Some strikers make pretty passes with unbridled amounts of creativity. New England Revolution striker Taylor Twellman scores goals.
Steve Nicol's side will miss the penalty area predator for another two to four weeks after he limped out of a June 4 encounter against the Kansas City Wizards with a left hamstring strain.
With Twellman out of the lineup for the foreseeable future, the onus falls on Khano Smith to replace a portion of the prolific Twellman's production.
Life without Taylor started profitably for the Revs, as a Sasha Victorine own goal and a Pat Noonan strike ensured a 2-0 victory. Nicol believes that his side will miss the instinctive nature of Twellman.
"From the first minute to the last minute, you have to be on your game [when Taylor is in the lineup]," said Nicol. "It's tough, because we don't have two Taylor Twellmans. Khano has played, but you lose that 20-goal-a-season guarantee.
"We have Pat back," said Nicol. "[Khano] and Pat will be the front two. Any team will miss Taylor, but we'll see how to adjust."
With Noonan claiming the role of primary goal scorer, Nicol notes that Noonan's jack of all trades style clashes with Twellman's fox-in-the-box mentality.
"Pat's more unpredictable," said Nicol. "You know what you're getting with Taylor. It's a trade-off."
Similarly, the combination of Smith and Noonan will create new opportunities to broaden the offensive forays for Nicol's side.
"Taylor and Pat are different than Khano and Pat," said Nicol. "Maybe Khano can bring something different to the game."
Twellman must recover from another injury in order to reclaim his preferred occupation: scoring goals.
"I told him: 'Get yourself fit and back scoring goals,'" Nicol said. "Taylor's straightforward. He wants to score goals. He doesn't worry about anything else."
Kyle McCarthy is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Majro League Soccer or its clubs.
