The league schedulers thought they could pull one over on the tired dispatcher...you funny guys you...throwing everyone into a midweek mixer right at the end of the Leagues Cup group stage and a week before the quarterfinals matches meaning RSL, Columbus, Austin, and Chicago are playing like 4 games in 11 days or something.
Again, brilliantly done from the people who said we'll take it from here. But we do have a doubleheader with SKC-St Louis at 8:00 PM followed by a 10:30 PM Eastern CaliClassico on national TV to look forward to tonight for the sickos.
At least they were kind/smart enough to send the New England Revolution on a reasonable trip to the nation's capital to face rivals D.C. United (7:30 PM, AppleTV) as the fourth-place Revs continue their six games out of seven on the road stretch.
Just really quick wanted to highlight two points from my most recent TFC preview. I still want to see more of Wilson Harris and the Revs can still be largely fine and productive even with a black hole coming from the lone striker position.
Yes, the Revs lost in Toronto in a game in which they largely dominated and just about everyone's analysis was sometimes ball no go in or something similar and New England is far from panicking after that match and rightly so. If the Revs are going to drop points because of 30-yard thunderbastards and own goals...there's not all that much they can do about it.
Thomas Pinzone
Because the chance creation numbers are there, Tom Pinzone did a deep dive into the Revs xG numbers and other stats in Toronto which sums up my previous point that the Revs offense as a whole is fine even with multiple injuries and lackluster performance from the #9 spot.
The reason why I think we need to see more of Harris up top and starting today is not only because of the fixture congestion, but because he has a quiet efficiency about him. I used the Bobby Wood comparison over the weekend, and I still think it holds true. He does the little things right, is usually in a good position, and is smart in his decision-making. Harris affects the game more off the ball with his positioning than Turgeman does, despite Turgeman being a lot more aggressive at times. At least that's what I'm noticing, and maybe I'm wrong.
Over the next month and a half, the Revs are going to play eight games in about six weeks. This includes ninth place DCU, seventh place NYCFC (twice and only home game), 11th place Columbus (right after their League Cup QF, which is in California), 13th place LA Galaxy, and third place Chicago, after which we should know just how solid the Revs' chances are at hosting a first-round series.
Is this road trip difficult? Absolutely; any stretch away from home like this always is. But it's not daunting by any stretch, so long as the Revs can continue playing like they did on Saturday.
A 1-5-2 mark away from home is probably not the mark of a top team in the East. If the Revs want to prove they're not just a bunch of early-season overachievers, they need to win more than just a couple of these games.
Sam Lattof
Routinely beating teams like Montreal, Toronto, and DC United who are below the playoff line (D.C. currently being in the play-in game doesn't count as being above the line) and not to mention rivals would be a true positive indicator that this Revs team could do something special in November. Seems like there's still a bit New England needs to learn and prove the rest of the way, which again is fine. The Mitrovic era was always planned to be a marathon not a sprint.
Anyway, as always, we chat with our good friend Ryan Keefer of the District Press to figure out just what exactly D.C. is this year? Are they good, are they bad, are they simply kind of what they are at this point? Where would the Revs be with a 12-goal striker like Tai Baribo leading the line right now?
Okay, that last one I asked to myself just now, and I think the answer is still like 3rd/4th, but we'd feel a lot better about it. Anyway, make sure you head over to their site for my answers to Ryan's questions and all of their game coverage.
1) What's the transfer window been like for DC so far this summer? Is there still a big hole in the starting lineup that needs/is being upgraded?
Potentially underrated? Andre Dozzell is a midfielder who came in on a free after two years at Portsmouth, Kimito Nono is the team’s right back/mid, the Aaron Herrera replacement (Herrera was waived shortly after allegations of misbehavior towards Academy players at Real Salt Lake). Both played Saturday, Nono provided the assist on the goal, not bad! Nathan Ordaz was acquired from LAFC for cash and takes a U-22 spot, and has potential to crack the starting lineup soon.All of that said, D.C. does have room to make another impact move; they have a spare senior roster spot and a spare U-22 spot now, and while talks of acquiring 19-year-old Ian Subiabre from River Plate for that failed to bear fruit, they appear to want to make another move now, and have the flexibility for it. A chance creator and general center of attempt would be something D.C. could use but then again, so could just about everyone.
2) Six points (1 win, 3 draws) in four games since the World Cup break ended...has this been a positive stretch for DC? Certainly the 0-2 comeback vs Nashville helps I would think.
I think Nashville helps to a degree for the mindset of hanging with the leaders, but a larger context is really more of a thought on where Nashville was at that moment. One of the draws was against comeback at Montreal, the 2nd time D.C. has drawn with them, and those games are just as ripe from grand takeaways, or not. But I digress. Those 4 games have a 1.5 points per game, a marginal tick up from D.C.’s season pace of 1.26, so…technically yes? But they barely underperform their xGF and barely overperform their xGA, and from boxcar analytics, they have a strong case of ’they are who we thought they were’-itis, next to Inter Miami oddly enough. Maybe that means Louis Munteanu is the Romanian Messi, I don’t know.
3) DC United currently sits in 9th place, is this a team that can hang on to that play-in game spot? What's a realistic playoff expectation for the Black and Red?
New England is one of 4 games DC play against Top 4 teams in either conference, which is silly to me because I can’t consider the Revs a Top 4 any thing, it’s a reality I just cannot admit, I’m sorry! However, the next month of games may be sneaky important? They have away games at Cincy and Charlotte which can be difficult, but not impossible, especially if you’re a team that’s lost three games on the road all year. But they also have home games with the aforementioned Charlotte, along with Atlanta and Columbus among others.
D.C. plays five of their next seven games in 31 days at home, and if there was a time for a team to develop a killer instinct of finishing and make a playoff spot discussion tangible, this seems like a good time to do so.
Lineup/Injuries/Predictions/Etc
Out: Farr (shoulder), Rowles (Thigh), Peglow (Thigh), Segal (Lower Leg)
Lineup: Johnson; Hefti, Peltola, Nealis, Kurokawa; Nono, Servania, Doezel, Hopkins; Baribo, Munteanu
It feels like the Revs are reeling despite the xG underperformance, but I think D.C. gets to luck out and catch them on a bad night; goals by Baribo and Munteanu offset a Gil FK beaut, and D.C. wins 2-1.
