The stage was set. The New England Revolution rode an 11-game unbeaten streak, welcoming a league-leading opponent to Gillette, and a healthy roster to get the result that they -- and the region of New England -- wanted. The only problem was that LAFC was too disciplined and positionally sound to allow that to happen. For the first time since May 8th, the Revolution couldn't find a way to leave a game with a point. Let's dive into the why.
Let's look at the starting 11...
Headshots from revolutionsoccer.net.
Bruce Arena
Justin Rennicks
Isaac Angking
Edgar Castillo
Antonio Delamea
Andrew Farrell
Brandon Bye
Juan Agudelo
Gustavo Bou
Luis Caicedo
Cristian Penilla
Carles Gil
Teal Bunbury
Matt Turner
TAKEAWAYS
Missing a man (theoretically):
Heat map from WhoScored.com.
Eduard Atuesta
Latif Blessing
Mark-Anthony Kaye
The opponent's strength:
Carlos Vela
Diego Rossi
Adama Diomande
THREE UP
Juan Agudelo
Matt Turner
Carlos Vela
Teal Bunbury
Cristian Penilla
THREE DOWN
Cristian Penilla
Edgar Castillo
Gustavo Bou
PLAYER RATINGS
PARTING THOUGHT
Isaac Angking
Justin Rennicks
DeJuan Jones
Tajon Buchanan
- I think it's clear that DeJuan Jones is still on the roster for situations in which he needs to fill in a sport at outside back if one of the starters were to go down with an injury, or if Jones needed to play in Castillo's spot to handle a matchup.
- Buchanan raises some questions. Because while he showed some potential in the minutes he received earlier in the season, he plays a position where the team is fairly deep, and it makes me wonder if Arena values him more than he does Rennicks/Angking. Is this a subtle way of Arena suggesting that the Revolution Academy is currently not where it needs to be?