Revs Prepare For Two-Game Home Stand After Red Bulls Loss
Brandon Bye: “It's about bouncing back quickly, because there's a game on Wednesday at home."
The New England Revolution will have little time to dwell on their 2-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls because they have two games in the next week.
Last Saturday’s game had its fair share of controversy, largely highlighted by Andrew Farrell’s late game-tying goal being ruled offside when Giacomo Vrioni was deemed to have affected the goalkeeper.
While head coach Bruce Arena expressed frustration regarding the referee during his post-game media availability, he also thought his team needed to play better.
“It was a poor game, poor quality,” Arena said when asked for his general thoughts. “I think the conditions were tough. We didn’t play well. What more can you say?”
One thing that made the night difficult was that the team was without captain Carles Gil, who was serving a one-game suspension due to yellow card accumulation.
To adjust to his absence, the Revs played with a flatter midfield. Ema Boateng played on the left with Matt Polster and Latif Blessing in the middle.
Esmir Bajraktarević got his fifth start of the year on Saturday, operating as a right midfielder. The homegrown player nearly had a goal during the opening stanza.
Still, Gil is so important to how the Revs play, so Arena will be happy to get him back ahead of the upcoming home stand.
“Your team is better when your best player is on the field, in any sport,” Arena noted.
The Revs will host Atlanta United on Wednesday with D.C. United coming to town on Saturday. These are two opportunities to get points before the Leagues Cup break.
“It's about bouncing back quickly, because there's a game on Wednesday at home,” Brandon Bye said.
While the outing against the Red Bulls won’t be a favorite for Revolution, Bye, who scored the team’s third header of the year, said there are lessons to take from it.
“I think the battle we showed in the second half,” Bye said when asked about the positives. “In the first half we really just weren’t understanding the game, and then once we got a man down, guys fought, guys battled, you can take something from that.
“You learn something from every game, win, loss, or tie, you always learn something, so we have some takeaways, but we have to bounce back.”
Let VAR decide the goal take-a-way eat the end. I doubt the referee was in good enough position to make a call that was so critical. Why have VAR if you do not use it in this critical situation?
Also, I was puzzled as to why a Red Card, rather than a yellow, was called on a non-violent mistake
by Blessing. This referee decided the game, rather than the play of the Red Bulls.