Defensive coordinators

Twenty ten proved a nightmare for the New England Revolution defensively. Every member of the Revs’ backline missed significant minutes due to injury, contributing to the team’s league-worst 50 goals allowed last season.

Matt Reis is happy to see more experience in front of him on the backline this season. (Photo by Art Donahue/artdonahue.com)

“We could’ve used a hundred [defenders last year] and we probably still would’ve been needing men,” said Head Coach Steve Nicol.

For most of last season, the Revs only carried five natural defenders on the roster: Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes, Seth Sinovic, as well as the recently-departed Cory Gibbs and Emmanuel Osei. Those thin defensive corps were hardly enough for the Revolution ship to stay afloat, as all five suffered injuries throughout the season. Midfielders Chris Tierney, Pat Phelan, Joseph Niouky and even Zak Boggs and Khano Smith all saw time on the backline at some point during the season.

It wasn’t just midfielders forced to play out of position either. Thanks to Alston’s hamstring injuries, Osei, Barnes, and Sinovic all had to move from their preferred positions to right back at least once during the season. Those constant changes made it impossible for the defense to build any consistency or chemistry throughout the year.

Leadership also became an issue. When offseason surgery ruled veteran goalkeeper Matt Reis out for the start of the season, Preston Burpo was brought in to fill the void. When Burpo went down with an injury of his own, it left the goalkeeping duties to the inexperienced Bobby Shuttleworth, who took over for several games as Reis went down with another injury toward the end of the season.

Gibbs was also brought in to provide experience and guidance to the backline, but injuries and poor form prevented him from being the player the Revs needed.

This year, Nicol should have many more options and much more experience to work with. Not only do Barnes, Alston, and Sinovic have another year of experience under their belts, but the team also went out and added Didier Domi, a French left back who has played in several of the top leagues and Europe, as well as Ryan Cochrane, a two-time MLS Cup champion who brings with him seven years of MLS experience.

For good measure, the Revs also added rookie center back A.J. Soares out of the University of California, Berkeley, with the 6^th overall pick of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft and are expected to announce the signing of 22-year-old Argentine center back Franco Coria this week.

Those additions should provide tough competition for starting spots while also helping the team avoid the disastrous problems faced due to lack of depth last year.

Early indications are that Cochrane will likely pair with Barnes in the center of the starting XI back line. For Reis, the addition of a seasoned, proven winner in front of him is a welcome change.

“It’s important to bring in guys that have been through it, especially a guy like Ryan,” said Reis. “He knows what the MLS is all about. He knows what the teams are. He’s not going to be taken aback by all the traveling and all the nuances of the league. It is important to have some leadership because we are still young.”

The 32-year-old Domi should add more veteran leadership in front of Reis starting at the left back spot.

“Domi has played on some big teams and some big clubs over in Europe,” said Reis. “You know what to expect from him.”

Those two veterans, combined with the youth and athleticism of Barnes and Alston, certainly give the Revolution very solid backline at first blush. If Reis, who enters this preseason healthy after sitting it out after surgery last year, can stay in the net behind them all season, the Revs should have no problem coordinating the backline.

“It’s just a matter of getting familiar with what they’re going to do, things that they’re good at, things that they’re not good at.” said Reis. “That’s just going to take time.”

But while the defense is looking stronger, Reis recognizes that’s just one part of the equation. Failure to possess the ball kept the pressure on the backline for much of last season.

“Really, it’s about taking care of the ball,” said Reis. “We didn’t do a good job last year of taking care of the ball. We would really give it away needlessly. So that’s something that we’re working on by bringing in a lot of players that are comfortable and good on the ball.”

Of course, even with the added depth, Nicol recognizes the key will once again be to keep the team’s best players fit and ready to play for the majority of the games next season.

“If we can keep healthy than we’ll be in good shape,” said Nicol.