Photo/Kari Heistad
No team in all of Major League Soccer has given the New England Revolution as much of a hard time in the last four years as Real Salt Lake, who visit Gillette Stadium this Saturday night at 7:30 p.m.
Salt Lake is the only team in the league (save for expansion sides Orlando City SC and New York City FC) that Revolution head coach Jay Heaps has never notched a victory against. That’s especially significant, as Heaps also has the opportunity to push his winning percentage as a coach above .500 for the first time.
This will be Heaps’ 110th league game, his fourth all-time against RSL. With his team currently on the league’s best hot streak—unbeaten in five with no goals against in the run of play since March 15—could Saturday be the day Heaps bests a personal milestone?
Salt Lake won’t make it easy. They seldom do. Their revamped back line has combined for MLS’ second-best defensive record. Though the Revolution are unbeaten at home so far in 2015, Salt Lake won’t be particularly frightened; they haven’t lost or surrendered a goal while on the road this season.
Salt Lake’s offense is well rounded, too, even if their playmaker, Javier Morales, has been putting on a one-man show through the first two months of the season. The Revolution back line will be tasked with stopping Morales, who has already notched two goals and three assists.
So with arguably one of the Revolution’s steepest challenges of the season on the horizon, here are three key things to watch out for:
Photo/Kari Heistad
The defense
This encompasses Bobby Shuttleworth, too. It’s impressive what he and his back line have been able to do this season especially when one considers the revolving door of defenders. With Darrius Barnes and Jose Goncalves not at 100 percent, expect a similar lineup at the back as what we saw last week at Philadelphia. Nevertheless, this will be the defense’s toughest match-up since taking on Seattle and New York City FC in weeks one and two, respectively. Morales is the obvious spearhead to watch out for, though Salt Lake has other dangerous pieces as well. Luke Mulholland and Alvaro Saborio are just as dangerous when in scoring position. Second, the back line has to guard against Salt Lake’s response. They’re traditionally a team that never backs down and relishes in coming from behind. In the three matches that the Revolution have played against Salt Lake under Jay Heaps, the Revolution have always been in the game falling back and losing 2-1.
Lee Nguyen
It’s no secret that last year’s MVP candidate isn’t having the same effect in 2015. He has just one goal (from the penalty spot) and one assist through two months of play. So in case you’ve missed watching the Revolution with your own two eyes, the statistics show that teams have been zeroing in on Nguyen. During last week’s telecast, Heaps was shown asking the nearside assistant referee for tighter calls on players who tackled Nguyen. Heaps was arguing that every time Nguyen gets on the ball, he’s fouled. The issue, however, is that double and triple-teaming Nguyen is legal. Nguyen excels when he runs with the ball or when he has about two yards of free space within 18 yards of goal, so, naturally, that’s been taken away from him. Saturday will be Nguyen’s chance to show he can adapt and still make a difference against one of the league’s soundest defenses.
Somehow, someway, be German
This point goes along with the defense needing to cope with Salt Lake’s tendency to respond. But often times, as the German national team demonstrates on a regular basis, the best defense is in fact a good offense. The Revolution will likely need to score more than one goal to take down Salt Lake this weekend. The onus will of course be on Charlie Davies and Teal Bunbury to be as clinical in front of goal as they were last weekend at Philadelphia, though the likes of Diego Fagundez, Kelyn Rowe, and Nguyen will have to make the most of every chance they’re given, too. Here’s another interesting set of statistics: the Revolution have scored two or more goals in a game against Salt Lake five times for a 3-0-2 record. When they score one or less goals, their record drops, unsurprisingly, to 1-8-2.
If you want to reach Julian email him at julianccardillo@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @juliancardillo
