The New England Revolution currently sit in 5th place of the Eastern Conference with an 8-7-9 record and a –4 goal differential. Needless to say, this was not where they expected to be with 10 games left in the season. Hopes are high with the return of Jermaine Jones, however, and while a summer swoon has been typical of late, the Revs seem to be bouncing back, as they are on a 3 game unbeaten streak. Their schedule isn’t exactly favorable but they must not look too far ahead. Their next 4 games are at Houston, at Philadelphia, home against Orlando and then away at Toronto. New England must win these next 4 games to give themselves some breathing room. With a bye last week coming at a great time, the Revs should be recharged for the late season run. To do so, Last Word recommends the following 4 steps:
1. Formation Change
We know Coach Jay Heaps loves his 4-5-1 formation. It is the biggest stamp he has put on this team and the likelihood of him changing it is small. However, with his current roster, a Diamond 4 would make so much more sense. Juan Agudelo is a striker, not a midfielder and would pair up greatly with Charlie Davies. The 4-5-1 depends way too much on the wing midfielders playing full-on offense and defense and it is just too much stress to put on them. Allowing a second striker would balance that need. Furthermore, the midfield often gets too clogged and doesn’t allow Jones and Nguyen to play the midfield maestro roles they are so exceptional at.
2. Defender Rotation
As previously mentioned, the Revolution have a -4 goal differential. They’ve developed a habit of allowing too many late goals as a result of gassed defenders. Heaps demands defenders to play an instrumental role in the offense. This means tired legs in the final 15 minutes, a time when many goals have been conceded. The roster for the Revolution is deep, and traditionally Heaps does rotate his players, but on a per game basis. With Darrius Barnes out indefinitely, rotating London Woodberry, Kevin Alston, Chris Tierney and Jeremy Hall is an absolute mandatory to make sure late game slip-ups are limited
3. Limit Dorman’s minutes
Andy Dorman has been a great player for the Revolution for a long time. He played with them from ’04-’07 and now since 2013. But he has become a liability of late. He has 8 yellow cards, 2nd highest in the league, and they come at often inopportune times. Too often he is taking down a player as he is getting passed by. He allows too many free kicks and his legs at 33 just aren’t what they were. He is a solid leader, and is a good on-field general. He may no longer be a starter though. He and Diego Kobayashi are stellar fill-ins, but just not starters. The torch must be passed to Scott Caldwell.
4. Keep playing the hot hand
Heaps has always been great about rotating players to keep them fresh. He must though make sure he plays the hot hand even if it is to the detriment of the rotation philosophy. The issue with this philosophy historically has been the inability for the team to keep a rhythm. This would solve that. And to Heaps’ credit, he has played Fagundez more when he has been on a roll or Rowe when he has. They need to keep doing this to keep succeeding.
The Revolution can be one of the most exciting teams in the league. They have great, creative players. But for a number of reasons, Heaps has not gotten out of his players their full potential. Whether this falls on the players or the coach is up for heavy debate. However, it remains the truth and without trying to switch things up, it ultimately falls on Heaps to elicit change, or find himself part of the change. The Revolution should make the playoffs, but if they don’t make it back to the Cup, questions should be raised about what needs to be done.
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