Sweeney: Revolution growing resilient as a team thanks to improved back line

Let me take you back a few weeks to March 3, the opening match of the 2018 Major League Soccer season. And sure, a few of you are holding onto the furniture for dear life, not wanting to go that far back into the past. I understand that, and I understand the reasons why (no, I will not pay for your therapy session, stop asking me that -- sheesh).

The Revolution were in Chester to face Philadelphia, and everyone knows what happened in that one: Antonio Delamea, for reasons that continue to befuddle the legions, holds C.J. Sapong back on an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, and that’s a straight red in the 22^nd minute. Not exactly the way anyone really envisioned Brad Friedel’s tenure as manager to start.

The cries of woe, of the same ol’, same ol’ Revs, rippled through social media almost in the same heartbeat that referee Rubiel Vasquez reached into his pocket to give Delamea his marching orders. There's no way to gain at least a point out of this, they believed (they were right); heck, even this typist had a little bit of doubt as the match followed its way to its conclusion, New England down to nine men after Claude Dielna found himself saddled with two yellow cards late in the match. New left back Gabriel Somi also found himself spun around pretty badly by the Union, and in that gut-clenching moment, I wondered exactly where the Revs would find their defense this year.

Two days later, I wrote the following about the defending in the good ol’ S&E: ‘With New England being thin in defense for the umpteenth year in a row, and with (Dielna and Delamea) to miss the home opener this Saturday, it’s almost inviting the Colorado Rapids to drive down the middle of the pitch, because the Revs don’t have anyone in the back to stop them.’

See, I had no reason to believe that the defending would get any better, no reason to think anything would change, and yeah, I know -- one match is an incredibly limited body of work to make such a judgment call (I'm working on this ... really, I am). With the exception of newcomer Somi, and while Wilfried Zahibo did a couple of nice things against Philthy Philly, there was no reason whatsoever to change my way of thinking: this defense, like the one in ’17 (it was the same defense, after all), like the one in ’16 and like the one in ’15, would have difficulty holding its own regardless of the kid who had somehow snagged the keeper job.

Yeah, about that…. today, I offer you one last mea culpa in regards to the opener.

This cynic has, in a way, turned into a believer.

As we’ve seen in quite a few of the matches since that shambolic display, things have most definitely changed on Route 1. There is a belief growing among the fandom that this team -- this group -- is going to change the narrative when it comes to defending in these parts.

And so far, the narrative has indeed changed.

Against Colorado the following weekend, with Jalil Anibaba and Andrew Farrell manning the middle, the Revs showed an incredible amount of fortitude: Matt Turner’s penalty save was tremendous, and The Boys In Blue pulled out the win. Against NYC, sure, a 2-2 draw, but the way they came back 12 minutes after Ismael Tajouri-Schradi’s clinical opener showed the supporters that there is life in them still.

Against Houston, a 14-minute tilt of the pitch toward Turner’s goal -- and the way it tilted, man … I’m surprised the Revs defense didn’t fall backward and off -- New England responded with a vicious counter, a 4-on-1, for the first Teal Bunbury goal of the year. And remember that was before DeMarcus Beasley’s red card. They faced all the appliances the Dynamo could throw in that opening quarter hour, withstood it, and came out on the other side unscathed with three points. There were still question marks after that one, for sure, but a road win is a road win.

And while New England didn’t necessarily need to show resiliency against Montreal, they showed what they can do against Dallas when they are focused. There were, of course, a couple of moments where the focus wasn’t there, and we all know what happened when it wasn’t.

Against Columbus Saturday night ... Anibaba, smart thinking; he even channeled his inner Turner with the fist pumping after those great defensive plays. Dielna, came up strong when he needed to be, especially with his challenge in the penalty area. Farrell, sure, he had an early mistake, but he fought through it and gave his back line a boost -- and a lifeline -- in the 63^rd.

Certainly, these are the same faces, save Anibaba, who played on defense a year ago. They are not playing like they did a year ago.

The Revs currently sit fourth in the East thanks to Orlando City’s 3-2 win over San Jose. And yep, I know, it’s still wicked early in the season; the 2-2 draw at MAPFRE Stadium was only the seventh league fixture for your local MLS side.

But just think: if it wasn’t for some smart, heads-up defending in critical moments in a few of these games outside of the season opener, New England could just as well be sitting closer to the bottom than you’d like.

If the gut-it-out toughness and strength of this defense is what you’re going to see week in and week out for this team from now until Oct. 28, and if they can hold their own against The Powers That Be in MLS -- hello, that’s Atlanta United on Line 2 -- the New England Revolution will certainly turn into appointment viewing every Saturday night, and that season-opening defeat will be a distant memory.