The New England Revolution are in a bad way. They have won one of their last nine games and worse, their attitude doesn’t seem to match a team that should be feeling pretty humbled. Unfortunately, the Rev’s are playing entitled, as if everything should be going their way yet everyone is out to get them. They are whining to referees, blaming others for results against them and are failing to put passes and plays together that would lead to a more possession-oriented game. If they don’t right their ship soon, things may get out of hand.
The Revolution lost eight straight last year but came out 1 goal short of winning the MLS Cup. It seems the Jermaine Jones effect is real. Since Jones has left the pitch to join the injury report, the Revolution have been in a free fall. Whether Jones was the voice and leader, or merely an anchor, he brought a bite to a team that has looked marshmallow soft lately. Aside from the consummate professional Charlie Davies, the team has resorted to group bickering when calls go against them. When the opposing team scores, often late in the game, and often because a man who should be marked is left wide open, the team cries for handballs, offsides and/or points fingers at someone else who should have been covering the player who scored. Poor man-marking has been flagrant this season and may be indicative of something bigger.
The starting lineup for the Revolution has been ever-changing all season. While strictly adhering to the 4-2-3-1 formation (which this writer disagrees with and believes they should be in a diamond 4-4-2), players have been switched out at a breakneck pace. On Wednesday night the lead attacker seemed to be rotated between Teal Bunbury, Kelyn Rowe and Lee Nguyen during the game. The defense has been continuously rotated between London Woodberry, Kevin Alston and Jeremy Hall. Even their Central midfield has been a merry-go-round of Andy Dorman, Daigo Kobayashi, Scott Caldwell and Steve Neumann. This lack of stability at first seemed intriguing, saving legs and keeping defenders guessing, but the lack of cohesion shows it is hurting the team more then helping. As a fellow LWOS writer, Ty Bailey, mentioned, Jay Heaps is looking more like US Women’s National Team Coach Jill Ellis; a coach who seems unable to harness the collective talent of great individually skilled players.
The Revolution does have one of the deepest rosters in the league. They are constantly able to bring in high-caliber players like Diego Fagundez or Kelyn Rowe off the bench. Yes, they are the third highest scoring team in the league, but they have also allowed the third most goals. This is unsustainable. The silver-lining of the Revolution having zero players for their team picked for the upcoming Gold Cup means they will be at their strongest while other teams may be missing some key players called away for international duty. Regardless, New England is playing an incredibly potent Vancouver team on Saturday, and if attitudes don’t change at a rapid pace, it could be another drop in their ever-accelerating free fall.
