Usseglio: Critical Mistakes Cost New England
Messi Makes the Revolution Pay
Wednesday night was a great night for soccer in New England. A packed crowd at Gillette Stadium welcomed Inter Miami and their star players, Lionel Messi, Luis Suárez, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets as they squared off against the Revolution.
Before I delve into the details of the game, I do think it is important to recognize the larger cultural impact of having a player like Messi in Foxborough. During the radio broadcast, Brad Feldman marveled about seeing Messi play in person.
Having the opportunity to watch the greatest player of all time in a competitive game is something that none of us should take for granted. For someone as experienced in the sport as Feldman, he still had childlike wonder watching Argentina’s hero orchestrate on the field.
If that is the reaction that Feldman had, as I am sure it was for all of us that have been around a while and follow world football, we cannot understate the impact of Messi on the kids of New England. That was the point that Feldman’s broadcast partner, Charlie Davies, had in response.
Think about all of the kids in New England, watching in the stadium or at home, and how seeing Messi can let them dream. To make them fall in love with the game, whether for the first time or even more than they already were.
That is the cultural impact of having a player like Messi in Major League Soccer. We may not see the full effects of his presence until further down the road, but his role in growing the game and helping the United States become more of a soccer nation is undeniable.
On the field, Messi led his team to another victory Wednesday night, as he and his pink-clad Herons defeated the Revolution by a score of 2-1. While it is the third straight defeat for New England against Miami, this was the first time during the Messi era when I thought the Revolution held their own. They were not played off the park like they were in both games last year.
The Revolution showed well for the first 20 minutes of the game. They defended as a team, had some attacking moments, and gave Miami a good fight. One of Miami’s weaknesses, maybe their only weakness, was their defense. They could be stretched and played behind if the Revs were able to play direct and take advantage of the space available to them.
I wish that the Revs had played more direct balls over the top or diagonally for players like Luca Langoni or Leo Campana to run onto. Langoni had two fantastic chances in the first half from balls played behind Miami’s defense, but he lacked the finishing touch to put the ball away.
Unfortunately, an inexplicable mistake from Revolution defender Tanner Beason led to Miami’s first goal of the night in the 27th minute. For some unknown reason, Beason headed a ball that he was trying to clear just outside of the Revs’s penalty area back into the box. The ball fell right to Messi, whose one-time finish beat Revolution keeper Aljaž Ivačič to put Miami ahead 1-0.
It was one of those moments that make you scratch your head. What in the world was Beason doing? It is bad enough making mistakes against an average MLS team. But you cannot, cannot, make those kinds of mistakes and gift a team like Miami opportunities. They will make you pay.
The situation was made worse when another mistake by the Revs led to the second goal of the night, scored in the 38th minute. As brilliantly commentated by Feldman and Davies, the Revolution were set up in a mid-block to defend against Miami. For some reason, the Revs allowed Sergio Busquets, one of the most clinical passers of a soccer ball the game has even seen, to dribble without pressure into the midfield. Busquets had all the time in the world to find the perfect pass to Lionel Messi, who was making a run behind the Revs backline.
Messi was somewhat marked by Beason, but not marked tight enough to cause him any trouble. As the ball was played through by Busquets, you were able to see the Maestro’s prowess in action.
First, the timing of the run and the angle Messi took towards goal were impeccable. Next, you could see him calculating in real time. Adjusting his body, speed, and steps to meet the ball perfectly when it would arrive to him. He glanced up to see where Ivačič and the goal were positioned, honing his radar for where to place his shot.
All of this happened before Messi received the ball. When the ball got to him, he struck it past the Revs’ keeper on his first touch. No touch to receive the ball, no dribble to set up his shot. Just a one-time finish made possible by of all the work and calculations he made from the moment the ball left Busquets’ foot.
It was exceptional. Two touches from Messi, two goals for Miami. The Revs found themselves in a 2-0 hole despite not playing that poorly. They just made two mistakes against a team you cannot make mistakes against.
To be honest, I was not sure how the Revs were going to respond. Would they completely lose the plot? Or would they stay in the game and fight back?
To my relief, the Revs fought back. They stayed right in the game, generating some great chances on goal before halftime. If Campana had been sharper and more clinical, the Revs could have gotten a goal.
The second half saw the Revs continue to grow into the game. Miami seemed content to keep the ball and not push the envelope. This allowed the Revs to generate more attacking possession and opportunities on goal. If the Revs had been more clinical, they might have gotten a point out of the game.
Head Coach Caleb Porter was clearly going for a result. He deployed his subs throughout the second half, trying to find a goal that would get the Revs back into the match. Tomás Chancalay, Luis Diaz, and Maxi Urruti were all called into action. In fact, Chancalay and Urruti came in for defenders, with Porter changing up the team’s shape to go more offensive.
At one point, Leo Campana, Luca Langoni, Tomás Chancalay, and Carles Gil were all on the field together, which I was happy to see. The Revs kept inching closer and eventually broke through when Carles Gil curled a shot with his right foot from the top of the box past Miami’s keeper Oscar Ustari in the 79th minute.
It was a brilliant goal from The Captain, who has truly been the heart and soul of the Revs all season. The Fort went wild as Gil celebrated with his teammates in front of the home crowd. The game was now on with ten minutes left to play plus stoppage time.
The Revolution kept pushing to tie the game but were unable to find a second goal. It finished 2-1, another home loss added to the Revs’ record.
I don’t know that I believe in moral victories. A loss is a loss. There is not much good you can take away from getting 0 points at home.
The Revolution still find themselves in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings. They now have only one game in hand over most of the teams in their conference and have 14 games left to play in the regular season.
While still within touching distance of the playoffs, the Revs desperately need to win some games. They have to stop making critical mistakes in defense and be more clinical in attack. There is no need to blast the ball as hard as you can against the keeper, which the Revs did countless times on Wednesday night. You have to keep your composure and calmly finish the chances you get. You have to be clinical to win games. When you aren’t, you lose. It’s as simple as that.
Can the Revs figure it out? That will be the story for the rest of the season. Let’s see how they do against the Verde in their first-ever trip to Austin this weekend.
My dad was a huge sports fan, and I am married to a sports fanatic. I have been lucky enough to see all-time great players in person in hockey, basketball, football, tennis, and golf, and last year, got to see Messi. All of the greats I have seen have a calmness about them that I think must only come from confidence in their own ability. Your description of how Messi sees/adjusts/acts makes so much sense. It's almost as if time slows down for the great players.