Technically Speaking: Revolution vs. RSL

Ryan Guy scored the Revolution’s lone goal on Wednesday. (CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

Despite a good effort, the New England Revolution lost to a smart Real Salt Lake team last night 2 to 1.  As Jeff Causey said, RSL went into the game playing for a point but came out with three.

The first half was pretty drab. RSL won the possession battle 58% to 42%; the Revs had 7 corner kicks, to RSL’s none. You can take your pick about which statistic means more.  Most significant is the fact that neither team had a shot on goal.

Rick Sewall

The second half was more entertaining, with the Revs working aggressively for a goal right from the opening whistle.  They were rewarded in the 51^st minute when Ryan Guy slammed a difficult ball past the keeper with authority and good technique.  From then on, unfortunately, RSL gradually took control of the game, scoring two late goals to win. Particularly impressive was Kyle Beckerman’s brilliant shot on goal in the 89^th minute, which Bobby Shuttleworth parried but could not handle. The rebound resulted in Garcia’s goal. Shots like these are what the fans pay their money to see.

The Revs are going to continue to struggle in future games if they keep being outclassed by other teams in the possession battle. If they can’t hold onto their passing game, it means that all other aspects of their game—hustle, scoring and defense—have to be close to perfect.  Possession usually begins with the play of the defensive midfielder, and for this game Scott Caldwell’s performance in that role should be carefully compared against Beckerman’s by the Rev staff. Beckerman, obviously the more experienced player, saw plenty of the ball and had a lot to do with RSL’s superior possession and offensive play, most noticeably in the second half. Caldwell did okay, but sometimes it seemed to me that his teammates were reluctant to pass him the ball.  Partly for this reason, he seemed to play a minimal role in team ball possession and attacking play. Would a more seasoned player be of benefit in this key position? This situation needs to be worked out by the Rev staff.

In my opinion, a player in the process of playing his way back to top form, like Saer Sene, should not be chosen to take a penalty kick. Probably the most critical attribute for a good penalty taker is confidence, and confidence comes from being in top form in all aspects of play. The Galaxy faced the same situation last weekend when Landon Donovan, who is not yet playing to his potential after a long break, flubbed his shot, much as Sene did.

Good luck to the Revs on Saturday. Will Thierry Henry play or not, considering his reluctance to play on artificial turf? Let’s hope he doesn’t.