New England Revolution - Philadelphia Union: Head To Head Preview

On Form

New England Revolution: Few positives could be pulled from last week’s 4-1 drubbing by Kansas City, but if anything is going to be noted as successful it will be the performance of Kenny Mansally.  The Gambian striker notched his third MLS goal of the season in the first half on Saturday, his fourth in all competitions.  Mansally has also scored in SuperLiga and has looked admittedly dangerous in the appearances he’s made in the last month or so.  Kenny has been inconsistent to a fault since joining the club with fellow countryman Sainey Nyassi in 2007, but it looks as though he might be finding his way toward being a regular contributor to the Revolution offense.

Philadelphia Union: Not much has been going right for the Union lately, but the play of Sebastien Le Toux remains stellar. Though he did not score in last Saturday’s contest at D.C. United, the Frenchman is still tied for third in the league in goals (9) and tied for second in assists (9). On the pitch he’s beginning to exhibit the air of an elite player, calling for the ball and directing traffic.

Off Target

New England: It’s tempting to blame the much-vaunted Revolution defense for getting pasted on Saturday but in reality the blame has to be placed on head coach Steve Nicol.  In a rare tactical mistake Nicol opted to switch to a 3-5-2 at CommunityAmerica Ballpark, hoping to capitalize on the smaller pitch by clogging the middle and slowing down play.  He failed to account for the fact that the Wizards play an up-tempo 4-3-3, relying on quick wingers with good close control to find space behind the fullbacks.  By removing the fullbacks from the equation entirely, Nicol played right into Peter Vermes’ hands and Ryan Smith and Kei Kamara embarrassed the Revs, ripping them to shreds time after time while a beleaguered back three fought unsuccessfully to cope with the pacy assault.

Philadelphia: Danny Califf’s “assist” on D.C. United’s first goal—he slipped on an attempt to clear and “passed” to Danny Allsopp—can be chalked up to misfortune. But the parade of mistakes on the back line points to a serious deficiency in the Philadelphia defense. Keeper Chris Seitz has gotten his share of grief for not yet posting a clean sheet this season, but a good portion of the blame should go to the men in front of him.

Tactics

New England: Don’t expect Steve Nicol to even think about the 3-5-2 again, unless he was watching a totally different match.  The 4-4-2 will be the order of the day on Saturday.  Kheli Dube has returned from injury and should be available for selection, though it would be a surprise to expect him to start given the form of Perovic and Mansally and the budding partnership they have with Stolica.  The Revolution have largely abandoned the wing play they were focusing on earlier in the season and will probably try to generate chances by having Stolica and/or Mansally act as target men, trying to feed Perovic through knockdowns and hold-up play.

Philadelphia: As a fan of attacking soccer, it hurts me to point out that the Union backs have been drifting up too far, too often. This was exemplified in D.C. United’s second goal. DCU scored too easily on a counterattack, with no Philly defenders back to stop them. Peter Nowak will not turn into Preki—thankfully—but he may be tempted to keep more men behind the ball.

Intangibles

New England: At this point New England is fighting for its playoff dreams, but they may have already been dashed.  After last week’s debacle they sit seven points out of the final playoff spot and with only ten matches remaining in the season the mountain could be too steep to climb.  Perhaps they can’t be blamed should they choose to mail it in and focus on the SuperLiga final on Wednesday; on the other hand, being in such a situation leaves them with little to lose.  As Gene Hackman said in The Replacements: “That makes [them] very dangerous people!”

Philadelphia: When the road losses were piling up early this year, Philly fans expected to get some of those points back after the stretch of home games following the opening of PPL Park. It hasn’t happened. The Union haven’t won since July 17, and are mired in a six-match winless streak. With Philadelphia's playoff chances dimming by the week, we’re getting to a point where players might start thinking about their next jobs rather than wins.

Outcome

Philadelphia: The Union are, to put it mildy, an awful road team. Their record away from the Philly metropolitan area is a dreadful 1-9-1. A draw is a lot to ask, but the club has to break through eventually. Philadelphia 1-1 New England.