FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Back-to-back road results have kept the New England Revolution firmly in the Eastern Conference playoff picture, and key to their recent revival has been a string of resolute defensive performances.
The Revs have conceded just three goals in their last four matches – including a shutout victory over previously-unbeaten-at-home New York City FC – demonstrating a vast improvement over a winless six-game stretch from mid-July to mid-August in which they conceded multiple goals in every match.
The arrival of veteran center back Michael Mancienne has played a part in that resurgence – the Revs have conceded a total of just four goals in the four games he’s played – but it’s very much been a collective effort from a rejuvenated Revolution squad.
“I think we’ve been – for the most part – eliminating mistakes,” said Scott Caldwell. “But also, if someone gets beat, the next guy is there to back him up. Nothing’s compounding, and it’s definitely been better in that sense. We’ve made some timely tackles, and that’s helped, as well.”
Mistakes at critical junctures and an inability to defend set pieces were the Revolution’s biggest struggles during that frustrating summer stretch, but they’ve nailed down some of those finer details in recent weeks, and moving to a mix of zonal marking and man marking has helped tighten things up on dead-ball situations.
“I think we’ve been better on set pieces,” said center back Jalil Anibaba. “I think we’ve been better keeping the ball through the run of play. Defensively, I think we’re just a little bit more confident and that’s helping in the minor details of the game.”
New England’s defensive improvements have unsurprisingly led to better results, as the Revs are unbeaten in their last three matches with one win sandwiched between a pair of a draws.
That’s been somewhat satisfying for head coach Brad Friedel, but with just six games remaining in the regular season and a five-point gap to make up in the playoff race, he wants to see his side shutting down opponents entirely, beginning on Saturday night against the Chicago Fire.
“We’ve seen improvement, but it should be zero goals (conceded) in the last three games,” Friedel said. “I and my staff are perfectionists. We’re going to try to always strive for that, which is what we should do, and the players are going to strive for that, as well.
“When we do make mistakes, we’ll rebound from it, no doubt, because of the character we do have in the changing room. Now, we’re really looking forward to the Chicago game with a couple of decent performances under our belts.”
