{"id":34238,"date":"2015-05-03T00:04:55","date_gmt":"2015-05-03T04:04:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=34238"},"modified":"2015-05-03T00:59:37","modified_gmt":"2015-05-03T04:59:37","slug":"in-form-davies-reinvigorates-revs-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=34238","title":{"rendered":"In-Form Davies Reinvigorates Revs Attack"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo credit: Chris Aduama\/aduamaphotography.com<\/p><\/div>\n

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. \u2013 Five games, five wins, twelve goals. Those are the stats this season when striker Charlie Davies Starts for the New England Revolution. The former U.S. National Team goal scorer began this season on the bench for the Revolution, but forced his way into the starting line-up and immediately helped turn a Revolution offense that went scoreless in its first three games to open the season into an attack that now leads the Eastern Conference with twelve goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember a couple games back [Davies] was a little bit down where he don\u2019t start and I told him \u2018keep going, you played a good season for the team last season and you\u2019re really important for the team and you\u2019ll get your chance, you will score and you will come back,\u2019\u201d said Revolution midfielder Jermaine Jones after New England\u2019s 2-1 victory over the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night. \u201cThat\u2019s what he did and it\u2019s amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the Revolution brought back Juan Agudelo in the offseason, it looked like Davies\u2019 days as the Revolution starting striker may be over. Instead, after three scoreless games, Davies was back in the starting line-up and eventually Agudelo\u2019s spot in the line-up ended up being on the wings.<\/p>\n

The impact of Davies\u2019 return to the line-up is easy to see in the results. New England is 0-2-2 with zero goals scored when Davies hasn\u2019t been a part of the starting eleven this season, compared to the perfect 5-0-0 record with twelve goals scored with him.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot only does [Davies] have the ability to stretch the game and create some space for players underneath and also our wings, but also he\u2019s an emotional leader in there,\u201d said head coach Jay Heaps. \u201cI think he doesn\u2019t get enough credit for how he keeps the group together and how he handles the game and how we go about the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the important roles Davies plays may sometimes go unnoticed, the three goals he\u2019s scored in the past three games certainly haven\u2019t. Davies leads the Revolution in goal scoring and his three goals this season are only two behind the league leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always great when you\u2019re in form as a striker,\u201d said Davies. \u201cYou just keep continuing to build on each performance and that confidence starts flowing and you start feeling like the ball just finds you at times. I still don\u2019t feel I\u2019m playing anywhere near at my best which is a great thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Over the past couple games, Davies has been flanked by Agudelo and Teal Bunbury up top and the combination has worked wonders. New England beat Real Salt Lake 4-0 last week, before defeating New York 2-1 this game. Davies scored in both.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven if he\u2019s not scoring, he\u2019s still playing unbelievable,\u201d said Bunbury. \u201cHe\u2019s holding the ball up. It\u2019s tough when you\u2019re the center forward when you play with three up top. The work he does sometimes might not get as much credit if he\u2019s not scoring, but he\u2019s been scoring and he\u2019s been holding the ball up well, he\u2019s been making unbelievable runs, he\u2019s putting pressure on the defense and that\u2019s what helps alleviate the pressure on us when we need that.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Davies is enjoying the lone striker role. In addition to Agudelo and Bunbury, the likes of midfielders Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen, Jermaine Jones, Scott Caldwell and Andy Dorman, and fullbacks Chris Tierney and London Woodberry have all been providing service to Davies. On Saturday, Woodberry set up Davies with a cross for his ninth minute headed goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great to be a lone striker on this team,\u201d said Davies. \u201cYou\u2019re getting great service and we have great players. I think it\u2019s been talked about a lot how deep we are as a team and how talented we are. They make my job easy. They give me a lot of opportunities and tonight I feel like I didn\u2019t make the most of all the opportunities I had, but I think the most difficult part for a striker is getting in those positions and getting those chances and I\u2019m getting them. The last part is just putting it all together and finishing and I\u2019m looking forward to the rest of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davies will get likely get the opportunity to continue to lead the Revolution attack on Friday, May 8, when the Revolution travel to face expansion-side Orlando City SC for the first time.
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