Jones: Loss at MTL a ‘Wakeup Call’ for Revs
- Updated: September 24, 2015
Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz
Last weekend’s 3-0 loss to the Impact was hard to watch by many standards for Revolution supporters, but midfielder Jermaine Jones believes that the squad’s performance could actually serve the team well going forward.
The three-goal defeat – their worst since a 4-1 shellacking against the Red Bulls on Jul. 11 – snapped the Revolution’s two-month long unbeaten run at eight. But according to the superstar midfielder, it also gave he and his teammates pause for reflection.
“It’s a good wakeup call,” Jones told the media on Tuesday. “So that we know how difficult the next games are (going to be), and that we have to be focused.”
Keeping the focus that allowed them to win six-straight and go 7-0-1 since mid-July proved to be a difficult task for the Revolution during their lone stop of the season in Montreal.
Playing their third game in seven days, the locals fell into an early deficit following a deflected Johan Venegas shot that crept into the back of the net inside of five minutes. Montreal made it a two-goal game in the 60th minute when a Didier Drogba free kick smacked off the shoulder of Kelyn Rowe and beat a flat-footed Bobby Shuttleworth.
The Revolution were given a lifeline in the 70th minute when Marco Donadel was sent off for a hard challenge on Andrew Farrell. But that opportunity was squandered when Dilly Duka tallied in the 76th minute, putting the game – which was played under heavy downpours during the second half – well out of reach for the Revolution.
“It’s tough,” Farrell told NESoccerToday.com. “Boots get really soggy, shorts get really heavy, and it’s just a faster game. It also gets a little sloppy. It’s fun to play in the rain, but it’s not the ideal with tired legs.”
Even though the scoreline didn’t sit well with anyone in the Revolution locker room, Farrell admitted that Saturday’s loss wasn’t the worst time for their unbeaten streak to meet its demise.
In Farrell’s view, the victories against Toronto and New York – both of whom could be potential playoff opponents come November – showed what the squad was truly capable of.
“I think if we had to drop points against a team – not that we want to drop points against any team – Montreal was the one that worked out the best for us,” Farrell said. “We had a lot of guys in the first two games switch lineups, some guys really showed that when their name was called upon.”
Meanwhile, the Revolution can clinch a postseason berth with a win against the Union on Saturday, or do it with a couple of favorable out-of-town results. As for Jones, he’s hoping that last weekend’s loss will motivate the squad to do all it can to avoid a repeat performance this weekend.
“You can see that when you’re not 100 percent there, then the whole team knows we cannot win,” Jones said. “It was a good wakeup call.”
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