Know Thy Enemy: Revolution vs. A Growing Dumpster Fire

Both New England and Chicago have their growing issues to deal with, but with Club America looming the Revs desperately need to address one of theirs in today's game.

Now you might be thinking just which dumpster fire I am referring too with that headline because, well, there are a lot of possibilities here.

Am I talking about the Revs 0-4 season? Am I talking about the actual Chicago Fire defense that has allowed nine goals already? Am I talking about everyone who picked Kentucky in their March Madness brackets and think Dan Hurley is going to leave UConn for Lexington? Sorry, got distracted again…

Today at 2pm from a miserably rainy Gillette Stadium, and right in the middle of the UConn Women first round game vs Jackson State (dammit I did it again), the New England Revolution will attempt to claim their first points of 2024 against the Chicago Fire.

The two MLS originals have drawn their last five matches and six of their last seven dating back to the 2021 season (a lone Revs 3-2 win in Sept 2021 broke the streak), with the pair playing a 2-2 and 3-3- draw last season. Chicago despite their faults so far this year, have taken four points in their first four games, including a win last week against 10-man Montreal that featured not one, not two, but three late goals after the red card including two in stoppage time for the Fire.

So while that might be some good fortune and masking a lot of early problems Chicago is having, at least they have shown some competency going forward, and have scored eight goals on the year. The Revs however have struggled in league play in no small part to a congested CCC schedule and missing Giacomo Vrioni for essentially the first two games due to red card suspension.

Our friend Ruben Tisch of The Lantern will get into Chicago’s issues in more detail, but the short version we’re going to use right now is the Fire turn the ball over in midfield - a lot. There is a specific reason for this I will let him get into, but under normal circumstances when said problem isn’t away on international duty, it should give New England a lot of opportunities to create off of transition play and counters…if their playing system allows for it.

One of the early issues I’ve seen so far for New England under Caleb Porter is a lack of initiative to get forward. It’s a similar criticism I have with the USMNT under Gregg Berhalter in that I think the Revs and the U.S. would be much more dynamic as an aggressive countering side. The Revs have long struggled to breakdown a set defense and while the 1-0 loss against Toronto’s parked bus is not the best example cause Sean Johnson did stand on his head, I’m not sure 6-for-22 shooting in that game was good enough either.

So even if Chicago doesn’t have their usual starting #10 and might not turn the ball over as much - and ahead of a very important home match in a week and a half against Club America - today would seem like a very good day for the Revs offense to play far more aggressive going forward than they have so far this year in league play. Because this is the final game New England plays before Club America and I don’t think holding out for a low aggregate scoreline is going to be the winning play for the Revs.

As always we thank Ruben for taking the time to answer questions this week and apologize for butchering whatever midfield triangle I thought the Fire played I had everyone mixed up. You should follow Ruben and The Lantern and head over to their Patreon site for their side of the coverage of today’s game.

TBM: Eight goals for and nine allowed so far for the Fire, clearly a mixed bag so far this year - what’s been the team’s best and worst result so far in the first month?

RT: The best result is probably the opening game against Philadelphia. It’s certainly the best performance the team has had this season considering Andrew Gutman went down 2 minutes in. They were the most confident on the ball going forward and were solid defensively despite giving up two goals. It’s certainly not last week’s performance against Montreal. Despite winning the game, they played horribly until the Raheem Edwards red card and even then it took an act of science and a missed offside to win the game. 

That would probably be the worst performance if it wasn’t for the match against FC Cincinnati. The Fire’s home opener was a listless uninspiring performance that was saved only by Brian Gutierrez drawing a penalty at the end of the first half. You could say that most of the Fire’s performances this season have been the worst.

The problem is that our big DP Xherdan Shaqiri fucking sucks. He’s a bust. The fanbase is tired of him being a black hole in the attack and non-existent in defense. He’s a poor teammate with a poorer attitude and the experiment of giving him the captaincy forces some sense of responsibility on to him has failed. The guy is just a bust and the Fire play better without him. 

TBM: How is Kellyn Acosta fitting into the midfield next to Shaqiri? Is he the key to shoring up the goals conceded or is there a more glaring issue for Chicago at the back?

RT: First, Acosta does not play alongside Shaq. He plays in the double pivot as the 6 next to Herbers at the 8. And he’s been as advertised. He’s not getting forward because he’s being asked to play more of a defensive roll and he’s been good at disrupting attacks and controlling the game from in front of the back four. Like all good 6s, you don’t notice his contribution unless you’re specifically looking for it, and Acosta has been tremendously quiet. 

The Fire’s defensive issues all stem from their inability to keep the ball due to their bad attacking midfielders. The rant I went on in the first question probably belongs here, but what’s done is done. Just know that Xherdon Shaqiri is a problem the coaching staff needs to solve, and quickly.  

3. Fabian Herbers is having a nice start to the year, can he and Hugo Cuypers do enough up top to get the Fire into the playoffs and be a threat to make a run in November?

The short answer is No. 

The long answer is that for the Fire to be a threat they need to figure out their attacking midfield. (sensing a theme?)  Cuypers is a classic 9, which means he needs service to him in the box, something the Fire are not so good at doing at the moment. The ball isn’t getting into the wide spaces enough and they can’t connect enough passes to play intricately through the middle. Shaqiri is no Gio Reyna. 

As for Herbers, he’s the team’s engine. He’ll run everywhere and do all the dirty work and sometimes he’s awarded with a goal. But if he’s one of your best anything, let alone attacking options, you’re in trouble.  

Everything comes back to Xherdan Shaqiri being bad.  

Lineup/Injuries/Predictions/etc.

If you take one thing away from this Q&A, let it be that the Fire are more likely to win with Shaq on international duty than if he were playing. Chris Brady is also away with the Olympic team so the backup goalkeeper Spencer Richey will start. Brian Gutierrez will play the 10 and the offense should run smoother. I think the Fire win here, 3-0.