The New England Revolution are unbeaten in their previous eight games, the club’s longest run without a defeat since the 2004 season. They are also undefeated in their last 15 matches at home.
To say the test for Toronto FC on Saturday night in Foxborough will be formidable might be an understatement. The Revs won all three matchups against Toronto last season and made the MLS Cup final, where they lost to the LA Galaxy.
There is reason for optimism regarding Saturday’s test, however. Though TFC failed to advance to the final of the Canadian Championship on Wednesday, Michael Bradley, Sebastian Giovinco and Jozy Altidore were superb. Greg Vanney also received strong performances from Ashtone Morgan, Justin Morrow, Collen Warner and Jonathan Osorio.
On paper the signs point to a New England victory, but this is MLS, a league that revels in the unexpected.
Here are three keys to the match.
Revs Concerned About More Than Giovinco, Altidore and Bradley
They were as good as advertised on Wednesday night. Bradley’s vision, Giovinco’s skill and Altidore’s strength were on full display against the Impact.
Containing TFC’s three designated players will be key for Jay Heaps’ side, but his players are saying all the right things in the leadup.
“It’s a normal game,” Jermaine Jones said, via ESPN’s Brian O’Connell. “It’s important to look at the whole Toronto team, rather than just three designated players (Bradley, Altidore and Giovinco) against one (Jones), or something like that.”
New England is coming off a tough result in Orlando, where they conceded two late goals and settled for a 2-2 draw.
Though Toronto’s record isn’t eye catching, Charlie Davies understands TFC remains a work in progress.
“They’re a team that’s trying to find a rhythm, and (get) into sync,” said the Revolution striker. “(But) they’re a team that’s dangerous. If we can stop them, I think we shouldn't have a problem stopping any team, because they’re a team that can score goals in a variety of ways.”
Balance In The Midfield
As impressive TFC’s big three was against the Impact a number of “role” players had big games.
For league success contributions must continue to come from these players.
“The balance [against Montreal] was good,” said Bradley following training on Thursday.
“I thought Collen [Warner] played very well. Jonathan Osorio, Benoit Cheyrou, those guys did a great job in terms of helping us get the attack going but also giving us balance and understanding the moments where we needed to control certain situations. I thought that was certainly a positive.”
As a result of this cohesion in the midfield expect to see the same quartet start against the Revolution on Saturday.
“It’s About Us, Not Them”
New England was the class of the Eastern Conference and is near the top through the first three months of the season.
“We know they have a good team, they have a good confidence and mentality about them,” said Vanney.
“They’re very confident since Jermaine Jones was added to the team, he brings a swagger to the group.”
But Vanney indicated he’s seen places within the Revolution setup the Reds can expose after watching tape with the coaching staff.
“We have to nullify some of the things that we think they’re good at and take the game on. There’s moments that I’ve seen them in games where they’ve had a hard time with certain things. We’ll try to bring some of those things to the table.”
We’ll have to see what those “things” are on Saturday night.
