Know Thy Enemy: Revolution vs. Surviving the Five Stripes

One more week on the road before a long summer filled with home games, and admittedly dates at MBS and Yankee Stadium is not what the doctor ordered.

Photo Courtesy of Ralph Schudel

Even without the new additions to the injury list for the New England Revolution in recent weeks, the month of May was always about surviving a long, road heavy stretch against some solid opposition. Tonight a national TV game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium against Atlanta United (7pm, FS1/Apple TV+) is not going to help their recent trend.

The Revs’ three game winless skid coincides with several players including and especially Carles Gil missing some time due to injury. While New England has done well in the early season to navigate through some long term injuries and some excellent contributions from Bobby Wood, Ema Boateng, and Noel Buck and the homegrowns, etc., the breaking point had to be reached at some point with regards to lineup consistency and preformance.

Now the 3-3 draw against Chicago last weekend highlighted a lot of these trends. Obviously you would prefer to beat a near bottom of the East team at home, but I like what the Revs did. The three centerback formation obviously didn’t start very well but it is a clear indication of the level of adapting that Bruce Arena needs to do right now.

Long term, the Revs breaking out or finishing in that 3-5-2 could be a great tactical fit. But when you’re short Brandon Bye at one of the fullback spots, Henry Kessler at left centerback, Carles Gil from the start and Gustavo Bou up top and you still managed to get three goals even against a bad team…yeah, I think we take that.

Atlanta has been one of the more enigmatic teams this year, they followed up a 5-1 win at home over Portland with a 6-1 loss in Columbus and then dropped three straight at Nashville, at Inter Miami, and then home to Charlotte. They are unbeaten in their last three with a home win against Colorado and then road draws in Chicago and Orlando. We know Atlanta is good and we know generally not great things happen when the Revs visit MBS, but the goal is to come out more or less unscathed and even perhaps with a result.

Most imporant for the Revs right now is to get healthy, sort out their issues in the summer window and make a run deep into the playoffs. Atlanta is more or less doing the same right now, and here to make sense of their season is our good friend Sydney Hunte of Dirty South Soccer:

TBM: How does one describe Atlanta's season so far? For a team in the middle of the East playoff spots, the Five Stripes are all over the place results wise this year and where should we expect them to finish in the East?

SH: Underwhelming, if not frustrating. Atlanta simply aren't putting together 90-minute efforts and are paying dearly for it. While it claimed an away point at Orlando City, it looked quite sloppy and failed to generate much in the way of the attack until some substitutions later in the match led to an equalizer from Tyler Wolff. Gonzalo Pineda has spoken about the mentality and mindset of the team, and it's odd to see them continue to fall into bad habits time and time again. Having Brad Guzan back (and I think everyone was surprised to see him start against Orlando just 6 and a half weeks after an MCL injury against NYCFC), I feel, will give the team a voice and presence they just don't have a great deal of right now. I'm interested in seeing what moves occur in the summer - especially with a DP slot open with the departure of Luiz Araujo. If Atlanta are able to hit on those, there's no reason why it can't finish in the top half of the conference standings.

TBM: Giorgos Giakoumakis has found his stride in MLS, but he's been doing so off the bench lately. Is there a dynamic shift in how ATL plays when he starts or is his potency off the bench against tired opposition just that more noticable?

I'd lean toward the former instance, because he certainly does elevate Atlanta's level of play. That being said, even despite a start against Orlando, the level of play he encountered was stifling to the point that he was getting little to no service and opportunities to score. I think that as Giakomakis continues to get match fit, Atlanta will benefit from his style of play and what he can bring to the table. (Let's not forget that he scored in each of his previous starts before going down with a hamstring injury, too, so that gives even more credence to the fact that Atlanta are simply a better team with him. I certainly think he'll score more often than not.)

TBM: There's no question, just gush about your dude Caleb Wiley who I saw help demolish New Zealand yesterday for the USA in the U20 World Cup.

SH: Yeah, it's great to see. Caleb is a player Atlanta fans have gotten to watch during his time with Atlanta's academy and with Atlanta United 2, and now he's made it very difficult for Pineda to leave out of the lineup. I don't know if Atlanta will be in a hurry to part ways with him unless it receives an offer it can't refuse. From a senior national team standpoint, you probably won't see him consistently in the mix right away (he's gotten his feet wet, at least), but a U-20 World Cup appearance and more strong outings at the club level will make for an interesting decision for whoever gets the USMNT job permanently.

Predicted lineup:

Giakoumakis

Etienne-Almada-Araujo

Rossetto-Sosa

Gutman-Robinson-Purata-Lennon

Guzan (c)

Scoreline prediction: Atlanta United 2-1 New England