Photo/Kari Heistad
By Julian Cardillo
The New England Revolution got their starting players closer to full match fitness in Saturday night’s 1-1 draw versus the Colorado Rapids in preseason action in Tucson, Ariz.
Most of the Revolution’s starters saw at least an hour of play, with some going close to the full 90 minutes.
The first half was a scrappy affair that lacked many substantive chances, Daigo Kobayashi’s flashing header corralled by Colorado’s Clint Irwin in the 23rd minute the best and only scoring opportunity for either side.
But both Revolution coach Jay Heaps and Colorado coach Pablo Mastroeni made changes at halftime to open up the game. Heaps swapped out Daigo Kobayashi and Charlie Davies, who had been very quiet in the 4-2-3-1 alignment, for Diego Fagundez and Juan Agudelo, respectively. Meanwhile, Mastroeni’s side began playing a more direct, pressing game.
That change in tactics led to both goals, which were scored within nearly two minutes of each other.
In 52nd minute, Colorado’s Dominique Badji flicked a header in between Andrew Farrell and Jose Goncalves for Gabriel Torres, who ran onto the feed and went in alone on Bobby Shuttleworth before poking the ball into the back of the net.
The Revolution equalized through Fagundez moments later. With Agudelo shielding defenders, Fagundez went one-on-one with Irwin and powered the ball into the back of the net.
The Revolution play the Seattle Sounders on Wednesday, then round out preseason action on Feb. 28.
Here are some additional points:
- Fagundez and Agudelo look like they’re starters after this performance, given that they injected life into the attack and came up with a goal. Davies was too silent in the first half to still be considered the front-runner for starting minutes.
- Though having Lee Nguyen on the field would have helped, the Revolution still have plenty of creative players that can make things happen.
- The team in general needs some refinement in the final pass, as they struggle to make plays around the penalty area.
- Andy Dorman looks like a fine short-term replacement for Jermaine Jones, though there is no doubt that he and Scott Caldwell will have a much steeper task in the regular season of controlling the midfield.
- Very few of the Revolution’s trialists and un-signed draft picks look like they’re ready for prime time.
- Kevin Alston’s new haircut is nice…Kelyn Rowe’s is…interesting…though I personally could grow to like it.
- A go-to crosser continues to elude the Revolution, especially without Chris Tierney.
- Andrew Farrell and Jose Goncalves have to get on the same page ASAP, as Colorado’s goal would have not occurred with better communication and spacing.
