The New England Revolution returned to training this morning as the club prepares for its first Wednesday night match of the year, when it will play host to Chivas USA.
The Goats come into New England with a record identical to the Revs at 2-3-1. They are coming off of a surprising draw against the Chicago Fire on Saturday night.
The clubs are similar in a few ways, aside from their records. Both are in need of a serious play maker — for all of Zack Schilawski‘s early success, it’s his finishing touch that’s driving it — and both teams are struggling to maintain possession in the attack (well, the Revs are just struggling in that facet at large). Midfield play has also been a weakness for each of the two clubs. Further, neither club seems to be settled on a consistent lineup or even a regular formation. The Goats, for their part, have had better luck pressuring opponents’ defenses since shifting to something of a one forward look, with Jose Padilla roaming forward and back.
Both clubs will be a bit worn down following two hard-fought Saturday night matches, but any advantage the Revs may have had as a result of staying at home is wiped away by the disadvantages of spending so much of their match against FC Dallas short-handed. Said coach Steve Nicol on Saturday night:
The one thing that actually hurts us as much as anything, never mind having to play with nine men tonight, is the amount of games we have this month. We play Wednesday, we play Saturday. We’ve got 10 guys, nine guys, who have effectively played an extra 25 minutes and that’s going to affect them on Wednesday. We’re not only getting punished for tonight, but we’re getting punished on Wednesday and Saturday, as well. And that’s not good.
New England will have t0 get used to this busy schedule, as this will be only their second of 8 matches in the month of May. On Wednesday, the club will be without Kheli Dube and Joseph Niouky who who drew the reds on Saturday night. As a result of these factors, training today was said to be a light one — Revs media man Jeff Lemieux tweeted the following:
As expected, a short session for the starters this morning…
Chivas USA and the New England Revolution will match up at 7:30 PM this Wednesday night, May 5, at Gillette Stadium.
Adam T. Vaccaro
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Martin McClean Ryan
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