FOXBOROUGH -- The newboys to Major League Soccer, FC Cincinnati, make their first trip to Route 1 this weekend. The problem for the Blue and Orange is that they’ll be without quite a few of its important pieces when they take the Gillette Stadium carpet Sunday afternoon (4 p.m., NBC Sports Boston):
Fenundo Adi
FCC’s striker is expected to miss Sunday’s Foxborough soiree with an ankle injury suffered during Sunday’s 3-nil win over Portland. Adi had gone up for a ball inside the box, but got twisted with the defender and came down awkwardly. The Cincinnati Enquirer’s Pat Brennan confirmed during Thursday’s “On The Beat” that Adi was unlikely to play against the Revolution.
“That will change how direct they’ll be, because he’s very, very good in the air,” Revs gaffer Brad Friedel said outside the locker room earlier this week in regards to Adi’s potential absence. “They have (Kekuta) Manneh running off of him. (Allan Cruz’s replacement) will try to go forward, no doubt. (Roland) Lamah will still be there and he’ll try to go forward in the counterattack, so I don’t see them changing the way they’ll play, whether they play a 5-4-1 or a 4-4-2. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Allan Cruz, Kendall Waston, Darren Maddocks, Alvas Powell
This quartet will be away on international duty this weekend; Cruz and Waston will be with Costa Rica, while Maddocks and Powell will be with Jamaica.
Maddocks’ absence will also put FCC manager Alan Koch in a spot of bother; Maddocks had replaced Adi in the XI for the second half of Portland, and had he not been away for a CONCACAF Nations League fixture, would more than likely be the focal point up top for the Blue and Orange. It will more than likely move Manneh, the No. 10 — a crafty magician with pace — up into the No. 9 role. Koch also has to shuffle the deck further, seeing as Cruz gives excellent service from the right flank.
The big loss, however, is in the back, and Waston is a big presence to lose. Waston scored the first goal Sunday against Portland on a free kick, shaking off former Revs center back Claude Dielna to get his noggin on the ball.
While Friedel believes that Waston’s absence won’t change how New England attacks the Cincinnati back four, his absence does something else.
“I think it lightens the load on defending set pieces,” the gaffer explained. “I think he’s particularly dangerous on attacking set pieces, as you saw on the weekend. I think the way we would attack is how we would attack whether he’s in the game or not. I would assume — and again, dangerous to assume things — maybe (Forrest) Lasso will come in, and he’s a big boy, as well. (Right center back Nick) Hagglund’s a big boy, so I think they’ll still be formidable in the air, but I would say us defending our set pieces, it’ll be nice not having Kendall Waston in the game.
“I think you see the identity of the team; I don’t think that’s going to change. Personnel will change, of course.”
A few more things you need to know about FCC headed into Sunday:
- During our Monday morning film review, we noticed that FCC will try to build more from the wings moving forward and, much like the Revs, we’ll see left back Mathieu Deplagne and the right back for the weekend play up into the attacking half.
- Cincinnati will more than likely press; we saw that on a few occasions against Portland. Outside of that, the back line generally has pace on counters, and will keep its shape in the back.
- Expect defensive midfielder Leonardo Bertone to drop deep into the back to help supplement the defense.
- Cincinnati likes to take risks in the attacking third, especially on set pieces: expect Hagglund to make forward runs.
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We won't mince words: this is a must-win for New England. At home, against a short-handed squad, one has to think it's three points or bust. The Revs enter the weekend -- key word there -- in 11th place in the Eastern Conference, one spot away from the basement.
It's possible, though, that when dawn breaks Sunday and you get your Crockpots ready for tailgating, the Revs could be cellar dwellers should Philadelphia earn a result at home with Columbus.
And with the upcoming slate of fixtures -- vs. Minnesota United next Saturday, at Columbus (April 6), vs Atlanta United (April 13), vs. New York Red Bulls (April 20), vs. Montreal (Wednesday, April 24) -- in mind, points are needed, and needed now, to get this march to the playoffs really underway.
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Also happening in MLS this weekend (and there’s not too much, thanks to the international window):
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No Birmingham Legion match this weekend, like we said on Tuesday, so a weekend of rest for Zach Herivaux and Brian Wright. The Legion are at Louisville City next Saturday.
Here it is, the first goal in Hartford Athletic history courtesy of the Captain Phil Rasmussen#herewecome pic.twitter.com/PjrEga69gy
— Hartford Athletic (@hfdathletic) March 17, 2019
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Earlier this week, three members of the Revolution’s history were announced as up for election to the National Soccer Hall of Fame this year: current general manager Michael Burns, Steve Ralston, and Taylor Twellman.