#NERevs [May 2018]

Revenge of the Impact, May 5, 2018, at Montreal Impact, 4-2 L
This was . . . not good. After taking down the Impact 4-0 at Gillette (helped by a red card), they went down 4-0 away against a full-strength Impact team. The main problem was every single goal was basically scored the same way – ball over the top, clearly not offsides, beating the defenders. Wilfried Zahibo saved the scoreline with a pair of late goals.

May 12, 2018, vs. Toronto FC, 3-2 W
In another case of weird vibes, this game featured two very quick goals by Cristian Penilla (the first starting with a Scott Caldwell interception and the second off a bad pass from the Toronto goalkeeper, thank you high press) and another goal from Teal Bunbury. Up 3-0 at home, the Revolution then proceeded to score an own goal and give up a penalty kick, because this wouldn’t be a Revolution game otherwise. The own goal was a failed/misdirected clearance, caused by pressure from Toronto. It was bound to happen eventually. The penalty kick was awarded after what appears to be a Toronto player tripping over Chris Tierney in the box after Tierney gets the first touch to a loose ball.¹ Because that makes sense. But the penalty kick is awarded and Sebastian Giovinco puts it away. Then, as he runs back to the center circle with the ball, Zahibo swats at the ball solely to annoy Giovinco (yellow card worthy). Instead of playing it up to get Zahibo carded, Giovinco grabs Zahibo’s face. Red card. He then refuses to leave the field. Thankfully, five minutes of stoppage time later the Revolution escape with all three points.

#SaveTheCrew part 2, May 19, 2018, vs. Columbus Crew, 0-1 L
Generally even game that the Crew took the points from on a corner kick goal late in the game. For reasons, Brad Friedel deployed the Revolution in a 3-5-2 instead of the 4-1-4-1 they’d been playing. In theory, this allows the team to get farther up the field because there are always three center backs defending. In reality, the wide players in the midfield spent most of the game running back to help cover on defense, leaving less players than usual in the middle of the field. The Revolution struggled to hold possession in midfield and generate shots. The 3-5-2 wasn’t the worst thing I’ve seen from them, but it’s best described as “not great.”

May 26, 2018, at Vancouver Whitecaps FC, 3-3 T
This game kicked off a stretch where the Revolution would be playing 6 games in 3 weeks. It was also the first time they would be facing Kei Kamara after trading him to the Whitecaps. Fortunately, in a reversal of Revolution players scoring hat tricks against the Revolution after being traded, Kamara missed at least three shots where he was basically facing Matt Turner and an empty net. Unfortunately, Cristian Techera scored a hat trick to bring the Whitecaps level. Own goal, Penilla, and Bunbury picked up the goals for the Revolution. They looked more comfortable with the 3-5-2 in this game, and managed to score, but I don’t think it’s their best formation.

May 30, 2018, vs. Atlanta United FC, 1-1 T
Missed this game live because I was out of town, but watched the full replay later. Atlanta opened the scoring in the twentieth minute, but apart from the goal, I thought the Revolution looked pretty good in the first half. The Atlanta goal was a classic “everybody loses their mark in the box and runs in circles.” The Revolution had some shots, but they got the tying goal off of a late penalty. Friedel opted for a 4-3-3 in this game, with the middle three in a triangle where the bottom point stayed in front of the center backs. I liked this as much as or better than the 4-1-4-1 when Caldwell, Zahibo, and Luis Caicedo are all playing. They kept possession much better in the midfield than the previous two games and didn’t lose too much on the attack since two of the midfielders usually played further up the field. The downside to this formation is that Diego Fagundez doesn’t play as centrally and doesn’t see as much of the ball.

Record for May: 1W-2L-2D
Overall record: 5W-4L-4D

¹I’ve watched the replay multiple times. I can’t see a foul. In later games, the Revolution would then be denied penalty kick appeals for getting kicked in the stomach and tripped in the box. After that, they’re awarded a pretty weak penalty in the Atlanta game. MLS refereeing, ladies and gentlemen.