FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – A few simple statistics paint a relatively clear picture of the New England Revolution’s offensive struggles through the early part of the 2016 campaign.
The Revs are currently tied for sixth in Major League Soccer in shots (51), while they’re tied for seventh in shots on goal (16). That places them right around the top third of the league in both categories. They’ve generated significantly more shots than the conference leaders in both the East and West.
But the Revs have converted just 7.84 percent of their shots into goals (per Opta), the fifth-lowest percentage in the league. Their four goals through four games similarly give the Revolution the fifth-lowest goals per game average through the season’s first month.
Generating chances hasn’t been an issue. Converting them has.
“In our league, you have to take your chances or you’re going to lose points,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “It’s a case where we’ve approached the game the right way, and now we have to put ourselves in a position to win the game.
“The idea is not to overthink things; to really continue to go about it the right way, but in that moment – whether it’s a little bit of class or a little bit of offensive fortitude – to make the play, make the right pass at the right time. That’s what we’re missing a little bit right now.”
The chances New England are creating are clear-cut; according to Opta they’ve created seven “big chances” through four games, but have converted just one. Only four teams in the league have missed more big chances than the Revolution through the early weeks.
The Revs have also hit the woodwork twice – three times if you count Lee Nguyen’s free kick that hit both posts – tied for second in the league to only the Portland Timbers (4).
“Patience is a big part of the game,” said captain Jose Goncalves. “We need to stay focused, keep creating those chances and once we score one, we can score always two or three goals. That’s the key right now. We’re still working on finishing and defending better as a group. We want to keep going that way and for sure we’re going to score.”
New England have found themselves in a similar scenario in recent years – their four goals are actually the most they’ve scored through four games since 2012 – and they’ve always found an offensive burst sometime in April.
The Revolution’s roster also features plenty of players capable of scoring in bunches, as Lee Nguyen, Diego Fagundez and Charlie Davies have all put up double-digit goal totals in recent seasons.
With that for context, Goncalves’ call for patience makes sense. But the Revs will certainly hope to start turning those attacking chances into goals sooner rather than later.
“We’ve got to stay confident, stay positive and keep going,” said Andrew Farrell. “The goals will come. The shutouts, hopefully, will come. And when we put those two things together, the results will come.”
