Perhaps there is a little irony in that fact that, as the New England Revolution prepare to close out the regular season schedule against the Columbus Crew on Saturday night, Steve Nicol had too many players to get everyone on the field in a training scrimmage this week.
In a season that has seen the Revolution lose 151 man-games to injuries through 31 games, Nicol now has almost an embarrassment of riches to choose from, as was emphasized when four fully fit and healthy men had to sit it out as the rest of the squad played an 11 v 11 practice match. Furthermore, in addition to the 26 currently fit members of the Revolution squad, two more key men - Shalrie Joseph and Pat Noonan - are expected to pick up their own training schedules next week.
"Shalrie will start training at 100 percent next week," said Nicol on Friday. "He's been missing for five weeks. Now we just need to get Pat Noonan back."
Noonan was in Germany on Monday for successful sports hernia surgery and made an appearance at Gillette Stadium in street clothes on Friday. The striker hopes to begin jogging within days. In his absence against the Crew, the Revs are likely to hand another start to Mexican international Jose Manuel Abundis, who marked his debut on Sept. 30 with the game-winning goal against Colorado.
Abundis will line up alongside leading scorer Taylor Twellman, who is expected to start despite niggling hip and hernia problems. Clint Dempsey will drop into a deeper role behind the front two as New England revert to a familiar 3-5-2 formation, having won at D.C. United last weekend with a 4-4-2 alignment.
Daniel Hernandez made his comeback as a substitute at RFK Stadium but is still a little short of full match fitness, so he will expectedly play a similar role against the Crew. With Joe Franchino pushing out left in place of Khano Smith, Andy Dorman will get the start in central midfield alongside Jeff Larentowicz.
At the start of the season, few would have predicted that the Dorman-Larentowicz tandem would be Nicol's selection to fill the engine room, but the form of the young duo has made their exclusion almost impossible. While Larentowicz has been a constant in a defensive midfield role, Dorman has also seen time on both flanks and behind the front two. The switches have clearly not fazed the Englishman, who has responded with magnificent consistency that has made him a leading contender for the club's MVP award.
"When you've got ability and you do the basics well then you can play anywhere on the field, especially in an attacking way," Nicol said of Dorman on Friday. "If your touch is good, your passing is good, you can run and put good crosses in, it really opens up a whole host of opportunities, not just for him personally but for us as a coaching staff. We've had suspensions and injuries, things that inevitably happen during a season, and we can adapt because of someone like Andy Dorman."
On the attacking end, Dorman has compiled career-best figures of six goals and 10 assists this season, in which he has started every game for the Revolution. However, equally impressive has been the way the former Boston University man's game has evolved in all areas of the field. Defensively, he has shown a good ability to cover and track opposing runners, and against the Crew, the 24-year-old knows that playing the deeper midfield role will mean that at times he will have to rein in his natural instincts.
"The hardest thing for me is to just sit there," said Dorman. "I am used to playing out on the right or in more of an attacking role, my instincts are to go forward and it's hard to stay but it's got to be done. We've got Avery (John), Jay (Heaps) and Michael (Parkhurst) behind us and they keep me in my spot and make my job a lot easier. I just have to sit and clog out the passing lanes and keep it simple in possession and look to get the ball to the forward players. You have to have a bit more bite, I guess, playing in that position as well."
Victory against the Crew will see New England secure second place in the East and home-field advantage in the first round of the MLS Cup Playoffs against the Chicago Fire. To achieve that goal, the Revolution must neutralize a rampant Columbus attack that arrives in Foxborough on the back of two impressive offensive showings.
Since eliminated from playoff contention, Sigi Schmid's side has responded positively to playing with the pressure off by defeating Dallas 3-1 and going into Chicago and winning 4-1. Add to those impressive victories the fact that Columbus thumped the Revolution 3-0 the last time these two sides met, and nothing is being taken for granted at Gillette Stadium.
"You don't go and win 4-1 in Chicago unless you are doing something right," said Nicol, who pointed to Jason Garey and Joseph Ngwenya as particularly dangerous men for the Crew. "A couple of weeks ago, this fixture might have looked like a home win, but we really need to be on our toes and covering all our bases. We are focusing on this 100 percent and know we need to win the game to get the second spot."
Andrew Hush is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
