Usseglio: Is it Time to Ring the Alarm Bells?

How much time do the Revolution have?

Photo Courtesy of New England Revolution

Let me set the scene for you. It is Matchday 3 of the MLS Regular Season and the New England Revolution are 0-1-1, proud owners of one point through the first two games.

The Revs are playing their second home game of the season, desperate to get in the win column in front of their faithful fans. It is a chilly, frigid night in Foxboro against one of their bitter rivals, the Philadelphia Union. This is a new look Union, coached by Bradley Carnell and winners of their previous two games where they scored a combined eight goals.

Head Coach Caleb Porter made one change to his starting lineup, benching Brandon Bye. Ilay Feingold started his first game at right back for the Revolution and Will Sands returned to the starting lineup at left back. Midfielder Matt Polster made his first appearance in the matchday squad, available on the bench.

It was scrappy early on, with Philly winning a corner in the second minute. The Revs had their own chance in the fifth minute, when captain Carles Gil played a through ball to Ignatius Ganago, whose cutback pass to Leo Campana was shot wide of the goal. Campana, who had been walking around gingerly prior to his shot, went down to the ground and covered his face with his hands.

Cue that sinking feeling in your stomach. Campana had to leave the game due to the injury. Not great. Not great at all. If the marquee signing of the offseason has to miss any significant amount of time, the Revolution are in trouble.

I could not help but think about the turf. That cursed turf at Gillette Stadium. The Revs have dealt with so many injuries and the turf has to bear some responsibility for that. You cannot convince me otherwise. I cannot wait for the day the Revs no longer have to play on that godforsaken surface.

Maxi Urruti was called into early action and played well. The Revs looked decent. I thought they kept their defensive shape well and they worked hard pressing to put pressure on the Union and win the ball back.

The passing in the midfield looked more fluid and dynamic, with more vertical and diagonal passes than I remember seeing against Nashville and Columbus. For all of that fluid play in the buildup, the Revs could not connect on the final pass. Their decision making in the final third was severely lacking.

Despite all of their good play, how many shots on goal do you think the Revs had at the end of the first half? If you guessed 0, you would be correct. The Revs had 7 shots but 0 shots on goal for a whopping 0.2 expected goals according to mlssoccer.com. The first half finished tied 0-0, so at least the Revs weren’t behind. I felt better about how the Revs were playing, but yet found myself frustrated that they couldn’t break through to get a shot on goal, never mind an actual goal.

The Revs were on the front foot for the first five minutes of the second half. They looked hungry and like they might actually get something going. Then Philly wins a dumb foul by Alhassan Yusuf outside of the Revs box. Revs keeper Aljaž Ivačič made a phenomenal save on the free kick, tipping the shot onto the crossbar with his fingertips to keep the Revs level.

The Revolution continued to have nice moments and occasional combination play through the midfield, but they kept making poor choices in the attacking third. For all of their positive play, they were rewarded by a Philadelphia goal scored by Tai Baribo in the 75^th minute. Baribo scored from a cross to the far post, beating Feingold to his spot and heading the ball past Ivacic.

Now the Revs really needed to push forward to find a goal. Philly was not going to make it easy for New England. As the second half wore on, the Revs looked increasingly tired. The Union started to dominate, forcing another amazing save from Ivacic in the 85^th minute.

Ivacic pulled yet another rabbit out of his hat on an exceptional save in the 94^th minute. The Union were cutting through the Revs defense at this point, zipping the ball around the Revs box before Jovan Lukic’s strike banged off the far post and was buried in the back of the net. Philadelphia 2, New England 0.

That is how the game ended. At the final whistle you could hear the boos raining down from the fans. It was a disappointing night.

The Revs looked exhausted midway through the second half. By the end of the game they had run out of gas. They created all of one shot on goal over the course of the game. That resulted in a total of 0.3 expected goals according to mlssoccer.com. The Revs now have one point out of a possible 9 to start the season.

I know this is a new team with 14 new players. It will take time for things to come together.

We have been told this over and over again.

Porter has explained how they intentionally played the first two games of the season tight, focusing on getting the defensive part of their game right. They did not want to push the game in Nashville. I would argue that Nashville are one of the weaker teams the Revs will play this season, and the Revs should have gone there trying to win. Columbus blew the doors off the Revs last year, so I get it makes sense to play really conservatively.

How long exactly do the Revs have to figure it out? They could not generate anything against Philadelphia tonight. While Philly scored 8 goals in their first 2 games, they also conceded three.

Let’s look at the next six games for the Revolution.

Away at New York City, always a difficult game on a postage stamp of a field against a tough opponent. Home to New York Red Bulls, the Eastern Conference Champion last season who is always hard to play. Away at Cincinnati, never an easy game. Away at Atlanta United, how do you think that one is going to go? Home against New York City, never an easy game. Then away to Charlotte, who is much improved this year and also embarrassed the Revs when they visited Bank of America Stadium last season.

Where exactly are the points going to come from? If the Revs can only muster 0.3 expected goals against Philadelphia and Campana is out for any stretch of time, they are in serious trouble.

How much time do the Revs have to figure things out before the season gets away from them? Right now I don’t see where the points are going to come from.

Do you?