Heaps: Revs ‘Definitely’ Better than Recent Form
- Updated: July 16, 2015
Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Days after the Revolution suffered their second-straight three-goal loss, coach Jay Heaps remained steadfast in the belief that what transpired at Dallas and New York isn’t indicative of his team’s true colors.
Although the Revolution were outscored 7-1 during their recent two-game road trip, and have only one win in their last 11, Heaps thinks that the squad, as comprised, is capable of turning it around.
“We’re definitely better than what we’re showing over the last couple of weeks,” Heaps said. “We are definitely not playing at the level we need to be playing at.”
Perhaps the most glaring reason the Revolution aren’t playing at a higher level is team defense. The squad has conceded a league-worst 33 goals even though its first-choice backline has remained largely intact over those last 11 games.
The task of reversing their defensive woes won’t get any easier this weekend with the absence of Jose Goncalves, who’ll be serving a one-game ban for the red card he received in last weekend’s loss to the Red Bulls.
Heaps believes that his skipper’s ban should serve as a reminder of what can happen when a player lets his emotions override his focus on the game at hand, especially when that player is a crucial part of the defense.
“We have had a couple of mistakes at center back in the last couple of games that have cost us red cards,” Heaps said. “That’s a part of playing smarter and playing with more intelligence and not putting your team in a situation where they’re not dealing it with that game, but the next game, as well.
“We need to correct that, we can’t continue to be playing without the right number of men, and then have that carryover effect the next game”
In addition to keeping their collective wits about them, Heaps said that the onus of correcting the defensive lapses falls on everyone, and not just on the defenders and goalkeeper.
“We haven’t been good defensively collectively,” Heaps said. ” It’s not just the center backs, right backs, lefts backs – it’s the entire 11 players on the field. We’re not doing a good enough job across the board defensively.”
Although Heaps believes his club is capable of making corrections, he hasn’t ruled out a new signing during the transfer window, which opened last week.
“I think we’re always looking for pieces,” Heaps said. “Now is the time when the window opens, and you’re hoping that the pieces you’ve been working on can come to fruition. But if they don’t, there’s stuff on the field that has to change.”
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