Top o’ tha heap!

By: Sabin | May 14th, 2007

A good weekend for Revs’ fans, I’d say. New York’s bumble at home today leaves the New England Revolution at the top of the Eastern Conference with 14 points. The Revs have gone six straight games without a loss, and have scored in every game — sometimes with phenomenal effect! So it all seems great, yes? Absolutely it does, but there are still some blemishes that Head Coach Steve Nicol is going to want to look at over the rest of the season. Let’s take a closer look at the team, then, and see what we’re really dealing with.

Passing
This is the top of the list, and is something on Coach Nicol’s mind, as well. It has become a regular occurrence that for the first 15 to 20 minutes of a game, the Revs can’t string more than two passes together without missing, having the ball stolen, or misreading each other. It’s a simple art, really. Let’s learn it.

Goals from the Midfield
The higher Taylor Twellman climbs atop the leading scorers, the more comfortable Adam Cristman (more on him later) gets on the pitch, the more engaged Pat Noonan becomes, the more opposing defenders are going to lock the strikers up. It’s been apparent in the last few games: Twellman, Cristman and Noonan seemed covered constantly. That means if the Revs want goals, they’re going to have to come from the midfield. Either outright scoring, or some creative forward passes and distracting runs.

Adam Cristman
He scored a goal. Now let’s see if he can get his football brain a bit more engaged. He needs to be smarter and more aware of the game going on, and he’s got to have more finishes like Saturday. Period.

Andy Dorman
Along with Shalrie Joseph, he will be key to the Revs’ midfield strength. Hopefully, he can get himself engaged more to be in those positions from which he can score or set up the play.

Well, that’s that. My thoughts on what the Revs can do to further build up their streak, and it is a streak. Check out the link at the top of the page for a comparison to previous seasons.