Revolution Notebook: Takeaways From Another Scoreless Match

The morning after. Having had a good night’s sleep to digest last night’s New England Revolution match it’s time to go through some thoughts surrounding where the team is at through six matches and player performances.

Thru six matches the Revolution have scored just four goals, compared to five goals scored in 2019. New England’s record however is very different with a 1-1-4 record in 2020 compared to just 1-4-1 in 2019. The difference? No more Titanic defense. New England has allowed just four goals in 2020 compared to ten conceded in 2019 thru six matches. In 2019 the Revs had Brad Knighton start the first four matches and Cody Cropper the fifth and sixth. Matt Turner, aka the engine of the Revs, didn’t start until the 12th match of the 2019 season.

Random Musings

• Matt Turner likes to build thru rookie Henry Kessler. Turner hit Kessler 12 times last night, six more than Andrew Farrell.
• Kessler fed Polster 12 times and Polster fed Kessler 10 times. The duo in their first match playing together connected 22 times.
• Polster moved the ball up the field with Buttner 10 times who was playing high
• Diego Fagundez deserves more minutes IMO. In 15 minutes off the bench last night, Fagundez provided a spark completing 3/3 in the final third, 7/7 overall, and one chance created on 1 touches.
• Easy to be uninspired by the shifts put in by Adam Buksa, Cristian Penilla, and Teal Bunbury. All three are culprits in New England goalless drought that has spanned over 300 minutes.
• New England couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn on crosses last night. From the starters, Buttner went 4/17, Bou 2/8, Penillia 1/5, Rowe 0/7, Bye 0/5. I gagged in the press box watching the Revs try and attempt crosses.

The Road Ahead

New England needs goals and quickly. This goalless drought has all come without Carles Gil, Their last goal which occurred in the D.C. United match was with Gil on the field. No goals since the captain left with a left foot injury that required surgery. The chances are there but everything just needs to be cleaner. From crosses to getting shots on frame, they just need to be better.

The Revolution will look to finally find the back of the net on Tuesday when they hit the road to take on D.C. United at Audi Field. New England will be chartering into D.C. Tuesday morning and depart shortly after the conclusion of the 7:30 p.m. match concludes. All-time the Revolution own a 31-39-16 record against D.C. but just a 11-28-6 road record. New England has never won a match at Audi Field with just two matches played there since it opened in 2018. The last time the Revolution defeated D.C. United on the road was 7/27/13, a match that took place at RFK Stadium.