Revolution at Sporting Kansas City, 7.30.11 (A Game for Albert Haynesworth to Watch)

The Revolution’s recent strong showings against D.C. United and the Colorado Rapids carried over into the first half of this game, which ended with New England ahead 1-0 and (shockingly given their recent statistics in this area) virtually even with Kansas City in terms of time of possession. The Revolution showed good form early on, including a nifty give-and-go between Rajko Lekic and Shalrie Joseph in the 9^th minute that led to a scorching attempt by Joseph. Thirty minutes later, Lekic took advantage of a Kansas City defensive miscue to give New England the advantage. He ran onto a long clearance from Matt Reis that skipped over the head of Kansas City’s Matt Besler. Lekic positioned his body perfectly between the ball and the beaten defender and then used the outside of his right foot to bury the shot far post. He celebrated by running to the sideline and making a sweeping motion with his hand, as if indicating the exquisiteness of his craftsmanship. Given the quality of the goal, the gesture wasn’t overdone.

In the second half, things fell apart for the Revs, and Sporting KC dominated the run of play. Kansas City held the ball 65% of the time over the course of the entire match, remarkable given that they held the ball a modest 51% of the time in the first half. But despite their second-half dominance, it seemed for much of the night as if Sporting KC were destined to lose. They failed to finish time and again, a pattern set early in the second half when ex-Revolution defender Seth Sinovic biffed a wide-open shot over the crossbar. But Kansas City persisted, throwing everything they could at the Revolution in an attempt to equalize. They showed the depth of their roster by subbing in Omar Bravo in the 56^th minute, Teal Bunbury in the 80^th, and Birahim Diop in the 88^th.

Bravo, Bunbury, and teammates Kei Kamara, C. J. Sapong, and Jeferson all looked impressive in the second half, but it wasn’t until the 89^th minute that Kansas City actually managed to score. Bunbury got the goal, which was fitting given that it came on Teal Bunbury bobble-head-doll night at LIVESTRONG [sic] Sporting Park. It was a garbage goal, a rebound that fell to Bunbury’s feet at the six. After putting the ball into the net, Bunbury ran to the flag, smacked his head with his palm, and bobbled his head around for the fans—a man imitating a doll that represented the man. The semiotics majors in the crowd must have loved it, but for Revolution fans it was painful to watch, particularly knowing the Revolution had just let two crucial points slip away. If the Revs don’t make the playoffs—and the standings indicate that they probably won’t—they may look back on Bunbury’s goal as the season’s death knell.

There were other painful moments for Revolution fans over the course of the game. Benny Feilhaber had two inexcusably bad giveaways in the 6^th and 12^th minutes and then wasted a corner kick in the 30^th minute when he lofted the ball into the top of the net, as if performing a parlor trick. Zack Schilawski extinguished a nice Revolution build-up in the 7^th minute by needlessly sailing a one-time pass from the wing to no one, and then in the 51^st minute he lost the ball off a wretched touch. Schilawski’s lack of skill on the ball against Sporting KC was apparently contagious, as his replacement Sainey Nyassi (who came on in the 72^nd minute) simply and rather pathetically gave the ball away on two separate occasions while trying to run at and juke defenders, once in the 75^th minute and then again in stoppage time.

But that’s nitpicking. With the recent departures of Marko Perovic, Ilija Stolica, Didier Domi, and Ousmane Dabo, the Revolution’s current roster has all the depth of a baby-pool. Against Kansas City, the roster situation started bad and got progressively worse. First, the Revs had to play without the versatile Chris Tierney due to a red card in the previous match. Second, Stephen McCarthy had to leave the game in the 34^th minute due to a shoulder injury incurred while getting fouled. Third, iron-man Kevin Alston had to come off in the 74^th minute due to a re-aggravated turf-toe injury. Fourth, A. J. Soares was given a straight red card in the 82^nd minute for tackling Sapong from behind just outside the box. At that point, the Revs were basically operating with only two true defenders—Franco Coria in the center and Darrius Barnes on the left.

The Revolution limped through the game’s conclusion using new midfielder Ryan Guy in Alston’s right back spot, moved Barnes inside to play alongside Coria, and dropped winger Kenny Mansally back into Barnes’s spot. Given the circumstances, Steve Nicol had little choice but to make these moves. But given the importance of the match and the minimal time left on the clock when Soares was carded, I would have liked to have seen Joseph—the Revolution’s best player in the air and best at winning fifty-fifty balls—take Soares’s center-back position, leaving Barnes on the outside. That point’s academic, though. After Soares left the game, you could just sense Kansas City was going to equalize.

Alston’s performance against Kansas City merits special mention. He came into the game with an injured toe, and in the 13^th minute Sapong stepped on that toe very hard. Though in obvious pain, Alston stayed with the play, won back the ball, and remained in the match for as long as he could physically stand to do so, almost until the end.

New England Revolution and Patriots owner Robert Kraft might do well to show his shiny new Patriot acquisition Albert Haynesworth a video of Alston’s gritty effort as an example of a particularly dedicated and hard-working member of the Kraft Group in action. Kraft might also inform Haynesworth that Alston’s base salary is a modest $100,000. Kraft might have to explain—perhaps with the use of simple diagrams—that Alston gets paid $100,000 per season, not per play. American football fans will remember that Haynesworth fleeced his previous employers—the Washington Redskins—when he signed a $100 million contract in 2009, then proceeded to record a grand total of 43 tackles in his two sorry years in Washington. (Incidentally, Alston grew up in D.C., and his uncle Mitchell Johnson played for the Redskins. I wouldn’t expect Kraft to go into all that.)