FOXBORO — Brad Friedel said Tuesday that last Wednesday night’s 1-0 win over New York City FC at Yankee Stadium should do “a world of good” for the club moving forward, especially as it tries to return above the red line in the Eastern Conference.
Wednesday’s triumph, coupled with NYCFC’s 1-1 draw to DC United, keeps New England (8-10-9, 33 points) in seventh place in the East, three points adrift of sixth-place Montreal, which was idle over the weekend. DC is two points in arrears to the Revs in eighth.
“We’ve been playing well enough in these games over the last couple of months to get three points; the Orlando game, the LA Galaxy game, the Portland game, the Minnesota game … we’ve gone on about games that we should have gotten three points in, but we didn’t,” Friedel said before Tuesday morning’s training session at Gillette Stadium. “Coming away from a game where we probably didn’t deserve all three points is a really good feeling.
“Our second-half performance was pretty solid. Defensively, I thought Michael (Mancienne) was excellent. I thought Jalil (Anibaba)’s defending of balls in the box was very good. We came under a fair amount of pressure; Brad Knighton calmed things down in the back for us, and although they had many chances, I thought we had arguably just as dangerous chances as them.”
And now, with NYC in the rear-view mirror, it’s now on to LAFC and a hello again with former Revolution midfielder Lee Nguyen this Saturday night.
“(LAFC) concede an awful lot of goals in transition,” Friedel said, which can fall into New England’s counterattacking style. “When they lose the ball in the midfield, teams counterattack on them. They also concede an awful lot of goals in the second half, with 30 percent in the last 15 minutes, so I think it’s important going away from home that we stay in the game as long as possible. It would be great if we get a goal or two in front, but also be very confident on the ball.
“They are a team that has weapons going forward, but it’s a team that can definitely be hurt defensively. We’re going to have to be very aggressive, very resolute, very on the ball, and hopefully, we’ll get to the first and second balls, and I think we can have a very good night.”
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
_______________________
If we could do back flips, that's how we'd celebrate too.
But we can't, so good thing we have @IndianaMSOC pic.twitter.com/YEIuJLSL8A
— Indiana On BTN (@IndianaOnBTN) September 8, 2018
Special first NCAA goal for @NERevsAcademy product Andualem Chisholm yesterday in a 1-0 win over George Washington.
Chisholm also has roots at @wheelerschool and @BaysideFC_RI. #NERevs
?: @PCFriarsMSoccer pic.twitter.com/zlTdFle1fH
— Jonathan Sigal (@JonathanSigal) September 10, 2018