For the first time in a month, the New England Revolution won a match. And, man, was that needed. For the boys, of course—but also for me. And the rest of the fandom, and anyone else that gives 2 hoots about this club.
Was it perfect? Far from it. Was it pretty? Nah. But did it count as three points? YES.
The real takeaway is that this team still has fight in it, which I think all of us were starting to doubt after the September drought. When Karol Swiderski leveled the game up in the 84th, I’ll admit my head dropped and the thought of dropping more points. But credit to the guys, who didn’t buckle or hole up, and instead exploded forward to get an equalizer a minute later. The fact the goal came through Dave Romney made it that much sweeter.
Hopefully, this serves as a catalyst for something bigger now that the playoffs are very much in the picture. There are now four games to go, all against playoff opposition, starting with a Wednesday visit from Columbus. I never wanted to stop believing in this team, but there surely was a crisis of faith over the last 30 calendar days or so. Just have to hope this is a restart, not a reprieve. BULLETS.
- Man I’m happiest most for today is Clint Peay. Thrown into an absolute shit sandwich of a situation and asked to coach a team that wasn’t his, Clint’s stepped in with a bit of grace that this team has desperately needed. As he told the media (or was it just the Revs? Swear there was a lack of postgame insights on the bird app) after the game: “It’s great [to get my first win as interim head coach] but I’m just here to help the team be successful at this point. More importantly, we just needed to win as a team. For the players, getting over that hump was big.” I also love how he didn’t sit back and try to just do what Bruce was doing—he’s made his own imprint here. I think the Polster experiment as an inverted fullback is fascinating to watch, and I hope we continue sticking with it and refining it…
- …because the refinement helped us get a result last night. Matt Polster started at LB with DeJuan Jones on the right. At halftime, they swapped. The results were noticeable, considering DeJuan’s cross from his preferred LB spot that found Mr. Reliable for the winner. Also, if you go back to the first goal, notice how DeJuan, because he’s an attacking fullback, keeps pushing up the pitch as the play goes on. This forces the RB to have to go across Noel Buck’s position toward the flank—to protect against DeJuan—and thus creates that pocket of space Buck had to get the ball and finish. 95% of that play is on MAK and Noel for combining and finishing, but DeJuan’s movement added that lil’ extra that allowed everything to go off. Where do we go from here? Who knows. But at least Peay is willing to be flexible: “It’s about matchups. The matchup tonight with a very speedy winger for Charlotte, they were trying to pick on Matt a little bit so we just decided to flip it. Matt can still come inside from the right side, so left or right, it doesn’t matter – it’s just that idea of adding another number, that’s all we’re looking to do.”
- We don’t have a striker, and I think this worries me more than anything else. Bobby should have had at least one goal in the first half, if not two. And I’m just frustrated with Vrioni at this point. There’s a good player there, but I don’t think we play to his strengths, and I don’t think we ever will. Then again, what are his strengths? I’m confused by this player. I hope we move on this winter, for both his sake and ours. This issue is what will cause us the greatest pain in the playoffs.
- I wish MLS roster rules weren’t so convoluted, so that I could understand exactly where Tomas Chancalay will fit in in our wage bill for next year. I freakin’ love this dude’s attacking flair and his punchy attitude, but not at DP-level money. So, is he a DP if he stays, or a TAMer? I hope it’s the latter, which everyone’s favorite teenage Rebel (made that bit up) reported back in August. Caleb Pongratz chatted with sources in the Revs organization, who told him that Chancalay would be a TAM guy. Regardless, love this kid’s energy for right now. He’s not scared to just go at someone, and we desperately need wingers like that.
- Should we be worried about Carles? He cut a frustrated figure for most of the night last night, and he’s seemed pretty moody since the Richie saga. That moment last night where he pointed to the turf in frustration seemed like a big deal. Winning cures all…
- What’s the deal with our goalie situation? Going into yesterday, my internal timeline saw the match as a great way to introduce Vaclik and get him going for a string of games before the playoffs start. Now, we go into a stretch of four playoff-positioned opponents, and are supposed to bed in a new goalie? This could go horribly off the rails. That, or EEJ is just going to stay being the man. Definitely something worth watching.
- Noel Buck is very good at soccer. It’s amazing (read: it’s not) that when he plays in a more preferred position, he excels. Let the kid play all the time.
- MAK is…the most frustrating Revs player to me, just ahead of Nacho. I think overall, MAK has more bad qualities than he does good ones, but his good ones (tackling, making random seeing-eye passes) are ones that no one else in the squad possesses. That pass to Buck last night truly was something. I guess I’ll live with him in the XI, if only because he talks constant shit. Need a shit-stirrer.
- Dave Romney is our MVP for the season. That’s it. Those that know, know. If you disagree, I don’t care. Dave is our MVP.
Business end of the season time. At 14-6-10 (52 points), we’re third in the East with a game in hand over No. 1 Cincy (19-4-8) and No. 2 Orlando City (15-7-9)—who we play Oct. 7. We can slide all over the playoff standings depending on upcoming results. I hope its second, with five wins on the trot going into the playoffs.
VAMOS, REVS.
Extras
I’ve got a busy day today and am going to gloss over how bad I’ve been at posting lately, so here’s just an abbreviated Extras bit. Apparently, most of my favorite media members weren’t actually covering the game at Gillette last night so not as much to share and promote as usual. But, go buy a The Blazing Musket subscription so these guys can be there all the time and continue churning out content. Seth has been doing some great tactical pieces lately.
A Whately Devil 