Double Donuts

While I was at home, my list of things to do was as follows: 1) Go to Wegmans, 2) Eat cake, and 3) Attend a Revolution game. Though I did accomplish all three items on the list, this post is about item number three. The last time I was physically at a Revolution game, Bobby Shuttleworth was struggling in net, Charlie Davies had just been traded to the Union, and the team lost 4-0 to the Philadelphia Union. Since then, on the coaching front, they’ve parted ways with Jay Heaps, hired Brad Friedel, fired Brad Friedel, and lured Bruce Arena to New England; the only players still playing on the team are Brad Knighton, Matt Turner, Andrew Farrell, Scott Caldwell, and Teal Bunbury; and the team has won a single trophy – a preseason mobile mini sun cup, which was indeed mobile and mini. So considering my last Revolution game and the entirety of whatever it was Brad Friedel did for a year and a half, my only wish for this game was that they wouldn’t lose, and if they managed to score it would be an added bonus.

There was reason to hope. Bruce Arena had the team off to an 11-3-3 start through the first half of the season, and their 36 points were good to lead both the Eastern Conference and the Supporters’ Shield standings (I don’t think I’ve ever seen them on top of the Eastern Conference this late in the season, let alone leading the entire league). All three designated players were tallying up goals and assists for the stat sheets – Carles Gil and his 15 assists were on pace to beat the MLS single-season assists record, Gustavo Bou had already hit double-digit goals, and Adam Buksa had eight goals and looked good on the field after a disappointing first season in MLS. Alas, it was not (entirely) to be. The Revolution didn’t lose, but on this Wednesday night in August, they were playing Nashville SC, in the rain, with Carles Gil out injured. It was quite a slog. On the plus side, Gold Cup champions Matt Turner (and Henry Kessler) were back from their time with the USMNT, as was Canadian Tajon Buchanan.¹

 

Pregame at Gillette Stadium

When we arrived at the stadium shortly before kickoff, it was already raining. If I’d had more schedule flexibility, I would not have chosen to attend a game against Nashville SC, but here we were. Nashville plays soccer that earns them points, but it can be slightly painful to watch. Combine that with the weather² and Gil’s absence leaving a creative hole in the center of the field, and it was not a great game to witness.

Soccer in the rain

Bou and Buksa started as the forwards, but they’ve had trouble connecting with each other in the past, as ended up being true on this night. Bou got in a couple shots on goal, but Buksa in particular seems to struggle to score without Carles Gil’s service and presence on the field, though his hold up play and passing have looked significantly improved over last year. In midfield, Matt Polster and Buchanan played centrally with Wilfrid Kaptoum and Arnor Traustason on the wings. Polster was solid, Buchanan did okay for being out of position, I’m still not sold on Kaptoum, and Traustason was mostly ineffective. The defense (DeJuan Jones, Kessler, Andrew Farrell, and Brandon Bye) was somewhere between passable and pretty good (they didn’t let in any goals so I can’t say they were bad), and Turner didn’t have much to do but made his two saves that he had to. [The game ended in a scoreless draw, 0-0, so although New England couldn’t put the ball into Nashville’s goal, they at least got the shutout. You have to take the positives where you can find them, because this was otherwise a very boring game.]

Post final whistle, fans fleeing Fortress Foxborough

The Revolution had a couple okay shots on goal, but nothing that really challenged Nashville’s keeper. There was one penalty call against Nashville that was overturned (correctly) after going to VAR where it was determined that the Nashville defender didn’t actually make contact with Bou. It was very wet, though the rain finally mostly died down in the middle of the second half. The stadium looked nowhere near full, and the scoreline did not cheer up those who did attend. At least the Revolution didn’t lose, so that was an improvement over the last game I went to. Maybe next time I’m at a game they’ll manage to score, and if the stars align and Mercury is rising in the opal quarter with Andromeda in retrograde, they’ll even win.

¹Turner played all six games (3 group stage, 3 knockout), let in a single penalty kick goal, and was given the Golden Glove Award. Buchanan had a strong tournament, scored the only goal up to that point against Mexico, and won the Young Player Award. Kessler, on the other hand, was called up to replace an injured player and played the last three minutes of the US’s final game after they’d scored in added extra time, but he still got his Gold Cup medal.

²Rain + midweek = great social distancing conditions. There were allegedly 10,279 people in attendance, but even if that number is accurate, that’s six seats for every fan with Gillette Stadium’s capacity of 66,878.