Revolution v. Timbers: Four More Thoughts
A game of transitions, plus three more thoughts.
The New England Revolution lost 2-1 to the Portland Timbers on Saturday, ending their seven-game road unbeaten streak.
Ian Smith scored in the 20th minute with a hit worthy of a first career goal. Luca Langoni equalized before halftime, then David Da Costa got the game-winner in the 72nd minute.
Here are four thoughts about the game.
Transitions
Soccer is a game of transitions, and that was certainly true on Saturday.
The Revs’ goal was a thing of beauty by Langoni, but it started in a simple way.
Matt Polster won the ball and moved it to Carles Gil, a pattern we often see. The playmaker picked up his head and found an onrushing Langoni. The Argentine then went to work.
Everyone involved played a role that fits their skill set. Polster is a ball-winner and knows that it’s best to pass to Gil as soon as possible. Langoni is most dangerous when he’s in space, so he makes a run that disrupts the back line.
The efficiency of the moment is something worth replicating, as it was a few times on Saturday.
Look here as Mamadou Fofana connects with Alhassan Yusuf, who takes a few touches before playing Langoni.
Portland also looked to capitalize on transitions, most notably after a Revs’ corner kick.
In this example, notice how the ball barely settles before Maxime Crepeau goes long.
The game-winning goal was scored after a Revs’ corner. The visitors never effectively put pressure on the ball, allowing Da Costa to get his third of the season.
Head coach Caleb Porter spoke about this after the game, saying, “It’s really disappointing the manner in how we gave away the second goal off our attacking corner. It wasn’t the first time that it happened in the match; it was probably the third or fourth time.
“We recognized it, we made an adjustment to drop an extra guy back, but in that play we rush out and we conceded the goal because of us not being good in that transition moment off of our attacking corner.”
Strikers
Saturday marked the seventh striker partnership used by the Revs since they adopted the 3-5-2 formation. The lack of consistency has prevented chemistry from fully developing.
The two strikers must work together to challenge the back line. The passing map produced by MLS Analytics on BlueSky indicates that Campana and Tomas Chancalay didn’t combine during the 40 minutes they shared the field against the Rapids.
Compare that to some of the connections that Campana and Ignatius Ganago had during their starts, during which the Revs went 3-0-2. The most notable produced a goal against New York City FC.
There were moments on Saturday when you could tell that Campana and Langoni haven’t had many reps together. Watch here as both strikers make a similar run.
But there were also promising moments. Watch as Campana plays Langoni into space.
Langoni as a striker is intriguing because he can challenge the opponent with his speed. It will be interesting to see how he’s used as players get healthy.
After the game, Porter said, “I thought, [Langoni] played extremely well. He gave us pace and power. He scored a great goal and had a few other moments where maybe he could have gotten another goal or an assist.”
Ultimately, the Revs need to establish consistency up top, both in terms of personnel and scoring. It’s concerning that the Revs don’t have a striker with more than two goals at this point in the season. Of course, some of that has to do with health.
The wingbacks are regularly offering service from wide areas. The Revs need players who are making the right runs. This ball from Peyton Miller should’ve at least forced a save.
Missing Feingold
Ilay Feingold was unavailable on Saturday due to an ankle injury. The right back came off the bench against the Rapids in a move that was more about rotation.
Feingold, who has three goals and three assists, can beat people on the dribble, which is valuable for the Revs’ build-up play.
Watch here as he pushes past two Rapids players before sending in a cross.
The Revs’ wingbacks complement each other because they offer something different. While Feingold looks to take people on, Miller often uses his pace to sneak in behind.
Here’s a good opportunity that Alhassan Yusuf created. By the way, Yusuf’s passing range (three chances created against Portland) is underrated.
Schedule Ahead
July is a busy month for the Revs, as they play six games in 31 days. The Revs have been competitive this year, with only one multi-goal loss. That said, they need to collect more wins, especially against those above them in the standings.
Can the Revs get healthy? What do they do during the Summer Transfer Window? Perhaps most pertinent, how do they handle roster rotation during this busy schedule?
I thought the Revs did well on Saturday, but were missing a killer up top. This is a major storyline heading into the summer.
I don't think the Revs missed Feingold that much - Bye did a very good job as his replacement. Injuries are part of the game and I'm tiring of the Revs using them as an excuse for every poor showing. This road loss underscores the need for them to earn points at home, which they have not been able to do lately and they'll have thei work cut out for them on Wednesday.
“We recognized it, we made an adjustment to drop an extra guy back, but in that play we rush out and we conceded the goal because of us not being good in that transition moment off of our attacking corner.”
Interesting. I'd argue that throwing everyone back during the transition and no one putting pressure on the ball, giving David Da Costa about 5 miles of open grass in every direction around him was what went wrong. But based on this it seems like that was exactly what Porter wanted