{"id":20377,"date":"2013-07-06T12:18:33","date_gmt":"2013-07-06T16:18:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=20377"},"modified":"2013-07-22T16:20:32","modified_gmt":"2013-07-22T20:20:32","slug":"five-questions-revolution-vs-earthquakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=20377","title":{"rendered":"Five Questions: Revolution vs. Earthquakes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Revolution<\/a>

Revolution center back Stephen McCarthy displays the Revolution’s original jersey following training on Thursday. (Photo: Brian O’Connell)<\/p><\/div>\n

Following Saturday’s Revolution-Earthquakes game, fans and random\u00a0onlookers will be treated to what promises to be a brilliant fireworks display at Gillette Stadium. But, alas, they’ll be deprived of what would truly make Saturday’s match memorable: Throwback jerseys.<\/p>\n

In 1996, the original incarnation of the New England Revolution donned what might be the most patriotic jersey ever worn in MLS.\u00a0\u00a0Yes, it wasn’t as timeless or as grand\u00a0as Old Glory herself, but those\u00a0gradient\u00a0streaks of red, white and blue, were something to behold. They were brash.\u00a0They were fun. And, tragically, they were gone after one season.<\/p>\n

At time, the critics\u00a0hailed “good riddance” in unison.\u00a0They panned the ’96\u00a0Revolution\u00a0jersey, and pretty much every\u00a0other original\u00a0club’s jersey at the time. They called them garish and unsightly, a product of a design group that didn’t understand the sport. That may be true, until you consider what some EPL sides were wearing\u00a0not long before the league’s launch.<\/a><\/p>\n

The ’96 jersey conjures up images of a heady time in American soccer, and more specifically,\u00a0top-flight soccer in New England. Years had passed since the\u00a0Tea Men, Minutemen and Astros all streaked across the sky, with neither sticking around long enough to establish roots\u00a0or tradition. The Revolution, as we learned over the years, were here to stay.<\/p>\n

So why not take a moment – better yet, or 90 minutes –\u00a0to remember a bold time for New England soccer? On the most patriotic weekend of the year, why not have the aptly-monikered Revolution don the same jersey\u00a0worn by their ambitious predecessors?\u00a0Not for an entire season, but rather, just one night.<\/p>\n

Saturday’s fireworks will be wonderful, and they’ll be especially appropriate if the Revolution grab three points in advance. But, can we all agree that a visual tip of the cap to the ’96 club would make for a memorable evening? Heck, it might even bring a tear to Alexi Lalas’ eyes.<\/p>\n

Before lighting the fuse on our weekly set of questions, we’d like to wish everyone a safe and fun-filled Fourth of July weekend. Go out there and enjoy the spectacular weather that only a New England summer could bring.<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0What changes, if any, does Jay Heaps make to the attacking portion of his starting XI from last week’s 1-1 draw?<\/strong> If you look at the numbers alone, the offense\u00a0put together a pretty good showing against the Goats. But if you look at the game film itself, the reality isn’t as rosy. Jerry Bengtson’s form flickered at times in the second half, then predictably faded. Saer Sene found a few passing lanes, but couldn’t find enough room to orchestrate a killer pass or a dynamic run. Ditto for Diego Fagundez and Kelyn Rowe. This week, the challenges posed to the offense will be quite different with San Jose in town. Although their defense isn’t what you’d call “great,” or even “good” on some nights, there’s no way the likes of Sam Cronin, Rafael Baca\u00a0and Shea Selinas\u00a0lift the gate near the halfway line the way\u00a0the Goats\u00a0did last week. In light of that, it might make sense to employ a good holdup striker, and starting Chad Barrett over Bengtson could sharpen the attack. Aside from that switch, no other changes should be necessary, barring injuries.<\/p>\n

2. Without Chris Wondolowski or Marvin Chavez, who must the defense keep tabs on especially?<\/strong> Our first nominee has to be Alan Gordan, that crafty veteran who’s rediscovering the form that helped catapult the Quakes to a Supporters’ Shield Trophy last season. Indeed, it might be a good idea to monitor every move a guy with three goals in his last two makes. Then there’s Adam Jahn, who looked really, really good in the earlier part of the season, only to see his form fade as Gordon’s re-emerged. But the Revolution can’t sleep on Jahn, who may not have scored since early-May, but has ripped a number of shots on goal since. Meanwhile, the Revolution wingbacks must be aware of their counterparts, as Steve Beitashour and Justin Morrow have been creating havoc and headaches for opposing defenses. San Jose XI may resemble a reserve unit in many respects, but they still have enough weapons to keep the Revolution\u00a0defense on alert.<\/p>\n

3. Is Saer Sene ready to return to the scoresheet?<\/strong> If there’s a game in which a goal would go along way, well, Saturday’s is as good as any. First and foremost, with Juan Agudelo out for the foreseeable future, the Revolution absolutely need last year’s leading scorer to step up and find the back of the net. Although Heaps has primarily employed him as a wide player this year, the French forward is still finding plenty of chances, even if his\u00a0declaration of being a striker is falling upon deaf ears. Second, San Jose’s defense – a defense without Victor Bernardez, who’s suspension expires after the game – is guilty of giving up goals galore, with five goals allowed in their last two games.\u00a0Then, of course,\u00a0is the transfer talk, which Sene is\u00a0finding himself at the center of thanks to interest from\u00a0his native France.\u00a0What\u00a0better way to boost the asking price than by scoring goals? Taking all these factors into account,\u00a0you can’t help but think that Sene\u00a0is\u00a0salivating at the opportunity before him on Saturday.<\/p>\n

4. With all three defensive midfielders presumably healthy, who should get the start?<\/strong> It may be hard to believe, but here we are, on the eve of the\u00a0middle of the season. The\u00a0games, from here on out,\u00a0start to become\u00a0more important. And to that end, the Revolution can’t afford to rely on luck,\u00a0which essentially speared them a point last week\u00a0against Chivas. No, they must become savvier and more attuned to what they need to do to win games. Not draw, but win. Last year, we saw Clyde Simms admirably attempt to take over the holding role after Shalrie Joseph was traded, but the boat sank shortly thereafter. Scott Caldwell has performed well enough to earn a slew of starts this season, and it’s a credit to him that\u00a0rookie’s shown himself capable of manning\u00a0such a high-pressure\u00a0position. But big money players show up in big games. Or at least they should. It’s hard to say what Heaps’ opinion about his most expensive player is, but these final 18 games demand Kalifa Cisse’s presence. Although injuries and poor form have cast him as an afterthought for much of the first half, now is the time for Cisse to show his worth. During the offseason, Heaps mentioned that one of the things that befell his club last season\u00a0was lack of leadership during the homestretch. Well, the homestretch isn’t too far away, and Cisse\u00a0can’t lead from the bench.<\/p>\n

5. Can the Revolution take advantage of a weary and call-up depleted San Jose?<\/strong> If they have any ambitions of clearing sixth place, they have to. You have to think that, Agudelo’s injury aside, the Revolution could not have asked for a better time to face the Quakes. Yes, San Jose isn’t going to roll over and put out their paw for a handshake. No, they’re better than that, and they showed that by nearly eking out a point from the Fire without Wondolowski, Chavez, Selinas and Bernardez. But at the end of a three-game, eight-day itinerary, Saturday’s game should\u00a0mean three points or bust for the Revolution. After all, they’ve had a full-week of rest, they’re at home, nearly everyone is healthy and, as noted above, it’s the Fourth of July Weekend for crying out loud. A\u00a0team\u00a0that calls itself the\u00a0New England Revolution should never\u00a0lose on\u00a0the most\u00a0patriotic\u00a0weekend of the year. But in all seriousness, if the Revolution can’t find a way to\u00a0win on Saturday, then the second half of the season looks bleak, my friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We start off this weekend’s slew of questions with an argument for the annual return of the ’96 Revolution jersey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":20380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[3],"tags":[510,512,511,49,1274,76,124,509],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/Stephen-McCarthy-old-school.png?fit=491%2C258&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20377"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20377"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20391,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20377\/revisions\/20391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}