Niouky sent sailing

6S1B isn’t ready to get up and rockin’ and rollin’ again just yet, but I’d be remiss not to come by and make note of Joseph Niouky’s termination earlier today given some of the venom I sent his way back in May. It never seemed like a fit and it’s good, I suppose, that both sides realized this. We’ll see what becomes of the roster spot. You’d think his body would have been useful at least until a couple more Revs midfielders get healthy, so perhaps it’ll be filled quickly.

6S1B Update

July and early August have been good to the Revolution. A win against the Galaxy, a draw in Philly, an undefeated (thus far) SuperLiga bid that has them bound for the tournament’s finals later this month. Throw in a solid Steve Ralston send-off and you have what makes for the best month for New England in 2010 so far, by far.

Unfortunately, 6S1B has been around to cover roughly none of it. Frankly, I’ve been completely exhausted by my current day job and when I have gotten the opportunity to write (which has been rare), it’s been about the Red Sox over at my personal blog. When 6S1B was at its peak, I was able to cover everything very quickly. Unfortunately, that was the product of the life of leisure afforded an unemployed undergrad.

Well, come September I will be a sometimes-employed grad student and aim to be back to it with the site. We’ll be back regardless, but as I’ve noted, I could really use some help to put the site over the top. So if you want to do some writing for us or if you know somebody who might like to, please, please feel invited to contact me at adamtvaccaro@gmail.com. If instead you’re just here to read, that’s great and I definitely appreciate it, but without help the site probably won’t be top notch. In such a case, it will probably be mostly opinion and columns with game stories mixed in, but we’ll deal with that when the time comes — I’m thinking out loud a bit.

In any case, the nature of this post is just to inform all of you that we’re not done and we will be back, and to ask you to stay tuned. We were doing very well for a while and we appreciate all of the support. Keep it coming in the next couple of months because we definitely plan to get back to it.

See you in the fall.

-Adam

Four ways the Revs can salvage their season

As Adam wrote earlier in the week, things are looking pretty grim for the Revolution right now. And while it may, in fact, be time to punt this season and start looking toward next year, I’d like to propose four things the Revs could do right now to salvage their 2010 campaign:

MLS attendance notes

Note: Check out the comments for a humbling but very informative reply from the title character of kenn.com. I’d apologize for my hurried piece (yep, I rushed this one big time) if it hadn’t spurned such a great response.

From my CSNNE.com piece today:

The return of Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle to MLS action on Sunday also marked the LA Galaxy’s first match since before the World Cup. Twenty-seven thousand flocked to the stadium to welcome the duo home from South Africa, a mind-boggling 37.5 percent increase over the Galaxy’s 2010 average attendance coming into the match. On the field, the twice-teammates showed their camaraderie when Donovan assisted on a Buddle goal early in the 19th minute as the Galaxy improved to 11-1-3 on the season with a 3-1 win over Seattle Sounders FC. The hookup furthered Buddle’s and Donovan’s respective MLS leads in goals and assists, as each has now compiled 10 in his given category.

MLS attendance at large is up nearly 10 percent in 2010 from 2009, averaging over 16,442 fans a game. In fact, nine out of 12 teams to have hosted a match since the World Cup started saw attendance go up from its last pre-tournament figure. The Revolution, unfortunately, have seen a 19.9% drop in attendance from 2009 and draw just over 10.5 thousand to Gillette Stadium. At 3-9-2, the Revs currently look set to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2002, so that likely has something to do with the disappointing (and concerning) figure.

Open thread: What’s next?

I didn’t catch the RSL match. I planned on it but it proved impossible given travel plans. It seems like I didn’t miss much. Seeing how I’ve been a bit tied up of late, I’m thinking why not let the readers generate some content.

What’s next for the Revolution? Is it time to punt the season? Is it worth punting a season in such a young league? How should the team manage the rest of 2010 and beyond?

Have at it.

No coverage tonight

Hey all —

6S1B is unfortunately unable to provide coverage for tonight’s match between the Revs and Real Salt Lake. Enjoy the match, and we’ll hopefully have a recap tomorrow. Apologies, and thanks for the continued support.

–Adam

Bilello: “We are committed to [an urban soccer stadium] in New England

Revolution COO responded to fan questions at revolutionsoccer.net yesterday. He had a lot of interesting things to say, covering topics like public transportation, media coverage, and potential branding opportunities, but of the utmost:

There were a number of questions about the stadium, and I’m happy to say there has been some progress since the last round of public questions on the topic.

Getting the team into a soccer stadium of its own remains a top priority for our organization. With the decision regarding the MBTA’s Green Line maintenance facility in Somerville in place, we have re-launched the process of examining that area as a stadium site. We were in a holding pattern for a bit while the city and MBTA worked out the details of the facility. During the next few months our architects and engineers will be studying the area to determine if it is possible to build a soccer stadium on that site given the footprint of the maintenance facility and other existing structures.

In the last few months, we have also begun studying three additional sites around Boston’s metro core. These sites may not have been available to us in the past, but have recently shown potential interest in having our stadium.

To date, we have invested more than $1 million dollars in exploring new soccer stadium options, in addition to the efforts of multiple people in our organization, so we’re pressing the issue. We’ve seen the impact that an urban soccer stadium has made and we are committed to creating that environment here in New England.

While folks are sure to be skeptical of anything coming right from the top, Bilello’s directly mentioning Somerville as the primary site of interest may give fans a bit more hope than in the past. That’s the spot everyone’s had their eyes on and it seems to be the spot they want.

Revs notes

A few heres and theres coming out of last night’s 1-0 loss to the Chicago Fire…

• Matt Reis started the game, making his 2010 MLS debut. Reis played the first half of the Revs’ exhibition against Cruzeiro back on June 13, but last night marked his return to league play. Reis missed the season’s first 12 matches after offseason rotator cuff and knee surgeries. Reis stopped 4 of 5 shots on goal but took the loss in the match.
• Revs’ third round pick and recent signing Jason Griffiths made his MLS debut after coming on in the 81st minute. Griffiths did participate in the Revs’ exhibition against Portugal’s Benfica earlier this season when he was on trial with the club, but last night marked the English midfielder’s first league match. Griffiths gave some chippy defensive play in the match’s final ten minutes. Said Griffiths: “I was kind of nervous coming in losing 1-0 and I was expecting an attacking player to go on but it was great to get on. It was a disappointing score but the boys tried hard and we can push on for next week and get a good result.”
• With Griffith replacing striker Zack Schilawski, Shalrie Joseph was pushed up top. Coach Steve Nicol explained: “When you’re getting into the last 10 minutes of the game and their sitting back and we’re getting desperate, we’re basically hoping Shalrie can get on the end of something.”

The Revolution are now 1-7-2 after a promising 2-1-0 start to the season.

Revs improve but fall to Chicago, 1-0

After watching the United States’ elimination from the World Cup at the hands of Ghana on Saturday, New England soccer fans shifted some of their attention back to the Revolution.

The last time they’d seen the Revs in MLS play, though, there was little to get excited about. Before the league went on hiatus to grant the Yanks center stage, Steve Nicol‘s club hit rock bottom after a 3-0 loss in Seattle wherein they were outshot 19-2.

In returning to action at Gillette Stadium, the Revs again fell – this time 1-0 to the Chicago Fire at Gillette Stadium – but did not look clueless in the process, at least.

Chicago Fire @ New England Revolution: Live second half thoughts & updates

The Revs enter the second half trailing Chicago 1-0 and haven’t looked awful in the process. Second half thoughts as they occur…

• Kenny Mansally replaces Zak Boggs in the midfield to start the second half. Mansally really needs to start showing what he’s got. We know he can have his flashes, but consistent quality has been lacking all season.
• I told myself I wouldn’t write this tonight, but there’s nothing else to write and it’s just too glaring to avoid saying anyway: It is tough on the eyes to shift from catching 2+ World Cup games a day to MLS play.
• Great stuff from Nyassi in the 61st minute. He couldn’t put the shot on target, but he was able to show some creativity in the attack leading to a shot, which shows some improvement on his usually too-straight ahead mindset.
• Kheli Dube‘s been brought in for Tierney, further bolstering the attack.
• Maybe a touch or two too much from Perovic after a Shalrie Joseph set-up just outside the top of the box gave him a pretty open look. After a couple dribbles, his bid was sent flying over the net.
• I think people would like Nyassi a lot more if he wasn’t so quick. He can go from box to box with the ball in no time but it always just ends up seeming like such a waste of time. He could be so dangerous but he needs to develop a better last touch, both when passing and shooting.
• Revs’ third round pick Jason Griffiths, signed just this week, comes in, marking his MLS debut. He’s on for Schilawski. Joseph takes a striker spot with Griffiths in the midfield.
• A really bizarre, inexplicable offsides call? Ah, there’s that World Cup quality.
• Dube puts a shot on net in the 84th minute. The striker’s still looking for his first goal of the season.
• Pat Phelan‘s played really well tonight as a defensive midfielder. He was getting burned consistently before the break, but seems to have some fresh legs after taking two weeks off.

That’s full time. The Revs fall 1-0 to Chicago. They’re 3-8-2 now on the year.

Back tomorrow with the write-up.