Revolution v. Montreal Impact, 8.12.12: No Fun in Foxborough

In the opening minutes of tonight’s New England Revolution game against the Montreal Impact, Revolution color analyst Jeff Causey observed that New England was playing “its most solid lineup in months.” (That may not be a direct quote, but it’s close.) And indeed, the Revolution started newly acquired forward Jerry Bengtson, the Honduras international who recently scored three goals in four games at the 2012 Olympics, including a game-winner against Spain. Bengtson started up top with Saer Sene, the French international and former Bayern Munich reserve player currently leading the Revolution with nine goals. New England also started long-time U.S. international Benny Feilhaber and fellow former U.S. international Lee Nguyen, along with an impressive back line that included former first-round draft pick A.J. Soares, former MLS all-star Kevin Alston, and left back Chris Tierney, who may deliver the best free kicks and crosses in MLS by anyone not named David Beckham or Brad Davis. (Or Landon Donovan, who had four assists tonight against Chivas USA.)

So, yes, by MLS standards, those are good players (and I didn’t even mention stellar goalkeeper Matt Reis), players that should beat an expansion team that has, to date this season, given up more away goals than any other team in the league. But the Revolution not only failed to tie the Impact on their (the Revs') home field, they failed to score a single goal and lost 1-0. As a result, the Revolution have managed to pick up only a single point in their last six games. The team is now 0-2 against Montreal this season and are ten points behind them in the standings.

Some Revolution fans, players, and coaches may complain that the Revolution were unlucky against the Impact. And it is true that a flicked Bengtson header in the  36^th minute hit the post, that a Sene shot hit the crossbar five minutes later, and that a Ryan Guy shot in the 74^th minute hit a Montreal defender’s hand in the box and should have resulted in a penalty kick. To which I say: New England played quite poorly enough to lose this one and there was no great injustice.

The game’s lone goal, for example, was not the result of New England’s bad luck or Montreal’s good fortune. It was the result of a good run and finish by a Montreal player and of sloppiness by multiple Revolution players. Feilhaber—currently the Revolution’s highest-paid player—failed to protect the ball in the final third and was dispossessed by Sanna Nyassi. Nyassi, who is one of the fastest players in MLS, proceeded to run with the ball at his feet from box to box. Feilhaber gave chase helplessly, Soares was nutmegged in New England’s half, and Stephen McCarthy—the last defender—failed to even attempt to tackle Nyassi before the latter finished beautifully with a right-footed blast past Reis.

Statistics will show that the Revolution had more shots on goal, more corners, and more possession than the Impact in this game. But the Revolution failed to truly control the match. And now New England management must—without resorting to the lazy argument that the Revolution were “unlucky”—try to determine why the team lost such an important game at home to an expansion team.

I don’t believe Montreal has more talent than the Revs, and I don’t believe Revolution players lack what is often called “heart,” or the will to win. I like and root for those players and I do believe they try hard. However, I confess I wonder lately if they are trying quite hard enough. Nyassi, for example, should not have been able to dribble fifty yards and shoot like he did (no matter how fast he is). The Revolution don’t seem to have that toughness, that consistent will to pressure the ball and win it back in all areas of the field, that the top teams possess, teams like Kansas City, Real Salt Lake, and San Jose.

There was a good commercial the NFL used to run some years ago that had Vince Lombardi addressing his team during training camp. “This, gentleman,” he said, holding up a football, “is a football.” The point, of course, was that every season, Lombardi felt his team needed to be reminded of the basics. And any team better master the basics before it moves on to anything else. Revolution players need to be reminded of the importance of sustained effort all over the field.

Those players also, in my mind (Lombardi no doubt would have disagreed), need to be reminded of the most basic fact about soccer: that it’s a game and that it’s supposed to be fun to play. The teams that give the most effort are usually those that play with the most joy. Yes, the Revolution are losing and they’ve just had their long-time captain traded to another team, and there’s nothing joyous about that. But soccer’s still a game. For God’s sake, go play hard and have some fun.