New England Revolution
“It’s a red card after 15 minutes of play. It ruined the whole game.”
Ryan Spaulding pleads his case after fouling Mikael Uhre before his red card in Revolution’s defeat to Union. Via New England Revolution/MLS
The Revolution lost 3-0 to the Philadelphia Union on Saturday at Gillette Stadium, extending the club’s ignominious stay at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
The latest defeat resulted from a lack of creating chances in front of goal (a common thread this season) and poor marking on the defensive side. Goals from Philadelphia’s Julian Carranza and two from Daniel Gazdag completely shut out Caleb Porter’s team, which has now lost by multiple goals in six of the team’s nine MLS defeats this season.
The game’s fault line came in the 14th minute, when left back Ryan Spaulding, occupying the deepest position on the pitch normally occupied by center backs, failed to control a crossfield pass from the winger Esmir Bajraktarevic.
Union forward Mikael Uhre took advantage of Spaulding’s momentary error and rushed toward the New England goal. The Revolution left-back, attempting to stop Uhre’s breakaway, fouled him and received a straight red card (after preventing a clear scoring chance as the last player).
Spaulding’s dismissal left New England with 10 players for the rest of the night, and the home team never fully regained the initiative.
Here are some takeaways from another tough game for the Revolution:
Philadelphia won the position battle even before the red card.
While post-match chatter inevitably centered on Spaulding’s red card, the moments leading up to it (and virtually the entire match that followed) were determined by the Union’s ability to control the space in the middle of the field.
Philadelphia head coach Jim Curtin deployed his team in a 4-1-2-1-2 diamond, while Porter continued with the standard 4-2-3-1. In the brief opening period, when it was still 11-on-11, New England was able to control possession.
Yet, as has been a topic of discussion too often this season, the Revolution have not been able to consistently convert possession into shots, or even place the ball in the attacking third.
And while Bajraktarevic’s pass to Spaulding before the red card was likely a mistake (having ignored a closer option of holding back midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye), it was also indicative of the fact that the Union’s defensive structure forced New England to complete numerous passes while moving away. of the visitors’ goal.
The red card that followed was itself deserved, as Spaulding was clearly the last defender on the field and it was certainly a foul. Porter took a relatively unsparing view of his left-back, although he still managed to find a way to challenge the referee’s decision.
“It’s a red card after 15 minutes. It ruined the whole game,” Porter told reporters afterwards. “Don’t lose the ball and if you lose the ball, run with the guy and don’t foul him. I still think it’s hard. They both catch each other. I’ve seen this game called yellow many times, but we should never put ourselves in that situation. We lose the ball there and we can’t foul 50 meters from the goal.
Poor marking doomed New England’s chances of getting a result.
The universal path to achieving a result (whether a draw or a win) when down to 10 players requires defensive discipline and organization. New England seemed able to accomplish this in short bursts and in certain positions, but couldn’t maintain it across the entire field.
The Union had a breakthrough in the 38th minute when substitute Jack McGlynn found himself in ample space on the left wing and managed to deliver a perfect cross to Carranza at the far post (who sent the ball into the net).
McGlynn, a 20-year-old Philadelphia academy graduate, is known for his ability to make quality crosses. Giving him time and space was always a recipe for disaster.
In the second half, the Union scored two more goals through Gazdag. In both cases, the score was the result of rebounds (one off the post, the other via a quality save by New England goalkeeper Alijaz Ivacic). And in both cases, Gazdag was unmarked and was able to take a touch to collect himself before applying the finish.
The risk of a credibility deficit increases.
New England is now 2-9-1, three points behind the closest team in the East and 10 points out of the closest playoff spot. The situation is still not beyond repair in purely mathematical terms, but – especially from the emotional point of view of the fans – it seems more and more hopeless.
This three-goal defeat is just the latest debacle, and patience is starting to wear thin among The Fort supporters:
Porter continued to espouse positivity and the fact that his team will persevere.
“We will put this behind us, because the majority of the group understands that we lost the match because we received a red card after 15 minutes,” he said. “No one is depressed in terms of play.”
Looking ahead, New England faces New York City FC next Saturday, and Porter remains confident the team is making progress even if the results don’t reflect it.
“They will hold their heads high, continue. The team is on board,” he explained. “You saw how they fought, nothing is going to change. We will continue to return to work. I will continue to work 12 hours a day as I always do to prepare the team. The team will continue to train hard.
“We’re starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together,” Porter added. “You didn’t get to see him tonight.” You couldn’t see the work we did in training. You couldn’t see how we would have played even numbers. You didn’t get to see it, and you will next week.
These comments are probably what a leader in difficult circumstances needs to say, and there’s no reason to think that Porter – a coach who remains a two-time MLS Cup winner despite his current struggles – is giving anything less than everything he has to stop the slide in progress.
Yet his constant insistence that his team is on the verge of turning things around has already been heard.
“Right now, it’s almost a new mini-season, these eight games,” Porter said after the first quarter of the year on April 23. “What will our results be at the end of these eight matches? What are our points (total)? What are our objectives, our objectives against? I’m very confident by continuing to work on the practice field and playing like we played last game, with the additions, that we’re going to have a much better second quarter.
Since he said that, New England has one win and three losses, with a goal differential of -7. If results do not improve quickly, the insistence on continued optimism will increasingly fall on deaf ears.
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