Since we last saw Philadelphia a month and a half ago, the Union have had a little bit of an up and down time — yet still maintain their hold on first place in the Eastern Conference.
Following their 6-1 dismantling of the Revolution on May 4 — and putting into motion the events which replaced both Brad Friedel as head coach and Michael Burns as general manager — Philly has gone 3-1-2 in the league since, with wins over Toronto, Minnesota United, and the Red Bulls, a loss to Portland, and draws with Seattle and resurgent Colorado.
There was also its Fourth Round exit against DC United two weeks ago, and DOOP are looking to bolster their attack by adding Andrew Wooten at the start of the Secondary Transfer Window.
Through the midway point of the 2019 campaign, the Union are 9-4-4 and carry a two-match winning streak into Wednesday’s game against the Revolution (7 p.m., Gillette Stadium).
But will that streak continue against a New England team that has, in some ways, gone through a metamorphosis since that night in Chester?
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Since that awful night, the Revs have gone 2-1-2 in the league, and have played an extra half an hour longer than the Union have this season thanks to last Wednesday’s Fifth Round match in the Open Cup. But there has also been a massive turnaround: that solo loss came four days later against Chicago. Take that L away, and New England — sitting on 16 games in the league — has been a team that’s hard to beat, with Orlando City needing extra time, and DC United needing a late penalty to earn a draw in our last visit to Gillette before the Gold Cup break.
And with a renewed sense of purpose, the Revs are — dare we say it? — a team to be reckoned with moving forward, as they’ll end the first half of the season Wednesday, then have the quickie turnaround to start the second half against Houston Saturday night.
“It’s a big week for the Revolution if we have any aspirations of qualifying for the playoffs,” Revs coach Bruce Arena told Rob “Hardy” Poole and Patriots legend Ted Johnson during his weekly appearance on WBZ-FM’s (98.5) Zolak and Bertrand Midday Show last Friday. “We need to get a win in this game.
“It’s a very important week for the Revolution.”
Arena noted there will “likely” be changes in the starting XI for the Houston match, given the short turnaround.
We don’t expect Philly to change its playing methodology. We’re expecting the Union to stay fast, but also very direct like they were a month and a half ago.
Like we wrote in Soccer Weekend on May 3, expect everything to go through Haris Mendujanin at the No. 6. Brenden Aaronson is a young, talented player. And expect Jim Curtin to utilize several different options up top.
For the preview of the first Revs-Union matchup which will go further in-depth, click here. For the recap of the first Revs-Union matchup, click here. Tom's breakdown is here.
A Revolution win can conceivably move them as high as ninth at midweek.
Elsewhere in the league/football this midweek
Montreal will host Portland, DC United hosts Orlando, Toronto hosts Atlanta United, FC Dallas hosts Vancouver, and San Jose hosts Houston later on.
But not only that, Wednesday is the last day of the Group Stages at the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The United States men put a hurting on Trinidad & Tobago last Saturday night, a 6-0 thumping in Cleveland which saw four goals in 12 minutes, the American attack rising to the occasion and lifting the Red, White, and Blue to the knockout stages.
The US will play Panama Wednesday night; I’ll be recording it and watching when I get home from Gillette. A US win or draw will send the Americans through topping the group. Both the United States and Panama are tied on six points, but the US has a 6-goal advantage on goal difference (+10 to +4)
Tremendous win for Zach Herivaux and his Haiti squad, 2-1 over Costa Rica, Monday night, to send Herivaux’s side top of Group B. That sets up a quarterfinal matchup for Les Grenadiers with Canada, the runners-up in Group A, and will have the Costa Ricans playing Mexico in the quarters.
Group C wraps up Tuesday night: Jamaica takes on Curaçao in the first game at LAFC’s Banc of California Stadium, where Curaçao needs a win to advance. Jamaica leads the group on goal difference. El Salvador takes on Honduras in the second game, and a Jamaica win in the first game settles the group, as the El Salvadorians are sitting second.
In the Women’s World Cup, Norway — which needed penalties to beat Australia last Saturday — will take on an England squad which knocked off Cameroon, 3-0, on Sunday, in Thursday’s quarterfinals (2 p.m., FOX). And two more Round of 16 games on Tuesday afternoon: Italy takes on China, and the Netherlands takes on Japan. If China and Japan can't win, it'll be the US taking on Europe the rest of the way.
Four quickie thoughts about the United States’ 2-1 win over Spain from Monday:
- Hanson’s Samantha Mewis and Cincinnati native Rose Lavelle of the NWSL’s Washington Spirit each have an engine and a half;
- Go back and watch the way Tobin Heath — an offensive-minded midfielder — cracked all the way back to defend in the last 20 minutes of that game. Same with Alex Morgan before Carli Lloyd replaced her. Heath’s work rate was immeasurable;
- Megan Rapinoe, cool, calm, and collected on the second penalty;
- You can defend better than that. Lazy passes do it.
Legendary player, amazing speech, hate to see the World Cup end for Marta and Brazil but this display of passion and perspective was as satisfying to watch as any golazo:
pic.twitter.com/w5Ct45tA7A
— Ives Galarcep (@SoccerByIves) June 23, 2019