New England Soccer Today

Forget the Past

Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com

Photo credit: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com

As the New England Revolution return to action following the international break, it would behoove them to develop a convenient case of sudden amnesia. Forget recent results. Forget what other teams are doing. Forget the thin red line. Why? Because the Revolution just need to win. Pure and simple.

After going winless (0-2-1) over their last three matches, the Revolution still remain where they were a month ago: in full control of their postseason destiny. The Revolution are currently fourth in the Conference on 47 points with two games left in tank, and at least one more opportunity to seize the playoff spot that’s eluded them during their winless streak.

This weekend they will take on the surging Montreal Impact, the very team that set in motion the Revolution’s current struggles by staking a 3-0 win on Sept. 19 at Stade Saputo.The Impact sit just two points behind the Revolution and went unbeaten in six games during the month September. They have not yet won in October, and much like the Revolution, will be looking at Saturday’s game as a chance to get back on track.

With the an equally-hungry foe on tap, the Revolution attack will need to come out of early hibernation this weekend after scoring just two goals over their last three. They face a tough task, as Montreal is one of just four teams in the Eastern Conference with a positive or even goal differential. Montreal has a plus-2 goal differential, while the Revs are at even zero at the moment.

In this must-win situation, New England will be looking for some of their stars to get back into the scoring column. The Revs have not received goals from Charlie Davies in eight games, Diego Fagundez and Kelyn Rowe in three games. Though not a goalscorer by trade, Jermaine Jones still hasn’t found the back of the net in 2015. In other words, it’ll be all hands on deck for the Revolution if they hope to keep pace with Didier Drogba, who has the opposite problem: he can’t stop scoring.

With nearly 40,000 fans expected on hand for Saturday’s regular season home finale, the urgency to close out a successful season becomes even more paramount for the Revolution. While the standings might not reflect it, this is very much a do-or-die game for the Foxborough outfit.

They don’t need to look back. The only thing that’ll help the struggling Revolution is to look at what’s right in front of them.

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