Revs rallying behind return to basics
New England on verge of Eastern Conference Championship berth
The stifling of New York's attack in the scoreless draw at Giants Stadium was a complete defensive display by the Revolution, one which was in stark contrast to much of what was seen in the regular season. Since a 2-1 win against the Red Bulls on August 25, the Revs conceded 15 goals in their seven remaining games.
Naturally, the return to defensive stinginess pleased Steve Nicol, whose pre-match advice to his backline prior to the first leg was very fundamental: keep it simple.
"The biggest thing was that we cleared our lines," said Nicol. "Too many times we have put ourselves in trouble trying to be too clever in the defensive third instead of putting the ball out or heading it upfield. It was exactly what we were looking for. I don't remember there being any time in the game where we thought 'we got away with one there'."
With the emphasis firmly placed on keeping the New York attack at bay, the Revolution's offense was, perhaps understandably, also somewhat quiet last weekend, though that was not a problem for Nicol.
"Would we have liked to have won the game? Yes, but that would have been being a bit greedy and not understanding of the good job we did," he said. "I don't think that anyone connected with the Revs would have not settled for nil-nil coming home."
In the first leg, two men whose defensive ability has been called into question at times this year were key factors in nullifying the New York attack. Wells Thompson and Khano Smith might have had their ability as two-way players doubted but Nicol has stuck by the wing duo and his faith is being vindicated.
"I think (Thompson) is understanding now of what his job entails," said Nicol. "His forte for us is getting the ball at his feet and using his pace. He has a great shot and can whip balls in. That is really what we want him to be doing but young players have to understand that there are jobs that need to be done which are less glamorous.
"(Smith) actually made a challenge on Saturday in the penalty box, which really shows he understands what is going on defensively. We spoke before the game about limiting the service to Altidore and Angel and that is exactly what we did. A large part of that was down to the two wide guys who stopped crosses coming into the box and, when they did, made it difficult for a good ball to be put in."
At Gillette Stadium on Saturday, Smith and Thompson will be charged with providing the ammunition for the Revolution attack. The historical signs point to success for the hosts. New England last lost a home game to their I-95 rivals in June 2002, 12 matches ago. In the playoffs, the Revs are 1-0-1 at home versus New York.
The record is impressive, but the Revolution are under no illusions that their task will be easy. In 2005, having lost the opening leg 1-0, the Revs fell behind in the return match before mounting an inspired comeback to score three unanswered goals and take a 3-2 aggregate win after extra time. With that close call still fresh in his mind, Nicol will preach the importance of patience to his men this week.
"I am sure that this Saturday, whatever happens, we will have the maturity and experience to deal with being ahead or being behind or being level, whatever is thrown at us," he said. "We have been there before and know that you just keep going because you can always pull things out if they are needed. Hopefully, obviously, we don't want them to be needed but we have plenty of people on the field that know that anything can happen at home."
In this year's playoffs, the Revolution were the only road team to end left their first leg not trailing in their series. They will carry the favorites tag into Saturday's return match but, while his game plan will feature a slightly more offensive approach, Nicol's insistence on getting "back to basics" will continue.
"We will go and try and win the game" said Nicol. "We'll play the way we play at home which is to go forward and try to put the opposition under pressure."
Charles Boehm is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
