Revolution v. Chicago Fire, 10.20.12

The bottom-dwelling New England Revolution managed to draw 25,534 fans to Gillette stadium for their final home game of the year on Saturday against the Chicago Fire. The respectable turnout almost certainly had more to do with the unseasonably warm game-time temperatures and to a tee-shirt promotion than to any star power on the field. Three of the Revolution’s most compelling players—Benny Feilhaber, Saer Sene, and Lee Nguyen—sat out due to suspensions or injuries.

On the other side, the Chicago Fire is a good team—they’re sitting on 56 points and will finish second in the Eastern conference with a win over D.C. next week—but not a flashy one. Chicago’s best player may be Chris Rolfe, hardly a household name. Chicago announcers noted during the broadcast that the team’s lack of player charisma may prevent it from getting the recognition it deserves. The 1-0 loss to the Revolution on Saturday will not strengthen the case that Chicago is being unjustly overlooked as an MLS-Cup contender, though I agree that any team can have a bad game.

Revolution midfielders Blair Gavin and Clyde Simms played a large part in stifling Rolfe and the rest of the Fire’s midfield. Fans will recall that Gavin was acquired from Chivas USA in the Shalrie Joseph trade. This was Gavin’s first game for the Revolution, and he looked promising, especially given his youth. (He was a first-round pick in the 2010 MLS draft.) He was disruptive on defense and made some good runs and passes. Rookie midfielder Kelyn Rowe also had a strong game, as did center back A.J. Soares. And it may be time to start paying utility man Ryan Guy a living wage. He played right back against the Fire and was all over the field, making skilled Fire midfielder Alvaro Fernandez’s night a long and sometimes painful one. Guy twice heedlessly barreled into Fernandez while challenging for headers, once knocking heads with him on a corner kick in the 29^th minute. Guy may have saved the Revolution on that play, as Fernandez’s shot went over the bar. It was one of the few chances generated by the Fire.

Perhaps the most intriguing performance of the night for either team was turned in by Revolution youngster Diego Fagundez, who played the entire 90 minutes, and not at forward but on the right wing. Fagundez did have a number of giveaways, but he was on the ball a lot, often surging through the midfield on the attack. In the 17^th minute, he scored the game’s only goal off a long-range strike. The play was, fittingly, the result of hard work and good vision on the part of Fagundez’s fellow midfielders. Gavin won the ball in the Revolution third and passed to Simms along the right sideline. Simms played the ball square to Rowe, who turned and made a good pass up field to Fagundez. Forward Jerry Bengtson also played a part, making a good run into the box to draw defenders away from Fagundez. The shot’s worth checking out, and comes at about the one-minute mark in the highlight video below.

Fire fans must hope this game is an aberration. Chicago never seriously threatened an injury-depleted Revolution side, and the Revolution really should have won by two goals. The game was not a remotely pretty one, but it did open up in the final minutes. Surprisingly, it was New England that was on the front foot, not Chicago, a team still fighting to avoid having to play in the single-elimination playoff game in the East. New England nearly got that second goal in stoppage time, when Juan Toja played a ball wide to Fagundez. Fagundez dribbled up the right wing and played a perfect cross to a wide-open Bengtson at the far post. Bengtson one-timed the cross with the outside of his right foot, sending the close-range shot over the bar. Revolution management must be wondering how a guy who scores so regularly for his country—Bengtson had a hat trick for Honduras last week against Canada—can’t finish a little more consistently for his club team. He still has only two goals in twelve games for the Revs.

Speaking of big-name players coming up small for the Revolution, Benny Feilhaber was suspended for the Fire match due to his two-yellow-card performance against Philadelphia a couple of weeks back. Given the Revolution’s success on Saturday—and in particular the Revs’ midfielders’ success—it will be interesting to see if Feilhaber starts against the Impact in Montreal in the season finale. Jay Heaps has benched Feilhaber for a number of games this season. My guess is that Heaps may again leave Feilhaber on the bench against Montreal, for part or even all of the game. Yes, Heaps may sit Feilhaber simply to give other, younger players time on the field in this lost season. But then again, Heaps may sit Feilhaber because he feels that other players give the Revolution a better chance to win.

Whatever happens next week, it’s clear that the Revolution roster is far from settled going into next season and that the team lacks a leader in the absence of Joseph. I mentioned in my post about the recent Philadelphia game that I thought Nguyen and not Feilhaber was this year’s team MVP. Apparently a lot of other fans feel the same way, as Nguyen was presented with the team MVP award before the Chicago game. Revolution management deserves much praise for acquiring Nguyen on the cheap, and for signing double-digit scorer Saer Sene. But next year the organization will need much better performances from relatively big-name players Feilhaber and Bengtson if New England is to return to the playoffs.