Sweeney: Playing the kids may have to wait this go-around

There have been quite a few refrains on Revs Twitter -- #NERevs -- lately, especially in the wake of this past Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of FC Cincinnati, to play the kids on the Revolution’s roster. It’s a similar refrain to what I wrote last October.

“They couldn’t do any worse. Could they?” was the basis for my argument, given what had occurred in '18.

And while I agree with the sentiments involved — it would put pressure on the veterans to perform better in training, where those precious positions in the XI and bench are won every week — this time around, it’s a little different.

First off, Isaac Angking (6-8 weeks, left knee surgery) and Justin Rennicks (2-4 weeks, Grade 1 hammy strain) are unavailable for the foreseeable future. Rennicks is expected to be back for the April 24 match with Montreal, if not sooner, maybe a little later; Angking should be back in time for May 11, if everything goes right — and maybe a couple of weeks after that to regain fitness, depending on reactions to training. Brad Friedel has mentioned that in the past. They don’t want setbacks with injuries like these.

And let’s also not forget Tajon Buchanan, though recently cleared for training, is coming off a stress fracture. He played 10 minutes against Columbus. Can he go the full 90? I doubt the Revs would do that.

OK, who does that leave? Two players. Nicholas Firmino and DeJuan Jones. Firmino could slide into an attacking midfielder’s slot — Cristian Penilla, perhaps? — while Jones can also play an attacking role (Diego Fagundez?).

That’s still only 2 positions out of 11 replaced. That’s not necessarily replacing veterans with kids.

And let’s remember that Zach Herivaux and Brian Wright, while MLS veterans, are still rather young. They are, however, out on loan to Birmingham Legion FC. And even though the loans are open-ended, per se, and the Revs can recall them at any time, I don’t believe they will. They need minutes in the USL; if they come back and fail to make an impact…

I’ll just leave that particular statement open-ended. I’m sure you can read between the lines.

We’re also waiting for Juan Fernando Caicedo to get to 90 minutes match fit levels, which should come within the next couple of weeks.

If anything, the “Play the Kids” plea is going to have to wait until late May, right before the Gold Cup break, at the earliest.

July, though? That remains to be seen, dependent on how results go between now and then, and that’s a long time to make a decision. Until then, it’s going to be the usual suspects, hopefully — for the fans’ sakes — putting in better efforts than they did Sunday.