Sweeney: Three takeaways from a spirited 2-1 win by the Revolution Saturday afternoon, and one from Saturday morning

FOXBOROUGH — A three-match losing skid's snapping deserves a couple of quick-hit thoughts to wrap up Saturday’s 2-1 win over Minnesota United, all as I sit back and hydrate:

Friedel threw some serious shade toward his critics Saturday

It’s completely understandable, given the last seven days or so, from his 13-minute press conference last Sunday to the negative reactions that the league-paid writers for MLSSoccer.com have given Brad Friedel for the club’s recent performances. I felt his frustration last Sunday, and even during Tuesday morning’s media scrum.

So when I asked if he could give some insight into the work rate of a couple of players Saturday — the exact phrasing I used was “worked their tails off” — he said, “You know, you guys and a lot of the experts out there are probably surprised that we’ve motivated the players to work hard, but all those players, every single day, we see them working hard, and the others that weren’t involved in a couple of first-half performances that we’ve had here that haven’t been up to par, you know, shouldn’t be the focal point.”

He also snapped at a reporter’s question about the shape of the team: “It’s not a new shape. We did it in preseason, if you watched preseason games.”

To defend my colleague, we only got the opportunity to watch one preseason match, because the club was so worried about letting the identity of trialist Giles Phillips get out, even though every die-hard Revs fan knew his identity the day he walked into Marbella.

However, I do understand his frustrations and the reasons for lashing out.

Of course, we’re wondering why the national media is just catching on; where have they been for three years?

I was impressed with the work rate of Brandon Bye and DeJuan Jones in the second half

Bye and Jones obviously connected — with Teal Bunbury the middle man — on the 62nd-minute goal, but there was just an elevated play from the both of them when they came out and as Joker And The Thief cranked up over the PA. Jones’ touches in the first 45 were not fantastic by any stretch of the imagination, and crosses on both sides, from both he and Bye, were just a smidge off.

So when Jones used a nifty back-heel touch and earned a corner in the 47th, and four minutes later got loose and drove the football into the side netting, it certainly opened my eyes.

And Bye’s goal, fantastic. To do so at such a tough angle, it had to be a boon after what I thought was a rather frustrating first half for the Revs.

Their patience on the ball was divine

I said it in the Match Report, and I’ll say it again here: the patience in waiting for things to open up was perfect. I noted in the Match Blog in the 43rd minute that they were patient in the build-up to Edgar Castillo firing to Vito Mannone, and in the 50th, Bunbury had a shot that went high.

But in each of those situations, they maintained possession, played smart, short passes, and they kept their heads.

Over text, BSJ soccer analyst Tom Benedetto and I had this conversation early in the second half:

Me: “You know what I’m loving? Their patience.”

Tom: “Thank youuuu. Great observation.”

Seriously, he used four u’s.

The Revs were methodically patient in their creation of goals, and it was only a matter of time before they got the opening they needed.

More of this. Please.

4,000-plus at the Cask N’ Flagon for Premier League Live can’t be ignored

A quick side-step from Saturday morning's NBC Sports Network's visit to Boston:

You know you have those Neanderthallic Boston sports fan friends who say, “No one cares about soccer. Soccer’s not a sport.” We all have them. Hell, there are some in my own family; there are many in the Boston sports media who are absolutely clueless about the greatest sport in the world.

Yet take a good look, a really good look, at the crowd that came out this morning to the Cask N’ Flagon for the Premier League FanFest. So many jerseys — way too many in the Manchester City power blues (hooooow’s your glory hunters?). Can you imagine a crowd like that at a soccer-specific stadium near a T station? How many of those people ignore the Revolution because of the product on the pitch and the lack of a natural grass surface so the club can attract bigger names? Or because they can’t get to Gillette because of no Commuter Rail service?

A stadium with a natural grass surface close to Downtown Boston will attract those fans — and big names to the Revs.