Following the Revolution’s elimination from the postseason race,\u00a0fourth-year veteran\u00a0Chris Tierney suggested\u00a0that “jobs are on the line” going into the final three games of season.<\/p>\n
Although that may seem drastic, Tierney’s point isn’t\u00a0terribly off base.\u00a0With\u00a0the team\u00a0chained to the basement, it stands to reason that more than a few Revolution players may be playing\u00a0in their final\u00a0games in Foxboro this month.<\/p>\n
So with that in mind, which\u00a0players are on the proverbial bubble going into the offseason?\u00a0Let’s\u00a0take a look at the roster and\u00a0figure out,\u00a0by position, which\u00a0players must perform\u00a0at their peak during these\u00a0final three weeks of the season.<\/p>\n
GOALKEEPERS:<\/strong> With Matt Reis’ recent injury history, Bobby Shuttleworth is currently\u00a0tabbed as the successor to the\u00a0starting job\u00a0and, not coincidentally,\u00a0will get a crucial start on Saturday. But has he warranted the job full-time should Reis depart or retire at the end of the season? His stats are, by no means, first-string stuff, so the third-year keeper will need to show the staff something on Saturday. Meanwhile, Tim Murray, who has served\u00a0behind Shuttleworth\u00a0for the past two seasons, is in the untenable position of occupying the understudy’s understudy spot, and barring an\u00a0injury to Shuttleworth,\u00a0probably\u00a0won’t get a chance to prove himself before the end of the season. DEFENDERS:<\/strong> While Darrius Barnes, A.J. Soares, and Kevin Alston appear to have their spots locked for now, that doesn’t mean that the talented trio isn’t in danger of being replaced next year. Just ask Barnes, who came off a solid 2010 and was rewarded for it by finding his natural center back spot filled by Franco Coria on First Kick. Ryan Cochrane and Franco Coria have played to their abilities, with mixed results, so both will need to avert the mistakes that have plagued them of late. A lack of first team minutes may send Otto Loewy in search of another club during the winter. MIDFIELDERS: <\/strong>Without a doubt, the biggest question going into the offseason is whether Shalrie Joseph will return next year. If the skipper leaves, it’s likely that the organization will seek outside candidates for his replacement. However, that shouldn’t stop them from looking within, particularly with promising rookies like Stephen McCarthy and the technically-sound Andrew Sousa on the roster. Staying within the central midfield, Benny Feilhaber,will probably be back, while\u00a0there’s a possibility Pat Phelan might become expendable if Joseph stays on. On the wings, Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi could find their Revolution careers coming to an end thanks to periods of inconsistency this season, while the right-sided Ryans – Guy and Kinne – will be battling to keep their spots. Although nothing is certain, especially with Steve Nicol on the hot seat, it appears Chris Tierney and Monsef Zerka may not have to worry as much as their less-experienced counterparts. FORWARD: <\/strong>If there’s one player in particular who has to look over his shoulder during these final weeks, it’s Zack Schilawski. Last year’s first round pick has seen the likes of Rajko Lekic, Milton Caraglio, and Diego Fagundez all take the forward’s spot ahead of him this season and could be out of New England before next year. The same goes for Dube, who’s likely have to\u00a0find another team after watching his minutes fall this year due to injury.\u00a0Should Caraglio’s complex loan deal allow for it, expect the Argentine to remain on board, along with Lekic and Fagundez, both of whom have played well off of Caraglio, while Koger, who’s shown flashes during Reserve action,\u00a0may find it difficult to keep his roster spot. The question, of course, concerning\u00a0a few\u00a0players on the bubble isn’t when<\/em> they’ll get their chances, but if<\/em> they’ll get their chances. In the cases of Loewy, Sousa, Kinne, and Koger,\u00a0it appears that Nicol is in no hurry to get them on the field with the first team. As a result,\u00a0next week’s Reserve Division finale\u00a0could be\u00a0their last shot.<\/p>\n Other players, such as Boggs, Schilawski, Mansally, Coria,\u00a0and Cochrane, may have already seen their best chances in sticking with the squad\u00a0pass them by. And with Nyassi\u00a0possibly out for the duration of the season, the speedy winger may have already outraced his final defender as a member of Revs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As New England’s season nears its conclusion, which Revolution players need to shine now in order to stick around later? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4102,"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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[24,3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/schilawskifeature3.jpg?fit=490%2C225&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6436"}],"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=6436"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6436\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6460,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6436\/revisions\/6460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSafe: <\/strong>Matt Reis
\nOn the bubble:<\/strong> Bobby Shuttleworth, Tim Murray<\/p>\n
\nSafe:<\/strong> Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes, A.J. Soares
\nOn the bubble: <\/strong>Ryan Cochrane, Franco Coria, Otto Loewy<\/p>\n
\nSafe: <\/strong>Shalrie Joseph, Benny Feilhaber, Chris Tierney, Monsef Zerka, Stephen McCarthy
\nOn the bubble: <\/strong>Ryan Guy, Ryan Kinne, Sainey Nyassi, Kenny Mansally, Andrew Sousa, Pat Phelan, Zak Boggs<\/p>\n
\nSafe: <\/strong>Diego Fagundez, Milton Caraglio, Rajko Lekic
\nOn the bubble:<\/strong> Zack Schilawski, Kheli Dube, Alan Koger<\/p>\n