Fans of New England and Boston professional sports have some historic and historically successful or at least recently successful organizations in their rearview. My two favorites are the New England Revolution and the Boston Celtics. As we jealously watch the MLS playoffs from the outside my thoughts have lingered on the Revs 2012 season and some hopes for 2013 have begun to bud. To close this year I will compare our Revs to one of North America’s most passionately supported and historically successful sports clubs, the Boston Celtics, and take a look at our current roster, player by player.
Comparisons are often made between the Revs and the Pats because one owner, Kraft Sports, controls both teams. The debate about success and structure and support from within the larger organization of Kraft Sports typically leaves Revs fans jaded and invoking near mythical, “red headed step child” status. While the Pats have only relatively recently been consistent winners, and the Revs were around even before the Red Sox broke “The Curse,” the Boston Celtics current organization invokes their past success with history on a scale of many modern Football (as opposed to throwball) clubs, and all of these teams inspire passionate (and notably regional) support. This well established sports entertainment landscape in New England must be considered when discussing how the Revs measure up as a professional outfit.
I would consider the Boston Celtics an appropriate model for the ideal organization I would like our Revs to emulate. I will leave aside comparisons to the Pats or to the Red Socx, so fire away in the comments if you want to chime in on this offseason analysis.
The Boston Celtics have a proud history of success and an organization actively in pursuit of as many meaningful trophies as possible. From the qualities of the athletes, through the intelligent focus and motivational techniques of the coaching staff, the salary cap management and roster tending year after year improvement by the GM, to the public statements of the ownership group the Boston Celtics are a model franchise. Next to the Cs our Revs look awfully young and we still seem naive.
All it would take to flip our perceived naïveté into passionate commitment would be a trophy. Short of trophies some loud sell out crowds would stack up credibility among lots of sports fans. I think our Revs are pointed in the right direction, and there is plenty of room to criticize decisions throughout the entire 18 years of existence. Today we are going to use the Celtics as the standard for comparing lots of aspects of the New England Revolution.
The Celtics current leadership can be identified fairly easily. The face of ownership is Wyc Grousbek, with occasional contributions from his partners or even his wife (tweeting about Ray “Bennedict” Allen). For the Revs we have as the face of ownership Bob Kraft and his son Robert Kraft who are not as visible at Revs games as they are at Pats games. Contracts, negotiating, scouting in the first place, and seeking out affordable contributors in the wilds of the Amatuer, College, our own League, and the International game is Danny Ainge for the Celtics. Mike Burns is a former player similar to Ainge, and had a mentor in Sunil Gulati similar to the legendary Red Auerbach who Ainge famously disagreed with about breaking up an aging Bird, Mchale and Parish. Neither Burns nor Gulati has accumulated anywhere near enough esteem to be compared to Danny Ainge or Red Auerbach. Gulati does have an impressive resume and Burns may have only recently acquired actual responsibility, so more detailed comparison might be premature. And finally, Jay Heaps is no Doc Rivers, but I think he could be.
Let’s take a look at each piece of the club from the owner’s box down to the end of the reserve team bench:
Ownership: Kraft Sports, were you a school student your parents would receive a progress report at this point in the grading period saying, “lookout! Drift towards failure is ALARMING!” Saying things like you’ll back the team and give them whatever it takes will ring hollow until we play in a soccer specific stadium the fans can fill and the playing field is grass. You might also try to wear a scarf and sit where cameras can see you watching the games. Learn about the New England Flag, maybe charge up Bunker Hill waving it? Then we’d love you.
Administration: We’ve already established that Mike Burns and Sunil Gulati fall well short or might need more time to turn potential into results, let’s leave them aside. The standards from the Celtics are represented by Danny Ainge and Red Auerbach and the only guy in our Administration I want to talk about is Brian Bilello. Brian has embraced the leadership of our club in personal ways that are unpretentious and unrivaled in Revs history. When he opens the soccer specific stadium he will acquire an incredible amount of esteem. He already gets credit for speaking honestly in public or online forums, including the tailgate! He has admitted that the club has not met promises made to fans. He also bought me a beer once, so he’ll have to screw up worse than hyping a striker who turned out to not really love our club, to lose my vote of confidence. Brian Bilello is close to measuring up as a Revs leader. Whether it is another trophy or the promised-land of a dedicated stadium, leadership from this club’s administration hasn’t yet done enough.
Coaching: Jay Heaps came in with slogans and a philosophy. The slogans hinted at depth of thought while the philosophy which seemed simple and direct early on has acquired a tinge of simplicity and narrow thinking as the club limped towards the end of another unsuccessful season. “We will not be outsmarted, out worked, or outplayed,” is a great slogan but it leaves too much room for failures of execution. I don’t think the slogan should be abandoned until Jay is no longer coaching. The philosophy of “attack, attack, attack,” is an incredible improvement from the defensive retreat that characterized the decline of our club towards the end of the Steve Nicol era. Stevie deserves lots of respect for assembling and managing the successful, US Open Cup winning teams that are the high water mark of achievements for this club. I trust Jay Heaps because he proved his belief in his own philosophy through constantly making attacking substitutions and increasing our offensive statistics in 2012 as compared to 2011. All of the emphasis on offense, however, has left an impression that defense is the weakness that prevents our Revs’ success. I’m not sure yet about Jay as our head coach. I still think we need more time to really evaluate his management. If there isn’t a marked turn towards improvement, performing at least well enough to be in the playoff hunt in the final weeks of the 2013 season, then it might be possible to see whether or not Jay can coach our club to success. Our stretch of draws and the two wins to close out this season were heartening in that our Revs had turned belief and effort into results. If anything was troubling it was the turnover on the roster and the instability in our lineups throughout the entire season. I’ll take the hints of optimism from the closing games and use that to temper my disappointment with how far we still seem from having a coherant core of starters. So, I’m not sure how much more time past 2013 he will need or deserves but for at least that long I believe in Heaps.
Roster: The assembly of this roster is now the responsibility of Mike Burns and Jay Heaps. Mike Burns has plenty of work to do looking at every option for adding more quality, depth, and perhaps Ben starters to this squad. This offseason he will have to consider the re-entry process for veterans, the Super Draft for inexperienced Americans, and the international market. I expect more turnover before our first preseason games in 2013, so get to work Mike. Jay will contribute to the selection process an also has to lead the players to success. What do we have right now? Let’s take a look. Each player will be considered individually and his contributions, potential, cost in salary, weaknesses, and fitness for role on the squad may all be considered. We’ll discuss them by jersey number from lowest to highest.
1- Matt Reis – How long is his contract? I suspect that if this were an expansion year Matt Reis might have been left exposed. A leader, especially after Shalrie Jospeh’s departure, who responded well when challenged by the coaches with a couple of games on the bench. Reis can contribute, that’s not going to be debated, the question is how fast the future without him arrives.
2- Florian Lechner – This hard working former St. Pauli player brought excellent crossing when he was on the field. A veteran whose lack of speed could be exploited at times. Late season Injury halted what might have been his best opportunity for a string of starts after Kevin Alston moved to left back.
3- Tyler Polak – Generation Adidas rookie had less than 10 minutes with the first team this year. I hope he is healthy for training camp and that we actually get to see him play in 2013.
5- A.J. Soares – Sophomore slump? Maybe. His goal to close the season victorious in Montreal was awesome. My favorite part was the way he spoke about it after the game, giving all of the credit to Chris Tierney. AJ shows developing leadership skills often and I think he is probably a great guy to have in the locker room. In 2013 we will want to see consistent, high level performances from him.
6- Michael Roach – If he earned any minutes with the first team this year he didn’t make enough of an impression for me to remember. A reserve team squad player who will have to show marked improvement to join the first team on the field, or perhaps remain on the roster at all.
7- Blair Gavin – The guy we got from Chivas United States of America when we traded Shalrie Joseph. It will be difficult for Blair to play his way out of the shadow of the captain who departed as part of his arrival. It will be impossible if he never earns any first team minutes. That might not be fair to him, but fans respect results.
8- Chris Tierney – His commitment is admirable and his free kicks are mostly accurate. His ability to play on the left side is another rare asset. He played most of 2012 as our left fullback. While his exchanges with Lee Nguyen opened space demonstrated that the Revs could play a possession style of soccer it may also be true that he played out of position all season, too. I’m not sure how we get Chris on the field in 2013 if it isn’t at left back. It’s possible he may have lost his utility player status to Ryan Guy.
11- Kelyn Rowe – Another Generation Adidas rookie who, unlike Tyler Polak, saw plenty of time in matches. Most often set up on the right side his best plays were collaborations with Benny Feilhaber. His 2012 season could be described as similar to the team’s season in general: missed shots and defensive vulnerability had more influence on results than the potential that sparked but never quite caught fire.
13- Ryan Guy – Ryan Guy may have the biggest contributor at the best price, but he has competition in that category from Lee Nguyen. Guy was deployed all over the field, and used over and over again to inject energy and work into the Revs performances. His motor and versatility mean that we will likely see him on the field in some capacity during 2013.
14- Diego Fagundez – Diego graduated from High School this season. He is not a big muscled brute of a player. He is confident with the ball at his feet and fans love his slashing runs towards opposing defenses. After Saer Sene’s knee injury, Diego had an extended run as a second Forward, paired with Bengston or Imbongo. He impressed more consistently playing from deeper and I hope he gets the opportunity to establish himself as our right wing in 2013.
17- Sainey Nyassi – Who? His biggest impact this season came in our coaches preseason ponderings and one reserve league match. Injuries prevented him from opportunities to be one of Jay Heaps experiments in a new role from previous seasons.
18- Juan Toja – Toja’s arrival coincided with the expiration of our 2012 aspirations. His time has been more super-early-preseason than anything else. 2013 will better reveal his role and contributions to our Revs.
19- Clyde Simms – It feels like Clyde Simms had an up and down season, but really, and especially compared to performances at other positions, he was pretty consistent. Having been cut from DC United’s roster Simms immediately accepted a reduced contract for a spot with the Revs. Early in the season his job was to pair with Shalrie Joseph. As the season developed he was expected to replace Shalrie Joseph’s contributions. Given the instability of our Revs starting lineups the consistency that Simms brought has earned him a spot in 2013.
22- Benny Feilhaber – He is the highest paid player on the roster after Shalrie Joseph. Underperforming whether that is due to where the coaches have lined him up, the quality of the shots that missed when he might have earned assists, or the shift this season to include defensive responsibilities, all possible to debate. Benny’s contributions have been underwhelming. His frustration playing on our struggling team for the past two seasons has been as consistent a characteristic as his possession oriented style of play. Fans love his creative talent and some wonder if he and the Revs might be better off parting ways.
23- Blake Brettschneider – Project. Cut from DC United after his rookie season, Blake was given opportunities to make the target striker role his on our Revs 2012 team. His performances always inclcuded hustle and effort, but missed shots loom more prominently than his other contributions.
24- Lee Nguyen – Huge. Lee Nguyen went from puzzling cut by Vancouver, to talented dribbler out on our left, to integral Revolution creative force this season. His interplay with Chris Tierney and slashing towards the box from the left side were some of the most consistent threats our Revs generated in 2012. Get healthy and come back stronger in 2013, we are thrilled to have you on our team. (Hey, Burnsie! Give this guy a raise.)
25- Darrius Barnes – John Lozano and Stephen McCarthy pushed Darius down our defensive depth chart. As the season progressed Darrius saw opportunities come his way. I love Darrius’ commitment and the versatility he demonstrated this season has only added to the impression that he is truly a professional, ready to contribute. In my mind Barnes, Soares, and McCarthy are all comparable central defenders. It will be interesting to see how Barnes is used early in 2013.
26- Stephen McCarthy – Big Macca is the most notable Jay Heaps experiment. We suffered at time while Creepy Steve learned how to play center back. He also had a couple of games in which he was our best defender – and I wish that meant more about his contributions than it does about our vulnerability. I did like how McCarthy lifted his head and contributed to possession passing. I am not sure if his future is at center back or if his position will again be as a defensive midfielder?
27- Jerry Bengston – Scoring, scoring, scoring! Now if only all of his 2012 goals had been for the Revs. I’m looking forward to a full season with Bengston. His game seems to be more of a poacher’s game than a hold-up, target striker’s. I can’t wait for him to combine with a healthy Saer Sene.
30- Kevin Alston – I have never been a huge fan of Kevin Alston’s contributions going forward. In 2012, though, doubts about whether that was Kevin or the rotating right wings in front of him crept into my mind. His late season switch to the left side and consistent ability to defend from good positions may have changed my mind about him. He still doesn’t add enough to our offense to be pushing much past the midfield, and it leaves him out of position defensively. So, Kevin, you have won me over as a fan of your defensive work. Now prove to me in 2013 that you can contribute quality crosses or passes on offense without leaving us vulnerable and I will lead the call to send you back to the All-Star game.
34- Bobby Shuttlesworth – Our future goal keeper? Our 2013 starting goal keeper? Bobby is vocal and not a drop off in talent when Reis is out. Bobby did have a few communication lapses with his defenders – that seems to be a Revs theme, however, and not isolated to Mr. Shuttlesworth.
39- Saer Sene – “I play for the Revolution.” Yeah, you do Saer! A revelation whose early season goals inspired lots of hope and enthusiasm from Revs fans. As goals dried up and his right foot failed to live up to his left foot’s achievements we were less enthused. When he was injured and out for the season we really missed him. He will contribute in 2013.
40- Tim Murray – Our future back up goal keeper?
80- Fernando Cardenas – Fleet of foot, creative on the ball, and always willing to cut into space. Cardenas was part of our right wing platoon in 2012. Inaccuracy when close enough to shoot and poor positioning when we needed compact team defense left us with the impression that Cardenas might not fit.
92- Dimitry Imbongo – Project. If I had to choose one to keep and one to cut I don’t know if I would choose Brettschneider or Imbongo.
99- Alec Purdie – We know that Purdie showed enough to earn minutes and even a start when injuries ravaged our regular starters. That seems to be enough to keep a spot for 2013. He would have to break into the right wing platoon to earn more minutes. Quality, whether his measures up or there is more of it from the guys ahead of him, seems to be the question for Alec Purdie.
Outlook: the New England Revolution need more quality. Whether that quality develops from within or comes from roster additions remains to be seen. More quality will likely bring more stability to our starting lineup. The team will practice throughout the MLS Playoffs. Some guys will probably learn that they won’t return, and most will get offseason training advice both in fitness and skills to maintain or improve. By the time preseason starts up, another trip to the Tuscon Scorcher in the Desert (not an official name), there will likely be departures to debate and new signings to ponder. Measurable improvements in the team’s record will be required to shake our club’s reputation as naive and unprepared to compete.
(image courtesy of revolutionsoccer.net)
