Sène Should Help Up Top

Saër Sène, the New England Revolution’s new striker, might be 6-foot-3, but despite that large frame the French striker isn’t a typical target forward.

Instead, Sène, who has spent the last two seasons with German side Bayern Munich II, will help the Revs by using his skill and pace to get behind the opposition’s defense, according to head coach Jay Heaps.

“He’s not an out-and-out target forward, but he’s got enough pace to be able to get behind in certain situations,” said Heaps. “I think his strength is up top. He’s crafty on the ball. He can set himself up, but what we need him to do is use smart runs to get in behind. I think he’s not the fastest guy on the pitch, but he’s certainly got pace.”

After finishing among the bottom three teams in the league in goal scoring in 2011, the Revs need all the help they can get. Shalrie Joseph, a midfielder, led the club in scoring with eight goals last season.

Now Joseph, the team’s captain, is hopeful the 25-year-old Sène, who scored 19 goals in 55 appearances with Bayern Munich II in the 3rd and 4th divisions of German soccer between 2009 and 2011, can make a difference in the team’s attack.

“He’ll be good,” said Joseph. “He’ll bring possession. He’ll allow us to play our game. He’ll hold it up good. He’s a good finisher on the ball from the couple of weeks we’ve seen him – he’s got a lot of chances and he’s been able to finish them.”

In an ideal situation, Sène would be paired up top with a physical target forward. Colombian Jose “Pepe” Moreno could’ve been that partner, but now seems unlikely to join the team despite signing a contract.

Instead, Heaps will likely have to look elsewhere to find Sène’s partner either within the team or by bringing in someone new. One such possibility is Blake Brettschneider, who showed glimpses of his ability to hold up the ball against Boston College on Wednesday.

“[Brettschneider’s] a strong kid,” Heap said. “You could see he can hold it up at times. We just don’t have that physical presence right now up top, so we’re taking a long hard look at him. We wanted to see him in a lot of situations today, which he put himself in, and I thought he did well.”

Whether or not Brettschneider makes the squad, Heaps knows his team still isn’t ready for opening day. The rookie head coach is still working to add new players to his team and will continue to test out potential signings as the team continues its preseason in Tucson, Ariz. next week.

“We’ve got a lot of work [still to do],” said Heaps. “First of all we’ve got to get all our players. I think that we still have some players in question. Saër hasn’t joined us yet. We’re waiting on one or two more guys and we’re actually going to have a couple more players into Tucson. We haven’t officially finished identifying players, but at the same time now we have to establish who we’re going to be.”

With first kick on March 10th in San Jose fast approaching, time is starting to become a factor in completing the squad and figuring out what style best suits the team. Heaps will get his first real test of how far the team still needs to go next week when the Revs kickoff the FC Tucson Desert Diamond Cup on February 22 against the defending MLS Cup Champions Los Angeles Galaxy.