Looking forward to tonight

By: Sabin | April 7th, 2007

It’s that time, folks! In a little less than 12 hours, The New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire will kick-off each of their respective seasons. The game starts at about 20:30, ET in Bridgeview, IL. There are plenty of fine previews out there on the Intertron (LINK and LINK) to keep you entertained, including one from our very own Tom over at theoffside.com’s Fire section. To be sure, folks, this is going to be a hell of a game.

The Revs-Fire rivalry has become a storied and interesting one, with the Revs leading 12-10-6 in all meetings between the teams and Chicago winning last year’s series 2-1-1 and besting the Revs at home, overall. Additionally, the Fire may be looking to start the season off right and clean the taste of last season’s playoff loss from their palettes. Also, the weather in Bridgeview — as Brad Feldman points out in his preview (linked above) — isn’t Bermuda and the Revs have yet to prove if the baggage of last season has been checked. My feeling is that the Revs definitely enter this contest as the emotional underdogs.

Emotional underdogs? Sure. Tough times in the locker room vis a vis the Shalrie Joseph trade situation and the Joe Franchino leave of absence. No matter what they say, those are two key players to the Revs personality. Anything amiss there is definitely affecting the rest of the team. Psychoanalysis aside, what are the Revs going to look like tonight? I only know what the Revs’ communication folks tell me through their Game Notes, so let’s take a look at what we’ve got.

It’s no surprise that coach Steve Nicol looks to field the Revs in his favored 3-5-2, with newly re-signed Matt Reis protecting the onion bag. Nicol’s few experiments with a 4-4-2 last season didn’t fare as well as one might’ve hoped, so it’s nice to see they’re starting things off right — at least tactically speaking. That said, the Revs look to be without Michael Parkhurst and Joseph is listed with a calf strain so will start as a sub.

Nicol’s midfield-heavy tactic is meant to tie up the ball in the middle third of the field while still leaving chances to thread forward passes through to the strikers — in this case Adam Cristman and Taylor Twellman. It’s a good way to play against the MLS-favorite 4-4-2, as it forces the game wider and makes a man-to-man defense that much more difficult.

While most of the usual suspects look to start tonight, there are a few personnel changes of note. Khano Smith is starting on the left side with Andy Dorman taking up Joseph’s usual center midfield position. James Riley is taking up his rapidly-becoming-familiar position as a Sweeper/Central Defender on the back line, and Cristman looks to be starting forward instead of Noonan, who is still questionable due to his recent sports hernia surgery, though he’s on the substitute list. The group is similar to the Revs’ pre-season formations, though, so the communication and rhythm should be good — albeit untested — against the faster pace of the MLS squads, and — if memory serves — the Fire are one of the faster teams out there.

My analysis? Last season, the Revs seemed to be foiled by their own inability to get clean, creative passing out of the middle when they would most need it. They relied on the solidity of the back line, and the drive of players like Dorman, Steve Ralston, and Clint Dempsey to overcome a kind of ennui on the pitch. Hopefully the loss of Dempsey has been countered by the new blood this season, because the Fire aren’t going to — and rightly so — let that kind of play go unpunished.

Justin Mapp is coming off of a phenomenal showing with the U.S. Men’s Team, has shown he has no patience for lackadaisical defense (remember the Dutch team?), and has proven he can thread and weave his way towards goal. He’s going to have to be contained and the Revs’ five-person midfield should help.

Riley and Dorman are in relatively unfamiliar positions (didn’t Dorman usually play on the wing?), and Cristman is untested against MLS teams. Last season, Smith started to show some real football thinking, and he’s going to have to be continuing that evolution out there on the left wing.

Overall, history seems to indicate that the Fire will win this one by at least a goal. The psychological evidence is yet to be revealed, but my thoughts are the Revs want to start the season clean and prove that there is no baggage, no hole from Dempsey’s loss, and no locker room albatross around their collective neck.

My prediction (read: hope): 2 – 1 in favor of the Revs.