Revolution v. D.C. United, 4.14.12

Teams go on winning and losing streaks during long sports seasons, just as teams go on runs over the courses of individual games. Sports commentators who forget this, and who place too much emphasis on early-season wins and losses, can look mighty foolish at the end of the year. For instance, those who seriously wondered—after only half a dozen games or so—whether Arsenal might get relegated from the EPL at the end of this year should be particularly embarrassed right about now, as Arsenal are poised to finish in the top four of their league.

Back here in the relatively prosaic MLS, New England and D.C. United played a game that was something of an exception to the rule that says you shouldn’t put too much stock in early-season games. That is, it’s probably okay to place significance on this particular matchup. God knows the game wasn’t particularly important in the wider scheme of things—even in the scheme of MLS—as neither squad is especially good or exciting. But for the clubs themselves, each coming off a non-playoff year and hoping to make the post-season in a relatively weak eastern conference, these three points could really mean something at the end of the year.

D.C. ultimately got those points, beating New England 2-1 in a mostly evenly matched affair. New England coach Jay Heaps can’t be too pleased with his team’s effort, especially given the fact that his players were on nine days’ rest and playing at home. The Revolution went up in the 6^th minute off a nice curling cross into the box by Saer Sene that found the foot of new Revolution forward Jose Moreno for the goal. But the promising start ultimately turned into a humdrum performance, made even grayer by the faceless and cavernous NFL venue with the plastic playing surface and by the absence of Revolution captain Shalrie Joseph, suspended by the league for a dubious tackle in Dallas last week.

There were as usual moments of quality for the Revolution. Newcomer Moreno not only scored, he showed good vision when making long passes and passes in and around the box. He also nearly got a bicycle kick on frame in the 54^th minute. Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe, Clyde Simms, Chris Tierney, and Kevin Alston were all their solid, likeable, if mostly unspectacular selves, Tierney maybe distinguishing himself above the rest, though none will be a candidate for this week’s best eleven. Ryan Guy had his moments too, including making at least three dangerous crosses.

Sene had what I’m beginning to think of as a typical performance for him, including that excellent assist to Moreno, some good through balls (he and Rowe work well together on the left), and some shots on goal. There’s something about him, though, that reminds me of the recently departed Rajko Lekic. Both Sene and Lekic are goal scorers and have good skill, so it’s hard to keep them off the field. But I often find (or, in the case of Lekic, found) myself wondering about their work rates and questioning the consistency of their effort. I have the sense that if Sene worked harder up top, you’d have a seriously dangerous player on your hands, maybe a guy who could score 15 goals a year. I hope I’m wrong, but I get the feeling he’ll only be good for 7 or 8. Still, if he keeps passing as well as he did today, that’ll be quite enough to suit his coach.

Finally, Benny Feilhaber came on in the 55^th minute to replace Nguyen. The pregame report had listed Feilhaber as “questionable” with a “peroneal strain,” which sounds serious enough. He looked healthy, though, even playing rather frantically at times. He drew a couple of fouls (his specialty) and made a good run with the ball through defenders in stoppage time, ultimately earning a corner kick. Still, Joseph and Simms are too strong and consistent to take out the middle of the field, and Nguyen and Rowe continue to look good, so you have to wonder where Feilhaber will fit into the Revolution’s suddenly crowded midfield as the season progresses.