Any joy that Steve Nicol and his New England Revolution team experienced in dismantling the defending MLS Cup Champions Houston Dynamo 3-0 in First Kick weekend has surely been eradicated in what has become a tough week for the defending Eastern Conference champions.
Despite the dominating performance, New England's front lines took a big hit. Starting XI mainstays Taylor Twellman (knee surgery) and Steve Rolston (dislocated shoulder) have been lost to extended injuries (Twellman for 6-8 weeks, Rolston for 4-6). In addition the team now faces a game without Jeff Larentowicz after he was shown a direct red card just a few moments ago (7 minutes into their match with Chicago) with the team already down 0-1 on an early Chad Barrett goal (4'). Another story to watch will most certainly be Khano Smith's morale with the club, as he was taken off after 12 minutes by manager Nicol in favor of a more defensive formation.
Since then, things have gone from bad to worse for the Revs. Horrible defending allowing a T. Frankowski goal (22'), a questionable PK award to Justin Mapp by the official (converted by C. Blanco - 37'), and more poor play at the back line resulting in another Frankowski strike (39') sees the Revolution on the wrong side of a 0-4 scoreline and looking more and more like a team in disarray.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
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