Revs Not Happy with Timing of Bye
- Updated: October 8, 2015
Photo credit: Kari Heistad/capturedimages.biz
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Usually, the prospect of a bye week is welcomed with open arms by both players and coaches alike. Keyword: usually.
But after dropping a disheartening loss to the Fire last weekend, and failing to clinch a postseason berth on three consecutive occasions, the not-yet-playoff-bound Revolution aren’t exactly thrilled that they’ll have to wait an additional week to try and reassert themselves.
“(It) kind of sucks,” Revolution center back Andrew Farrell told NESoccerToday.com. “Because you just lost on the road to a team you should beat. But we’ll have to regroup, and stay positive.”
The loss to the lowly-Fire isn’t the only reason why Farrell is preaching positivity this week. The Revolution were afforded three chances at clinching a playoff berth over the last three weeks, and squandered each opportunity, and against teams (Chicago, Philadelphia and Montreal) they probably should’ve easily put away.
Staying optimistic is one thing. But watching the rest of the conference gain on you during the bye week is another psychological challenge the Revolution could probably do without.
“I hate that we have this break right now,” Revolution coach Jay Heaps said. “But we have to get our bodies right this week and get ourselves mentally right, and back to that grind of focusing on the game.”
That game, of course, won’t come until Oct. 17, when the Impact visit Gillette Stadium. With the Impact rounding into form at the right time (not unlike what the Revolution did last year), and the locals anxious to punch their playoff ticket, next week’s regular season home finale is sure to be a blockbuster.
But for now, the attention is focused on fixing what’s ailed the Revolution in recent weeks. One development that Heaps hasn’t been happy about is the vanishing leads from their last two matches.
“The thing I don’t like is we’re in a position to win the game, and two times, we’ve let it slip,” Heaps said. “That’s somewhere we have to continue to get better.”
Another item no one in Foxborough is particularly pleased with: the dearth of offense (two goals in their last three) from a squad that’s stocked with attacking talent. What’s more: that failure to punish teams currently making a push for the top pick at next year’s SuperDraft only shines a brighter light on the problem.
That said, Farrell isn’t worried. Even though time is of essence with only two regular season matches left, he believes that the team is capable to rallying back before it’s too late.
“We’ve got the players, we’ve got the talent, we’ve got everything here,” Farrell said. “We just have to put it all together, and when we do, we go on those runs we always seem to go on.”
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