Revolution at DC: Two things to watch

By Scott Nichols

BARNSTABLE, Mass — The Revs are back in action this Saturday evening, taking on DC United at RFK Stadium in Washington DC. The match at RFK later this evening will be the second of three matches the Revs will play against DC United, the last being a scoreless draw in-front of their home fans at Gillette Stadium.

The Revs form has been… indifferent, this season thus far — they are 1-1-5 on the season which, remarkably, puts them in 5th place in the Eastern Conference — and have especially struggled on offense scoring just a little more than 1 goal per game over the first 7 games of the MLS regular season so far. A trip to take on a DC United team that is struggling to find it’s form could provide the spark that the Revs have been looking for in order to kick-start their season.

When the two faced off on opening day this season it was widely expected that New England, led by Charlie Davies, should dispatch this DC United team with a mis-matched formation fairly easily but the Revs couldn’t beat 23 year old Travis Worra.

With that in mind, Prost takes a look at two things to watch for in the New England Revolutions latest tilt in Major League Soccer.

This one seems obvious, right? and we realize that at times this season already Charlie Davies and Juan Agudelo have been injured for stretches, but the Revolution has several players whom are able to create, score and contribute. The slow build-up, patient, approach that Jay Heaps implements give opposition teams an opportunity to get back behind the ball and disrupt the Revolution’s methodical play.

Players like Lee Nguyen, fresh off his first goal of the season, Kelyn Rowe, and Leominster’s own; Diego Fagundez, need to start producing at a much, much higher level if the Revolution are to wear down this physical DC United side.

The Revs’ hottest producer of anything right now is, of course, Diego Fagundez — but even he is not totally off the hook. He leads the team in goals (2) and assists (2) but is still wildly inconsistent. Diego looks like he’s one of the best in MLS at times, and then promptly reminds us that he is just 21 years of age. Despite his age, Fagundez has been a first team regular for an extended period of time now and could be the key to New England turning the ties into wins if he can get some consistency to couple with his flashes of brilliance.

The Revs actually rank 3rd in chances created, big chances created, and 4th in total shots. So while it may seem that the Revs are playing a cold, calculated, style of soccer at the moment, it’s likely because chances aren’t being converted.

A big reason why the Revs rank so highly in both categories are Lee Nguyen and Chris Tierney, whom have created 14 chances each already this season.

That’s enough quality for make-shift striker Teal Bunbury, and veteran Charlie Davies to convert into goals. They need it.

Easily the Revs’ best deeper lying midfield player, Koffie will eventually — if he has not already — become the heartbeat of this team. The Jermaine Jones sized hole in Jay Heaps’ midfield looks like it might close sooner than most thought when the USMNT veteran departed in the off-season.

The problem with Koffie has been his discipline. His 3 yellow cards and 1 red card indicate that he’s a bit of a ticking time bomb in the midfield and teams will look to exploit that. He was booked last time out against DC United for a crunching tackle, will he this time?

Watch for Koffie to allow Scott Caldwell to play the “Quarterback” role this evening. When played next to Koffie, the homegrown midfielder is the 6th most accurate passer in the league. Scott is one of 10 players to complete 250 this season so far.

If Koffie can stymie the amount of fouls that he commits today — and for the rest of the season, for that matter — he will be a very important part of New England picking up a result in DC this evening.

New England Revolution: 1-1-5, 8 pts. (5^th in the Eastern Conference)

Shuttleworth, Tierney, Goncalves, Farrell, Watson, Koffie, Caldwell, Fagundez,

Nguyen, Bunbury, Davies.

D.C. United: 1-3-3, 6 pts. (8^th in the Eastern Conference)

Worra, Kemp, Birnbaum, Boswell, Franklin, Sarvas, DeLeon, Neagle, Nyarko, Rolfe, Espindola