Revolution at Houston Dynamo, 9.29.12: The Present Absent

 

New England’s 2-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo last night transported me back to, of all places, my days as an English literature graduate student in the early 1990s. One of the catch phrases in the academy at that time—along with “the feminine grotesque” and “Bakhtin’s notion of the carnival” (always pronounced “car-nee-VAHL”)—was “the absent present.” I believe the concept sprang, like so many other trendy literary critical concepts, from the pen of Martin Heidegger, and no doubt had something to do with the impossibility of defining words and how absent meanings were really present in them.

Here’s how an English grad student back then might have written about, or generated words using the subject of, the game: Four New England midfielders were present on the field last night, but their presence was felt as an absence. The players were a kind of radical opposite to Hamlet’s dead father, whose ghostly absence invests meaning into every line of the tragedy. The Revolution midfielders’ collective presence was a ghostly negation of all that is effectual on the soccer field, a sort of present absent, endlessly deferring our notion of what it means to control the middle third, if not our understanding of the very meaning of the word midfielder.

The translation: the Revolution midfield—last night consisting of starters Benny Feilhaber, Kelyn Rowe, Clyde Simms, and Fernando Cardenas, and halftime substitute Juan Toja (who came on for Simms)—didn’t show up. Probably the most damning statistic other than the score is that Houston—not exactly FC Barcelona even by MLS standards—held the ball 65% of the game.

The Revolution backline of A.J. Soares and Stephen McCarthy in the middle and Darrius Barnes and Kevin Alston on the outsides, did what they could, coming out of halftime with a clean sheet. But by the 70^th minute or so they were spent, and understandable breakdowns began to accumulate. In the 73^rd minute, Will Bruin got behind Soares and only a good save by Bobby Shuttleworth kept Houston off the board. It was just a matter of time, though, and Houston got the game-winner in the 77^th minute when Ricardo Clark deflected a Brad Davis cross off the far post and in. After going up, Houston continued to press and added another deserved goal in stoppage time.

I should add that one Revs’ midfielder—Toja—did in fact impose his presence on this game, though unfortunately it wasn’t because of his good play. (In fact, Toja’s unforced giveaway to Davis in the 58^th minute, after which Toja simply stood in place and made no effort to right his wrong by pressuring the ball, represented a low point for the Revolution in the loss.) No, Toja imposed himself on the game by his occasionally reckless play, including at least a couple of skirmishes with the equally combative Adam Moffat, one of which led to a yellow for Toja. I’m no great fan of Moffat’s, but I thought Toja’s aerial challenge that led to the yellow was bush league. Toja easily could have been sent off after a hard tackle in the 80^th minute, but the referee didn’t have the heart.

Enough. Three more games left for the Revolution this season, and then, mercifully, we’re done.

Revolution v. New York Red Bulls, 9.22.12

The first thing most TV viewers likely noticed about last night’s game in Foxboro was the respectable number of people in the stands. According to the New England announcers, the crowd of 24,364 was the 17^th largest group ever to see the Revolution at Gillette stadium. While the final score of 1-1 might seem the drabbest of results, the game was actually exciting, especially considering the Revolution were eliminated from playoff contention last week. Both goals came in stoppage time, with the home team netting theirs on virtually the last play of the game.

The Red Bulls played the proper villains. Right back Connor Lade made one hard, dangerous tackle after another and mouthed off to the referee repeatedly on his way to getting sent off in the 74^th minute with his second yellow card. Wilman Conde got a couple of memorable cheap shots in on Kelyn Rowe, one along the sideline in the 31^st minute and another NFL-open-field-tackle in the 68^th (the latter good for a yellow). Rafa Marquez managed to avoid breaking an opponent’s collarbone this outing, though it should be noted that he only played 35 minutes and he did leg-whip and trip Lee Nguyen after Nguyen nearly faked him out of his shoes off the dribble in the 17^th minute. In the 62^nd minute, Teemu Tainio got into the act, tackling Juan Toja from behind at midfield and drawing his own yellow. After that one, Revs’ center back Darrius Barnes had had enough. He ran thirty yards downfield, got in Tainio’s grill and jawed at him while pointing a finger in his face.

It was refreshing to see a New England player stand up for a teammate, and Barnes received what I regard as karmic justice for his loyalty in the final seconds of the game. In the fifth minute of stoppage time, Barnes ran onto a Ryan Guy cross and headed the equalizer past New York keeper Bill Gaudette. The Revolution players looked elated to get the draw, and the Red Bulls’ players appeared to be in an agony. Given the often classless way New York played, I will not wish them well on their playoff run. Speaking of which, I didn’t even mention that Thierry Henry was unavailable for this game due to a suspension for headbutting Kei Kamara last week. What is it with this Red Bulls team?

Lest I get accused of being a mere homer, I quite liked the Red Bulls’ lineup last year, with Juan Agudelo, Tim Ream, and Dane Richards, all of whom struck me as likeable and good players and all of whom are of course gone now. And as for last night, I thought Dax McCarty and Tim Cahill played excellent, hard-nosed games, and they weren’t dirty. Cahill was fearless and effective in the air, eventually creating what looked to be the game winner in the 91^st minute with an aerial challenge that took Revs’ keeper Bobby Shuttleworth out of the play and allowed Joel Lindpere to head the ball into the open net.

In any case, while the Revolution are simply playing out what is for them a meaningless string of late-season games, they competed hard against New York, saw the game through to the end, and were rewarded for their diligence. The backline played particularly well, including good games by Barnes, Kevin Alston, and A.J. Soares. (The lone goal conceded was a mistake by Shuttleworth, who probably should have caught the cross in from Conde or not come off his line at all.) Nguyen had one of his better games this season in the midfield, which is saying a lot. He looked extremely confident off the dribble, and New York spent much of the night manhandling him, as they did when the two teams met at Gillette earlier in the year in the Revolution’s 2-0 win. Rowe had a strong game as well last night, including a good pass to Guy to set up that assist to Barnes. These guys aren’t likely to headbutt opponents or break their collarbones, but they’re competitors and give Revolution fans some hope for a better season next year.

Revolution at D.C. United, 9.15.12: Don't Bet on It

 

Going into last Saturday’s D.C. United/New England Revolution match, there was some justification for thinking New England might win it. The Revs were coming off a 2-0 victory against the surging Columbus Crew—the Revs’ second straight clean sheet—and had drawn in each of their prior two games, a virtual geyser of points by current New England standards. Furthermore, D.C. had beaten the Revs twice already this year in games decided by a single goal, and it is, or should be, difficult to beat a rival three times in one season. On the other side, D.C. had slipped in the standings, having won only one game in their last six. Finally, last Tuesday, D.C. unfortunately lost 2011 league MVP Dwayne De Rosario to a knee injury suffered while he was playing for Canada in a World Cup qualifying match.

It pains me to say so, but if I’d been in Las Vegas last weekend, I might have laid down some (for me) serious money on New England to beat D.C. (assuming there’s a sports book in Vegas that even takes bets on MLS games). Because, you see, I “had a feeling,” one of those rare and unlooked-for surges of confidence that seems to spring from somewhere or something outside ourselves. I mention all this purely for educative purposes. We tend to remember only when these strong, sports-related premonitions prove true, as they did for me when the 1987 Redskins beat the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII (Denver was actually favored by 3) and when the Carolina Panthers covered the spread (and nearly won) against the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVIII.

On the other hand, we tend to forget when those “feelings” don’t in the end pan out (unless we have the ill luck to actually place a big bet, in which case presumably we’d remember). In any case, I’ll wrap up this digression because this isn’t an advice column, let alone an anti-gambling blog. But I have been to Vegas many times and placed many small-dollar bets on various sporting events. Please take my word for it if you don’t have firsthand experience: it is stunningly difficult to do anything but lose money at a sports book.

But to resume: To no one’s surprise but my own, D.C. beat the Revolution 2-1, eliminating this tired, lackluster New England team from the playoffs with five games still to play. The Revolution started the same lineup they used to beat Columbus, with the exception that Jerry Bengtson started in place of Dimitry Imbongo. Bengtson did not have a memorable game, and was likely fatigued from his own international duties with Honduras. He came off in the 61^st minute for Imbongo. It is probably coincidental, but right around the time of the Imbongo substitution, D.C. exerted furious pressure on the Revs, creating a couple of excellent chances and scoring the game-winner on the second of those chances.

I could go on about how the Revolution might just as easily have won this game than lost it, marshaling superior time-of-possession and attempts-on-goal statistics to support my argument, but during that brief stretch around the 60-minute mark, D.C. effectively proved they were the superior team and deserved to win the game.

The Revs got another good game from Kevin Alston playing at left back. He was dangerous flying up the sideline and sending in left-footed crosses. He also looks better on the ball in general to me than he did last year, with an improved touch and ability to create space. The Revolution also got their first minutes from newly signed midfielder Juan Toja. Toja came on in the 73^rd minute for Flo Lechner and made an impact, sending a good ball into the box to Kelyn Rowe in the 85^th minute and drawing a foul in a dangerous area during the final seconds of stoppage time. Bizarrely, New England keeper Matt Reis called off his teammates and took the free kick himself. It sailed high over the bar.

Benny Feilhaber again did not start, coming on as a late substitute with Toja. Feilhaber added to his large and growing number of near misses, sending a scorching shot into the wrong side of the side-netting in the 79^th minute and firing a shot directly to United keeper Bill Hamid in the 86^th. It’s very difficult not to feel for the guy, just as most of us feel for baseball players stuck in a hitting slump. The unpleasant fact remains, though, that Feilhaber’s the Revolution’s highest-paid player and after 29 games and over 1,800 minutes, he’s still sitting on one goal and two assists. And his team is still sitting on a mere 28 points.

U.S. Men’s National Team v. Jamaica, Columbus, Ohio, 9.11.12

After a dispiriting loss to Jamaica in Kingston last Friday, the U.S. men’s national team dominated Jamaica in Columbus last night, beating them 1-0. U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann started five players yesterday who didn’t play much or at all on Friday: Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Jose Torres, Danny Williams, and Graham Zusi. Right back Cherundolo, apart from one or two bad crosses, looked particularly good on the ball. The U.S. is a much better and more dangerous team with him on the field. (It’s sometimes easy to forget how crucial outside backs are to a team’s success these days; like cornerbacks on a football team.) Williams also had an outstanding game, playing mostly at defensive midfielder but also moving to right midfield in the second half. In the 30^th minute, he hit a stunning shot from 35 yards out that slammed into the post and, unfortunately, back into the field of play.

The U.S. thoroughly dominated the first half. Williams’s strike in the 30^th minute was the third U.S. shot to hit the post to that point, and there were other near misses to boot. When the half ended, the soccer gods appeared set on tantalizing the U.S. players and fans and forcing them to settle for a scoreless draw and a single point. To the U.S. players’ credit, they continued to press Jamaica, chipping away at their defense until breaking through on a Herculez Gomez free kick in the 55^th minute. It was fitting that Gomez scored, as he’d worked particularly hard. But just as it’s difficult to think of any U.S. player that really distinguished himself in Jamaica last Friday, it’s difficult to single out a starter that did not perform well in Columbus last night. If I had to pick a man of the match, I’d probably go with Gomez, though Williams, and even Zusi (who hit the post twice and had two other near misses), wouldn’t be far behind.

In short, the U.S. put forth good individual efforts and also played well as a team. They played the way Klinsmann has envisioned and talked about them playing, with defenders pressing forward into the attack, players all over the field working hard to win the ball back once it’s lost, and the U.S. dominating possession and dictating the game. (The U.S. held the ball 69% of the time last night, as opposed to only 52% in last week’s match.) The only thing that was missing for the U.S. in Columbus was a goal scored in the run of play, but that was easy to forgive considering all the near misses and, ultimately, the important three points gained.

One sequence in the second half struck me as emblematic of the kind of soccer that the U.S. is striving to play on a consistent basis. In the 78^th minute, with the U.S. players tired and sitting on a slim one-goal lead, Jamaica got possession and strung together some passes near midfield. After Jamaica worked the ball into the U.S. half, Jermaine Jones and substitute Maurice Edu closed on the attacker and muscled the ball away from him. Edu first played a little one-two with fellow sub Brek Shea along the left sideline, then played a longish ball to Shea that the latter headed square to a waiting Gomez. Gomez played the ball back to Williams, who in turn switched fields to Cherundolo on the right. Williams made a run into the box and was rewarded by a deftly lofted pass from Cherundolo.

Williams couldn’t get a shot off due to some good work on the part of the Jamaica defense. But the buildup (not to mention the defensive pressure from which it sprang) was assured and positive, even stylish. It was the kind of buildup that sometimes leads to a goal, and the kind play that lesser teams are incapable of producing on that “consistent basis” mentioned earlier. Klinsmann must try to transform the U.S. team into a consistently dangerous, attacking side while also managing to qualify in the rough-and-tumble CONCACAF region. Last night’s victory was an important step that direction.

U.S. Men’s National Team v. Jamaica, Kingston, 9.7.12

The U.S.’s first goal in this match occurred in the opening minute and was in one way a preview of things to come. Herculez Gomez attacked down the right, shot at close range, collected a deflection, and shot again. His second deflection fell to Clint Dempsey, who slotted home a goal that most intramural youth-league players could have buried. The U.S. would never again seriously threaten in the game. Moreover, they went on to concede two set-piece goals and much midfield possession to a team known more for its speed than its skill. The U.S. eventually lost 2-1.

In other words, Dempsey’s opening-minute goal did not presage more U.S. chances and scoring opportunities—let alone goals—but, to put it bluntly, garbage play on the part of the U.S. The quality in this match was teeth-grindingly poor, and I struggle to think of any shining moment for any American player, no matter how fleeting. The game for the U.S. was characterized by stasis, players off the ball just listlessly standing around, or players on the ball booting it forward to the other team. About five minutes before the end of the half, for instance, with Jamaica level after a Rodolph Austin free kick, U.S. center back Clarence Goodson faced no pressure at all near the midfield circle but played a pass on the ground directly to a Jamaica midfielder.

The game was filled with those kinds of perplexing balls, and Goodson should not be singled out for notably poor play. In fact, the U.S. defense—with Goodson and Geoff Cameron in the center, Fabian Johnson on the left and surprise starter Michael Parkhurst on the right—played well. Parkhurst in particular looked solid, which is surprising given Jamaica players’ speed and how vulnerable Parkhurst looked when playing right back against Canada in June’s friendly. (Parkhurst apparently started against Jamaica due to an injury to Steve Cherundolo.) Both of Jamaica’s goals came as a result of fouls in dangerous areas committed by U.S. midfielders, not defenders. Kyle Beckerman committed the first foul (and unfortunately inadvertently deflected the ensuing free kick just enough to send it past Tim Howard and into the net), and Maurice Edu committed the second.

Speaking of those two players, Jurgen Klinsmann played about as uncreative a midfield as you’re likely to see on a supposedly quality international side. Beckerman and Edu were joined by Jermaine Jones in the middle, along with Clint Dempsey. Dempsey, of course, hasn’t played in a competitive game in months due to his recent holdout in the English premier league, so he wasn’t his usual self. True, he scored, and he put another sliding shot on goal near the end of the first half, but he was clearly gassed during the second half and largely a nonfactor. Given the fact that Dempsey can’t possibly be match fit, it’s a wonder he played the full ninety minutes. Even accounting for this, one would have thought that such an imposing, defensive-oriented group of midfielders would have been able to more effectively shut down Jamaica after scoring early, especially when playing in front of a back line that performed well.

This game showed that Klinsmann is very far from transforming the U.S. squad into an attractive and attacking side. It also showed that the importance of Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley to the U.S. team probably can’t be overstated. (Those two were not called up due to injuries.) That better midfielders are not in the pipeline is cause for concern, though it is never wise to dismiss any particular group of players based on a single game, particularly an away game in group-stage play. Still, the U.S. performance was a troubling one. Many soccer results are flukes, but last night’s was not. Jamaica, a team that has only once qualified for a World Cup finals tournament, was clearly the better team, and the final score was just. After last night, it would be foolish for any U.S. player, coach, or fan to assume that the U.S. is a cinch to qualify for Brazil in 2014.

New England Revolution v. Columbus Crew, 9.5.12

The Revolution ended a franchise-record ten-game losing streak tonight by beating the Columbus Crew 2-0 at Gillette Stadium. New England dominated the game, attacking even while protecting a lead, taking twenty shots to Columbus’s seven and nine corners to Columbus’s three.

What to me was far more impressive and refreshing than the victory was the lively manner in which New England played. Imposing striker Dimitry Imbongo, who was so peevish in defeat last month against Kansas City when barking at teammate Fernando Cardenas, played well and without complaint against the Crew, scoring the game-winner in the 53^rd minute off a rebounded Diego Fagundez shot and applying the pressure that led to a Crew own-goal in the 74^th. Even the normally fiery and scowling Jay Heaps seemed to enjoy himself on the sideline well before the game was in hand. He laughed with his assistants after a Kelyn Rowe shot skied over the crossbar in the 47^th minute and gave Blake Brettschneider a robust, encouraging slap on the back before sending him on in the 78^th. I mentioned last month that the Revolution needed to go out and have some fun, and by God they did tonight.

What’s more, the Revolution beat the surging Crew (undefeated in their last six matches) with an improbable starting lineup that included not only Imbongo and Fagundez up top, but Darrius Barnes and Flo Lechner on defense. In addition, Kevin Alston switched from his normal position of right back to play on the left. Usual starters A.J. Soares, Benny Feilhaber, and Chris Tierney started on the bench, and only Tierney got off it. He came on in the 73^rd minute to play midfielder, notching his 100^th MLS appearance. The reliable and versatile Tierney played a part in the second goal, flicking a long ball from Matt Reis towards Imbongo that Chad Marshall inadvertently headed over his own keeper and into the Crew net.

Speaking of Reis, he had another impressive performance and recorded his second straight shutout. His effort against the Crew wasn’t quite as spectacular as his effort against Philadelphia on Saturday, but then again it didn’t have to be. The New England back line was excellent all around, though Darrius Barnes perhaps deserves special mention. Barnes’s solid play at center back in the last two shutouts will make it hard even for a player of Soares’s quality to regain his position in the starting lineup. Of course, that’s just the kind of dilemma Heaps wants to face.

It should be noted that Soares has whiplash and was listed as probable for this game. Feilhaber, on the other hand, is not suffering from any injury that I know of. It may bode ill for him that the Revolution played their best game in two months and he didn’t get off the pine due solely to a coach’s decision.

Should Benny Feilhaber Play Right Back for the U.S. National Team?

U.S. men’s national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann has announced the roster for the coming World Cup qualifying matches against Jamaica on September 7 and September 11. Despite injuries to Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley, Klinsmann did not summon New England Revolution midfielder Benny Feilhaber. At 27, Feilhaber is still young and promising, but Klinsmann seems to think less of his talents than previous USMNT coach Bob Bradley did. Feilhaber played in three of four U.S. matches in the 2010 World Cup finals, but has only appeared for the national team once over the course of 2011 and 2012. Yesterday’s roster announcement must be particularly frustrating for Feilhaber, since the roster includes such relative international newcomers as Joe Corona, Graham Zusi, and Brek Shea, all of whom play in the midfield.

Feilhaber’s omission from the current USMNT roster is in some ways unsurprising. Klinsmann has openly encouraged U.S. internationals to move from MLS to Europe, and Feilhaber has done just the opposite. After stints in Germany, England, and Denmark from 2006 to 2011, Feilhaber moved back to MLS last season. His play with the Revolution so far has been mostly solid, but hardly spectacular. This season, for example, he has played over 1,800 minutes but has only one goal and two assists to show for them. Those are notably poor numbers for a team’s highest-paid player.

The good and bad of Feilhaber were on display in Saturday’s scoreless draw against Philadelphia at Gillette Stadium. I’ll use a sequence in the 10^th minute as a representative example. Feilhaber collected a deflection near midfield and started an attack by dribbling and playing a pass towards the right sideline to Fernando Cardenas. After an exchange with right back Flo Lechner, Cardenas ultimately played the ball back to Feilhaber, who prepared to receive it with his back to the goal and his two strikers in an onside position behind him. So far so good. But rather than hold the ball and wait for Cardenas and/or Lechner to make a run, or turn and try to find his forwards, Feilhaber, under very little defensive pressure, one-timed a back heel pass through his legs and directly into the line of Philadelphia defenders. Yes, it was an attempt to be creative, but the pass was also risky and ultimately ineffective, a needless turnover that killed a promising buildup.

Despite frequently making these kinds of high-risk, low-reward passes in the final third, Feilhaber possesses many of the qualities Klinsmann professes to value, such as creativity, quickness, and an ability and willingness to apply defensive pressure all over the field. His efforts tracking back on defense have been particularly valuable to his club team over the past couple of seasons. More importantly, Feilhaber is a skillful player with an excellent understanding of the game and good vision. Despite his poor assist and goal numbers this year, Feilhaber leads New England in fouls suffered at 65, which is one measure of his skill on the ball and his savvy. Yes, he’s prone to turnovers, but he likes to play the ball on the ground and to unlock defenses through possession rather than booting the ball to the flag. As I understand it, that’s precisely the kind of player Klinsmann is looking for.

So why not try to get Feilhaber on the field? If the national team’s midfield is too crowded, there may be a spot at right back. Tim Chandler, once considered the right back of the future for the U.S., has twice turned down call-ups and appears to be out of the picture. Steve Cherundolo is an excellent player, but he’ll be 35 during the next World Cup Finals. Other good options at right back include Eric Lichaj and Steven Beitashour, neither of whom were called up for the Jamaica games. Fabian Johnson can also play right back—and did against Mexico in the U.S.’s most recent friendly—but he is more suited to playing on the left.

Playing Feilhaber at right back would allow the U.S. team to field a highly skilled player who can not only defend, but also start buildups and confidently attack opponents with the ball at his feet. The thought of both him and Johnson flying down the flanks and raining crosses into the box, or placing more pinpoint passes to players like Clint Dempsey, Michael Bradley, and Landon Donovan, is intriguing to say the least. The downsides of the experiment would include the fact that Feilhaber lacks experience at the position, and the fact that he sometimes holds the ball too long and is prone to giveaways. Still, if Klinsmann really wants to get the maximum number of highly fit and skilled players onto the field at the same time, and to play a more assertive and attacking brand of soccer than is typically associated with our national team, then Feilhaber should at least be considered as a possibility at right back.