My eyes have seen the glory of another revs goal scored

We’re marching to New York and we’re sharpening our swords

Undivided beat United, threw the Mutiny overboard

And the Revs go marching on…

(It is a cover of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, a beautiful song if you have never heard it.)

Founded: 1995

Pedigree: 4-Time Runners up to the MLS Cup (2002. 2005, 2006, and 2007,) 2005 Winners of the Supporters Shield, 2007 U.S. Open Cup Champion, and 2-time Eastern Conference Champion (2002 and 2006.)

Current Record This Season: 6-7-6 (Sixth Place in the Eastern Conference)

Supporters: The Midnight Riders, The Rebellion, and the Rev Army.

Rivalries: Chicago Fire, D.C. United, and the New York Red Bulls.

Coach: Jay Heaps (Second Season)

Top Returning Players: GK Matt Reis, GK Bobby Shuttlesworth, DEF A.J. Soares, DEF Stephen McCarthy, MID Kelyn Rowe, MID Lee Nguyen, MID Diego Fagundez, MID Saer Sene, and FWD Jerry Bengston.

Key Additions: DEF Jose Goncalves (F.C. Sion-Switzerland,) DEF Andrew Farrell (1^st Overall Pick in the 2013 MLS Superdraft,) MID Kalifa Cisse (Bristol City Rovers- England,) and FWD Juan Agudelo (Chivas USA.)

Key Departures: MID Sainey Nyassi (D.C. United)

Young Player to Look Out For: Farrell, Fagundez, and Rowe (there are many others.)

Outlook:

Rebuilding is never easy. Whether it is a soccer team or in life, starting from scratch requires news ideas, breaking down old thoughts, and looking for new opportunities. It is never easy and sometimes it requires years of work. For the New England Revolution, the rebuilding effort looks to be over after one season. One of the top clubs in Major League Soccer in the 2000’s, the Revolution bottomed out the past two seasons going 5-6-13 in 2011 and 9-17-8 in 2012. They also traded off every major asset for young, unproven players. It has paid off. Even though the Revolution may not make the playoffs this season, they are certainly on the rise and have enough talent to win trophies for years to come.

For me, the biggest key to the Revolution success has been Coach Jay Heaps. Heaps, a 14 year veteran of MLS, came into coaching with very little experience, but high potential to be a positive influence on the team. As a player, he was never a flashy all-star, but was a player who would give you 90 minutes every game. A relentless player with an impeccable work ethic (I would assume playing college basketball for Mike Krzyzewksi at Duke University helped with this,) he has brought many of the traits that he had as a player to this team. Even last season when the club’s inexperience showed, they never quit and would make more experienced clubs work for their 3 points. When you have a young club (the average age of the player is 24.3 years old) you need a coach that is willing to teach, and has the patience to handle the development aspect of the players and the squad, as a whole.

With a two years of growing pains behind them, the club has flourished this season winning 7 of their last 8 matches, including being the first team to beat Houston at BBVA Compass stadium in over 3 years. In addition, their 6 game winning streak earlier this season was the longest for the team since 2005.  What was so impressive about this match was that it was the first match where everything clicked for this team. Sure, they had a pretty nice run earlier in the season, but most of their positive results were against the likes of Chivas USA, Toronto F.C., and D.C. United. Minnows. In the Houston match, New England was pressing one of the league’s best defenses, controlling possession for most of the match, and taking the lead after a beautiful goal by Diego Fagundez. Even in the last few minutes, when Houston was throwing everything but the kitchen sink at New England. But the Revolution maintained a stout defense and Goalkeeper Bobby Shuttlesworth made some brilliant saves.

From that Houston match, a team’s identity was built. In the back, Shuttlesworth proved that he is a starting goalkeeper in this league. Before this season, Shuttlesworth was mostly a backup goalkeeper for the Colorado Rapids. But with the injury to Matt Reis, Shuttlesworth has shown that he can be a serviceable starting goalkeeper in this league. His Goals Against Average of 1 is one of the lowest in the league.  Since that match, the club has pulled off some impressive victories, including beating the Los Angeles Galaxy 5-0, and drawing the New York Red Bulls at home.

With a goalkeeper that is still learning the ropes, it is integral that the team has a defense can pick up some of the slack. The Revolution has a nice mix of young high upside players and solid veterans that makes for a pretty difficult defense to break down. Their defense has only allowed 20 goals this season, which is the lowest among any teams.  Perhaps their best run of form was from April 27^th to June 8^th, where they had a record of 4-3-1 and only allowed two goals. They have sputtered a bit recently though, losing three of their past five matches. In the match on July the 20^th against Colorado, they looked very disorganized on corner kicks and set plays. So this is still a work in progress, but the progress on the Revolution defense is evident.

The defense is anchored by Jose Goncalves, the Portugese centreback who is unquestionably the leader of this team. Part of the reason why he is such a quality back is that he controls space so well and is able to put out the small fires that can sometimes happen with an inexperienced team. Even in a match like the one on Sunday against Toronto F.C., where the club lost 1-0, you could see his ability to hold the line down and reduce mistakes that kept them in the match.  Stephen McCarthy has also shown himself to be someone who can be relied on for some critical minutes, but I would like to see more of A.J. Soares. The #6 pick in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft, he really came on last season and proved to be a sound defender in what was a really trying season. He has suffered from some hamstring issues earlier in the season, which have hopefully passed.

Part of their success in the back is due to drafting Andrew Farrell. The number one pick in last year’s MLS Superdraft, Farrell is big, strong defender who has a bit of a flair for the attack. When he was a kid, he actually played in youth leagues in Peru which shows because he is very comfortable going forward. He is a very difficult defender to break down. In the D.C. United match, he was able to hold his own against the like DeWayne DeRosario and Chris Pontius and held strong against continuous pressure in the late stages of the game. Hopefully in the future he will have a place with the U.S. Men’s National Team.

New England likes to play a 4-1-4-1 which allows their defense to play back and gives the team some flexibility in the midfield. The Revolution have at least 6 players in the midfield who could play on any team in the league. Steven Caldwell works very well as a defensive midfield because he does have the ability to push the ball forward, but is great one on one defending. He is also the second player from the New England Revolution Academy to make the starting roster of the Revolution. Saer Sene, the Paris Saint Germain academy product, is finally back into match fitness after missing part of last season and this season with a torn ACL. Sene is so good on the right side of the field because he makes very long strides down the pitch which opens the field up for either a shot or a pass inside. He started off very slowly, but has scored 2 goals in his last 4 games.  They also have Juan Toja, who is proving to be an excellent distributor from the midfield.

I also really like Kellen Rowe as a supersub off of the bench. Rowe, who was selected third in last year’s MLS Superdraft, has built a solid year after a strong 2012 season. The reason why Rowe works so well off of the bench is the energy and speed that he can bring in around the 65^th or 70^th minute of a match. You could see it in last week’s loss against Toronto F.C.  Although the Revolution was not able to score, Rowe was able to set up some very good plays that led to some highly quality shots. He is not just a good passer, the cuts that he makes against an opposition’s defense can be quite lethal. He put on a dribbling clinic in the D.C. United match on June the 9^th. Rowe is not just a good possession midfielder, he can also unleash one hell of a shot, like he did against the Los Angeles Galaxy earlier this season. Although he has started 14 of 21 games, they are going to need players who can come off of the bench and provide that lift against stronger teams in the East Rowe is perfect for this position.

But the one player who makes this entire midfield and this team work is Diego Fagundez. The first home grown player to ever be signed by the New England Revolution, Fagundez at the age of 18 already has all of the skills necessary to become a dominant player in this league and in Europe. So many midfielders assume that the only skills that you need are to make good passes and to be able to make a decent shot from time to time. But the best midfielders are always able to keep plays alive, and are always watching what the other team is doing. This game is chess, not checkers. Fagundez understands this. In the match against the Galaxy, Fagundez was constantly on his opponent forcing whomever he was marking to make irrational passes.

In addition to his fielding, he is also one of the best scorers in Major League Soccer. When you watch him on attack, he is just teeming with confidence and has such strong awareness of the entire pitch that he can make a shot like the one he did against the Houston Dynamo. As the leading goal scorer for the Revolution  he will be a key cog for this team’s playoff run. The key will be how is he able to respond with an increased workload and the pressure of playing in the playoffs. No one in Major League Soccer at the age of 18 has as much pressure as Fagundez does because no 18 year old has been in this position (And Freddy Adu does not count because he was not 18.) So it will be interesting to see how he responds to this pressure because he certainly has all of the tools to be one of the best.

Where the Revolution may have some troubles is up front. I really like Jerry Bengston because he is a big, strong forward who has shown himself to be a very capable scorer on the Honduras National Team (16 goals in 33 appearances.) But with the Revolution, he has not had as much success only scoring 3 goals in 26 matches. I have also not been impressed with Dmitriy Imbungo, who has shown some promise but seems to go down way too easy in the box and does not always finish the play. In the match last week against Toronto F.C., it seemed like he was a bit lost as the sole forward up front. It is a tremendous responsibility being the sole forward and perhaps he is just not ready for it yet.

That leaves Juan Agudelo as the Revolution’s best option in the forward position. Agudelo for years has been seen as one of the top young forwards in U.S. Soccer. At the age of 20, he has already played 3 full seasons in MLS and has 17 caps for the United States Men’s National Team. But Agudelo has never truly found a place where he can settle in and grow. With the New York Red Bulls, he was never able to get enough minutes behind the likes of Thierry Henry and Rafa Marquez. He was receiving some playing time with Chivas USA but because Chivas is such chaotic environment it was not really a good place for him to grow. I really liked the trade to the Revolution because he would finally play on a team that would give him the time and training necessary to shine. And he has done quite well this season, linking up for 3 goals earlier this season.

But he has not been able to play in the last month because of a right knee sprain, and with an impending January move to English Premier League side Stoke City on the horizon, one has to wonder if he ever truly will come back. I have to say I am honestly not too sure why he is choosing  to leave at this juncture of his career. While it is true that soccer is a young man’s game, he has not really had a chance to prove himself yet. And at Stoke City, he will probably be lining the bench with the other American players like Brek Shea and Maurice Edu. It is a very puzzling move for the player, and for the Revolution it could leave a huge gap in their offense. Now with a big contract to England lined up, will he show the same passion that he had earlier in the season?

Coming off of ghastly 2011 and 2012 campaigns, the New England Revolution have turned their fortunes around this season. Behind Jay Heaps, they have shown themselves to be a solid defensive team, that can also make creative chances on the offensive side of the pitch. They do have some questions in the forward position, but with a host of attacking midfielders that part is almost negligible. They have a lot of heart and character and may be able to slip into the fifth spot for the playoffs. But their inexperience may catch up to them later in the season. There is nothing wrong with a rebuilding season if the club is doing it the right way. By developing a solid core of young players both from their academy (Caldwell,) the draft (Farrell and Rowe) and abroad (Sene,) the Revolution are doing just that.

Beer of Choice:

Harpoon India Pale Ale, Harpoon Brewery

Although as a lark I thought about saying Pawtucket Patriot, in honor of the always funny show Family Guy, I found myself opposed to the re-use of their beer. Also, it is made in Rhode Island which is blasphemous to all Bostonians.

I had my first Harpoon about five years ago when my friends Rob and Djerdj went with me to see my brother on my 22^nd birthday. We were at a bar called the Black Rose in downtown Boston at about noon on the 4^th of July. Being young and not knowing much about beer, I asked the clearly Irish bartender for the beer that had a man and a harpoon as a logo. Back then, I based all my beer choices off of the logo. Some hits, lots of misses.  It turned out to be a good time as we all had a few too many Harpoons and laughed at tourists who could not understand the Irish bartender (Tourist: “Can I get a Smithwicks?” Bartender: “No, that is not how you say it. Say it properly. Smitticks.” Tourist: “Smithwicks?)

Not much else is known about that evening, but I do remember how even though Harpoon is a very hoppy beer, it goes down quite smoothly. And with the Brewery in South Boston, you can have a few cold ones in downtown then hit the T to watch a Revolution match.