Know Thy Enemy: The Matt Turner-Wayne Rooney SummerSlam Rematch Edition
Yes, there's an MLS game tonight but imagining an MLS ASG Main Event rematch between to EPL greats is far more important.
I understand that later today the New England Revolution will be playing at Audi Field against DC United (AppleTV+, 730pm EDT) and the Revs could get their fourth win out of five to start the year which would be really good.
But before we get to that, there are shenanigans we need to address first…
Audi Field will host the 2023 MLS All-Star Game later this summer much to the delight of the rest of the staff and one of my dear co-workers who immediately went out and bought tickets to see his beloved Arsenal immediately after I told him about the matchup.
More important than that is we get another Rooney-Turner matchup and I want to hear everyone’s ideas on the best way to do this and potential outcomes in a proverbial WWE setup/soccer game. Any match style, possible ridiculous outcomes and heel turns, anything goes - tweet it, put it in the comments, I want chaos and hilarity. I know you will all rise to this challenge and I expect MLS/Apple to deliever some good promos from these ideas.
As for the Revs-DC game, this is a little harder to predict as far as chaos goes. New England might still be without star playmaker Carles Gil in midfield and while they were able to beat Nashville 1-0 last week I would say that chance creation was not spectacular. DC once again is struggling defensively due to a myriad of issues but have shown to be pretty capable going forward and absolutely stole a game against Toronto earlier in the year.
The Revs have not been overly dominant offensively in 2023 yet, as their best output according to MLSSoccer.com was a 1.5 xG mark against Houston in a 3-0 win but half of that total was a point blank Bobby Wood finish on a 5 of 11 shooting night. In the Revs pair of 1-0 wins, they mustered 1.4 xG on 5 of 15 shots against Charlotte and 1.1 xG against Nashville on 5 of 10 shooting.
None of these are necessarily bad for a road game and maybe the best defense in the East but it does seem like the Revs are not yet firing on all cylinders. Gustavo Bou missing a lot of preseason for green card paper work, Carles Gil’s injury in particular and other factors play a part in that but the Revs overall team shape and organization seems to be working so far and that is a big positive.
Defensively the Revs have done very well to limit big chances in their wins, and it’s not surprising that all three have been shutouts. No we’re not going to talk about that LAFC game. However, Nashville proved the Revs are still vulnerable on set pieces and Walker Zimmerman likely should’ve had the opener if not for the crossbar last week.
DC United is another story, this is a team that gives up big chances very frequently and a fluxuating backline for a team trying not to repeat as the worst defense in MLS is not helping things. It’s entirely possible the Revs will be able to generate a lot of chances without Carles Gil but as they’ve shown in the past it’s not usually a comfortable experience without their talisman in the middle but it is doable.
With Dylan Borrero and Christian Makoun unavailable due to international duty, the Revs will have to fill two attacking holes up top instead of one, and I think that will put more emphasis on the fullbacks to get involved going forward - something both DeJuan Jones and Brandon Bye have been very capable of doing this year.
As always we chat with our good friend Ryan Keefer of The District Press, which we promise is still just as black and red and united as ever. Be sure to head on over to thier site for my answers to Ryan’s questions and all of their Revs-DC coverage and beginning of the 2023 NWSL season where we patiently await the Breakers return to the Washington Spirit schedule.
TBM: Okay, so the highlight of the MLS All-Star Game has to be a Matt Turner vs Wayne Rooney WWE rematch right? Cage Match? Closed Casket? 90 Minute Iron Man Match? How would you set it up?
RK: Let’s prepare ourselves for something like this; Wayne Rooney loads up, and I mean loads up, his All-Star XI with top notch guys; Hany Muhktar, Seba Driussi, Kai Wagner, Thiago Almada, Lucho Acosta makes his triumphant return, the whole thing. And when Chicharito comes in on Matt Turner and prepares to shoot? Well it’s the Fingerpoke of Doom all over again. Turner takes the Arsenal shirt off, puts on an LAFC one, and everyone returns to hating MLS again. SUM=nWo, same as it ever was.
TBM: Lewis O'Brien was signed on short term loan with a buy option from Nottingham Forest this week, will he be playing against the Revs this weekend and what can the league expect from him in the DC midfield this year?
RK: Well, at a high level I don’t understand the move for D.C. United. In Mateusz Klich, Rooney noted his play when he played (and later managed) against him when Wazza was at Derby County and Klich was at Leeds. O’Brien’s situation is similar in that Rooney was impressed by his play at Huddersfield Town and O’Brien was rumored to go to Leeds at one point (one person noted statistical similarities to Klich during the rumors) before moving to Forest, and appears to be a box-to-box mid, which the team has a few of without a potential $9 million buy tag. So apparently if you were in the EFL and played well against Rooney you too will get signed by D.C. United in the future! It wouldn’t surprise me if he came on or even started Saturday given the injury bug at the moment, but save for having a really good highlight sometime, this seems like a move to inject quality since the other quality player Rooney signed (Ravel Morrison) fell so quickly out of favor in D.C. with his longtime pal.
TBM: Tyler Miller has made all four starts in net this year for the team that allowed the most goals in the Eastern Conference last year. How has Miller and the defense looked so far in the first month of mixed results?
RK: Well they’ve already allowed the most goals in the East this year so, profit? I kid, but the larger question is that they’ve not had their first choice backline together for one game so far, and apparently won’t have them again this week. The first three weeks had three different center back pairings, including a 16-year-old in Week 1 and a center mid playing out of natural position in Week 2.
The only guy who’s started all four games for them is offseason signing Mohanad Jeahze, who’s looking more and more comfortable in MLS after coming over from Hammarby in the offseason. Tyler Miller’s been…OK with his new mates, he’s not Bill Hamid, nor was he built up to be, but he’s better than most anything D.C. United put in front of net in 2022.
TBM: What are the expectations for this team in 2023? Can Taxi, Benteke, Klich and company be a breakout team in the East or is this still a team that looks like it will struggle to make the playoffs?
RK: It’s a punt from me dawg. Taxi and Benteke weren’t out on the field together much last year, and when they were it looked good, and Benteke has gotten himself more involved in coming back and holding up play and interchanging with his teammates; he’s worked well with the various players on the team that have gotten the time in Taxi's place (like homegrown Ted Ku-DiPietro), which would extend further as more players come back to full health. There are still questions with the back five, and if they can up their chance creation and finishing then this could be a tough out, but at the moment I’d imagine a home playoff exit is the ceiling.
Lineup/Injuries/Predictions/Etc
Lineup: Miller; Greene, Birnbaum, Pines, Jeahze; Durkin, Canouse, Klich, Ku-DiPietro; Robertha, Benteke
Injuries:
OUT: Hines-Ike (Foot), Najar (Thigh), Rodriguez (Knee), Akinmboni (Head), Santos (Knee)
QUESTIONABLE: Fountas (Thigh), Williams (Thigh)
Prediction: Oy, will go with 2-1 D.C. on a late Benteke header?