First-year head coach — and former US Men’s National Team goalie turned uncomfortably and eerily reserved talking head — Brad Friedel has his team hanging onto a playoff spot by a thread after 22 games.
Leaky D
Even with newly installed goalie Matt Turner’s fine play in net, New England struggles to defend their box. Wilfried Zahibo does his best to protect the back line, but tracking in the eighteen is so poor that balls coming in from the wings can lead to goals far too frequently. Friedel’s men have allowed five goals off crosses and four off indirect free kicks on the season. Keep an eye on the back post when Philly gets the ball into the Revs’ final third.
Under pressure
Although the back line is soft, Friedel has adopted the philosophy that a high press is advantageous because it keeps the other team far from your goal. New England pressures with impressive intensity, often allowing the goalkeeper to play the first pass out before quickly attacking the receiver of the pass. In Zahibo, Luis Caicedo, and Scott Caldwell (aka Quite Obviously Brian Carroll In Poor Disguise), the Revs have a trio of active, intelligent midfielders who can clean up any loose passes in midfield.
The big issue for New England is that their press tends to be quite man-oriented, so teams have been able to beat it by overloading once side of the pitch in the middle third and playing a quick ball over the heads of their first line.
Fagundez as focus
With Lee Nguyen holding out of training camp and essentially forcing a move to LAFC, the Revs have spent the season gassing up Diego Fagundez as the star at the center of their attacking solar system. Fagundez has nearly equalled his 2017 numbers in 600 fewer minutes, and his ability to combine with Teal Bunbury and Cristian Penilla around the box can produce exquisite scoring moves (just ask the Galaxy).
Fagundez can also be the weak point of the press, and when Bunbury’s goalscoring hit a dry spell in July, Friedel experimented with Fagundez as a false nine — essentially, a striker that drops deep into midfield to collect the ball, leaving the opposition’s central defenders positionally at sea with nobody to mark — in order to get all three of his best pressing midfielders on the pitch together behind his key attacker.
Watch for Fagundez to drop into midfield to collect the ball from Zahibo while the Revs wingers push high and try to catch the Union back line sleeping.
The Union travel to Gillette Stadium to face the Revolution on Saturday, August 11 at 7:30PM EST.
