Analysis: Brandon Bye's near red card vs. Crew prompts questions about Revs' depth on back line

FOXBOROUGH — In the 84th minute Saturday afternoon, Revolution right back Brandon Bye found himself staring at a straight red card — and a Match Day 3 suspension — after a seemingly innocuous rub against Columbus’ Pedro Santos while in the air. It led to a rather tense few minutes inside Gillette Stadium, with everyone knowing what the red meant; in the Match Blog, we had wondered what the Revs would do at right back at Toronto this Sunday. After all, Andrew Farrell isn’t available to reclaim his spot in the XI just yet.

But thanks to VAR, referee Dave Gantar rescinded the red and instead cautioned Bye. That kept the second-year professional eligible for the weekend.

Phew, all’s well that ends well, things like that. Bye will more than likely get the start at right back for the third-straight week.

But what if VAR hadn’t gone the Revs’ way? Bye would have been suspended, and with what many feels is a lack of depth in the back, New England would have been stuck between a rock and a hard place when they visited the Reds.

So how would have the Revolution lined up in the back in that particular case?

Once again, let’s check the Revs’ available defensive options:

Jailil Anibaba
Antonio Delamea
Edgar Castillo
Michael Mancienne
Gabriel Somi

So that seems like plenty of defenders to make a four-man back of Castillo on the left, Delamea and Mancienne the center back pairing, and Anibaba over on the right.

And no, we haven’t forgotten about Gabriel Somi, who has not played a minute since July ’18. And even though Brad Friedel has noted it’s a clean slate from last year to this year, the fans have long memories: with no supporters able to trust him, guaranteed contract or not, it might be the best thing for the club to keep him off the pitch.

But how about a three-man back line?

It’s not something that the Revolution are averse to doing. Last May, Friedel implemented a three-man line on back-to-back occasions: against Columbus at home, and at Vancouver the following weekend. The match against the Crew was a 1-0 loss, while the match against the Whitecaps was a 3-3 draw.

In a three-man line, it would have been, more than likely, three of those four — Castillo, Delamea, Mancienne, and Anibaba — starting, with training this week deciding who would start on the bench as a potential defensive replacement.

Yet in the match itself, there could be the potential for someone in the defensive midfield — Scott Caldwell, for instance? — sinking back to supplement the back line when needed; he did that against Dallas a few times in the season opener. That could, in theory, set up an informal 4-1-3-2 formation, with Wilfried Zahibo (or Luis Caicedo, or Zachary Herivaux) as the, at times, lone central defensive midfielder; a Cristian Penilla/Carles Gil/Diego Fagundez attacking midfield, and any two of Teal Bunbury/Juan Agudelo/Justin Rennicks up top.

It could also be a 4-1-4-1 formation, with those options above in play; Penilla/Gil/Fagundez/Agudelo in the attack, with Bunbury/Rennicks as the No. 9.

Or even Juan Fernando Caicedo, should he be healthy enough to get the start.

The last few hypothetical paragraphs won’t be something that occurs this coming weekend, thanks to VAR, but it’s something the Revolution should keep in mind the next time the back line is in danger of finding itself short-handed by two players.

Or they could get a little additional defensive depth before the transfer window ends.