Sweeney: Arena should go with the hot hands and feet next Tuesday, plus three other takeaways from Sunday's 2-1 Revs' win

A few tasty morsels to keep you occupied while you wait for my Live Q&A to get started this afternoon:

Now that’s mature play

You may recall some 11 months ago, I had passed a note to Six States One Podcast co-host — and BSJ member — Ray Sullivan during the Revolution match against LA Galaxy last July 14. It was a one-word note: “Maturity.”

Of course, about 20 minutes or so after I passed that note, the Revs fell apart, turning off and yielding two goals in two minutes of second-half stoppage time; in the tunnel afterward as we headed down for the post-match press conference, Ray held up the note and said, “You want this back?” It led not only to this particular diatribe, but the bottom fell out of New England’s season from that point on, and didn’t really seem to recover until the Revs’ current run of form (W-D-D-W in the last four).

And with the Galaxy pouring numbers forth in second-half stoppage time in front of their home fans early Monday morning… the Revs were mature. They didn’t switch off. They made smart clearances. Did they get lucky from the crossbar? Yes. But the fact they remain composed and saw the match out … that’s what we wanted to see on July 14.

Can they build on this? We’ll have to wait for later this month to get that answer — but of course, a solid Open Cup run over the next two weeks can help springboard the season.

That counterattack was pure fire

How many times did the Revolution head out on the counter Sunday? Ten? 15? 20? 25? I really lost count. But no matter the amounts, let’s say New England blistered Los Angeles with it. Hell, consider Galaxy’s goose carved to pieces.

All the space afforded to Cristian Penilla was akin to what we’ve seen what other teams do when they counter on New England. Loads of space on the left, and the Revs poured numbers forward; Bruce Arena had thrown Diego Fagundez back into the starting XI, showing his intent to attack — and attack they did.

And the passes by Carles Gil — and nearly scoring himself — were phenomenal. The flick to Penilla for the 45th-minute opener was pure cheek, and the pass for Teal Bunbury’s first of the season was somewhat like his preseason assist to Penilla when the club was in Marbella.

We’d love to see more of this in the second half of the season.

Games like these can build confidence

One of the things we’ve noticed through the first 16 games of the season — the Revolution have just had a lack of confidence in the attacking third (and in the defending third, but that seems to have gone away for now). But just one goal, just one, can turn things around.

We saw it with Juan Agudelo — he was peckish on the ball Sunday during the first half, but he disappeared slightly in the second half — who has now scored three goals for the second consecutive season; once he scored that first one, we saw the light switch go on with him.

Bunbury hadn’t scored in 27 matches entering Sunday, and it felt as though that elusive goal wouldn’t come, especially after missing from 8 yards out early in the game. He finally dented twine on the aforementioned Gil pass. Does he start to go off?

And Fagundez, seemingly on 50 goals in the league in perpetuity, hasn’t scored since the season finale last year. His shots have not been true, going into The Fort — he delivered a Row Z Special in the first half Sunday — or off-target. He did, however, hit the crossbar in the second half, the closest he’s come to scoring in quite a while. Was Sunday what he needed to re-discover his scoring touch?

And with four straight games without a loss, you have to hate that there isn’t another league match for three-and-a-half weeks. But again, that Open Cup can help. And speaking of that...

What type of lineup should we prepare ourselves for next Tuesday?

The Revs have traditionally used the Open Cup as a way to bleed younger players, and I was prepared to see some of the younger players — a Nicolas Firmino, possibly a Justin Rennicks if he’s back from Poland, Isaac Angking if he's healthy — as well as players who haven’t seen much playing time as of late, like Antonio Delamea, Wilfried Zahibo, and Gabriel Somi, find their way into the starting XI against the Red Bulls next Tuesday night in Montclair, NJ. That’s what happened with all the fixture congestion last season: players like Femi Hollinger-Janzen and Nico Samayoa found their way into the XI against Louisville City.

But with the way the Revolution have been playing lately — and with the bye week upon us and the CONCACAF Gold Cup break after that — would it be prudent to use the same squad that played Sunday night in the Open Cup game, to keep them sharp?

If I’m Bruce Arena, I go with the hot hands and the proven goal-scoring capabilities of the players he used Sunday.