Revolution at Real Salt Lake, 7.4.11

You could make a strong case that this was the Revolution’s most inept performance of the year so far, and that’s saying something. Real Salt Lake’s captain Nat Borchers was given a red card in the third minute, ostensibly for tackling Benny Feilhaber from behind though replays showed there was no foul and that the call should have been a goal kick for Salt Lake. As a result of this gift from the soccer gods, Rajko Lekic (not Shalrie Joseph, as is typical) took the penalty kick, converted it, and the Revolution played a man up for over 60 minutes.

Not long after Lekic’s goal, Chris Tierney very fortunately scored off an unspectacular free kick that leisurely bounced into the net from about 30 yards out. So, fifteen minutes into the game, the Revolution were up 2-0 and playing with a man advantage. Incredibly, infuriatingly for Revolution fans, Salt Lake proceeded to dominate time of possession. Let me repeat that: playing a man down for over an hour, Salt Lake dominated possession, holding the ball for 61% of the game. They also outshot the Revs 20 to 6, and had 6 corners to the Revs’ 1. (I wonder about those shots-taken statistics. Try as I might, I can’t recall a single shot by the Revs that came during the run of play.)

The Revolution looked listless and generally horrible. RSL scored its first goal off a free kick in the 24^th minute. The kick hit the crossbar, and three RSL players crashed the rebound while only one Revolution player (Pat Phelan) bothered to make even a token effort to retrieve the ball. RSL tied the game at 2 off a penalty kick in the 56^th minute.

Amazingly, given how they were being dominated, the Revolution again went up a goal in the 63^rd minute. And again the Revs’ goal came off a set piece—Benny Feilhaber sent a free kick into the box and Shalrie Joseph scored off a beautifully redirected header as he was moving away from the goal. But, as was inevitable given their dominance, RSL tied the game in the last ten minutes. As should be obvious, RSL should have won this one. I was reminded of the old saying, “If we played them ten times, we’d beat them nine.” This was the Revs’ one-chance-in-ten coming through for them, and yet still they couldn’t manage to actually win it.

Are the Revolution’s players really so bad that they can’t manage better than 39% possession when playing a man up for over an hour? I can’t help but think that part of the problem lies in the scheme. Lekic, despite his PK goal, had a most unimpressive game, trotting around near the sidelines and never a threat in the run of play. With the way Steve Nicol usually plays Lekic—alone up top—and with the way Lekic plays—sometimes at a leisurely pace, or when he feels like playing—the Revolution are in effect always playing a man down. How better to explain the 39% possession stat in this game, which is particularly egregious given the circumstances but also part of a season-long pattern?

And far too many times in this match a Revolution player would elect to send a long ball up the field and give away possession instead of playing keep-away while a goal (or more) and a man up. Kevin Alston did it; Benny Feilhaber did it; Chris Tierney did it; Ryan Cochrane did it before he got sent off for an ill-considered jersey-grab in the 67^th minute. Multiple times I said to my TV screen, like Cindy Lou Who (who was no more than two) in The Grinch Who Stole Christmas: “Why? Why are you needlessly sending long balls up the field? Why?”

I had seen the 3-3 result of this game before I watched it and was hopeful that the Revolution had finally gotten on track against a good team. Instead, they got lucky on all but one of their goals, undeservedly played with a man advantage, played without passion, couldn’t string passes together, bitched at each other. Relatively expensive players Lekic and Feilhaber continue to have minimal positive effects on the field and both are too quick to express frustration with their teammates. They ought to look to their captain Joseph, who continues to play hard and lead by example rather than whining and moaning. After a team performance like this one, he’s one of the few New England players who could have been excused for venting.