and almost no time for any LA players to lift their heads and choose their next move. The energy level was turned on and turned up all over the field from Ryan Guy’s work up top, through Lee Nguyen’s consistent possession, to Stephen McCarthy’s solid job on defense. Our wingbacks, Tierney and Alston, even combined for one of the goals. When the Revs possession passing is clicking through it almost seems as if the entire team is bombing forward. Those are great signs of a team prepared and ready to compete.
The goals were all further evidence of Jay’s cliche in practice – a successful offense will cure a multitude of maladies. The first two goals were both also great examples of why Shalrie as a center back is impressive but not necessarily his best position on this team. He sent a great ball in between the Galaxy defense and Josh Saunders in goal. Saunders had a rough night. Kelyn Rowe met Shalrie’s pass and Saunders stopped that shot, but put it right into K. Rowe’s path and he didn’t miss the second try. Later Kevin Alston used a give and go with Shalrie to break through the defense and cut back a pass behind the forwards and LA defense right where Chris Tierney was also crashing forward. The third goal was another headed ball from Saer Sene from a cross by Ryan Guy. That looks like a successful partnership to me. Our offense definitely added to the Galaxy’s recent reputation for vulnerability. Scoring always relieves some pressure from the defense – that’s the kernel of truth in the cliche.
While Keane’s consolation goal certainly showed our defensive shape had shifted open it seemed at that point to be the exception that proved how much the Revs ruled this game. My favorite part of this team having won two games in a row is that along with building confidence up and down the roster we haven’t yet found a consistent starting line up. Formations and choice of starters may fluctuate for lots of reasons throughout the season. There will be injuries, we’ve already seen that, suspension, yep, checked that box, too, and even coaches’ decisions based on match ups. I am enjoying watching guys compete to contribute. It may be a while before we settle into a regular set of starters and there may even be a few ugly mistakes we learn from along the way. Right now everyone from the practice field, to the bench, and in the last 15 minutes on the pitch, everyone is pulling for our team to win.
New England beat the champs! I hope that we come out ready to compete on Thursday night in Dallas. One possible stumbling block will be overconfidence – something our Revs haven’t battled in quite some time. I think, given the way Coach Heaps prepared the squad for Los Angeles, that New England will be ready to take on FCD. My favorite line from the NBCSN broadcast was when Arlo White said, “Beware New England.” That’s good advice for Dallas. So far, the returning players and the new additions are all playing as a team. We have integrated a fresh approach and new members. Everything is looking good for the Revs right now. Bring on Dallas and let’s see what the Revs can do!
Check out The Rebel Alliance Podcast for my podcast with @MrJNelson later this week and, of course, check back here at Total-MLS.com for fans’ perspectives of all the MLS action.
(image courtesy of Getty Images)
