It was fitting that, for the final training session before heading to Texas for Sunday's MLS Cup, the entire Revolution squad was on the field on Thursday. Throughout the past seven months, the Revs have relied on the depth of their squad to see them through tough times when international absences, injuries and suspensions have deprived them of several key personnel.
Now, with the biggest game of their season imminent, New England can finally report a clean bill of health meaning that, in contrast to various points this season when the side barely had enough players to fill the substitute's bench, the number of available players watching from the Pizza Hut Park stands will be in double figures.
"What's happened this season was that, at the start, we spoke to the players and said that everybody was going to play some part because of the World Cup, injuries, suspensions and all that sort of stuff," said assistant coach Paul Mariner on Thursday. "We didn't expect so many injuries and what has happened is that a lot of players have come in and done absolutely fantastically."
During the regular season, the Revolution lost 154 man-games through injuries to 14 members of their squad, as Steve Nicol sent 26 different starting line-ups into action. That the club was able to ride out the disruptions which it continually encountered was, Mariner believes, due in no small part to the all-inclusive nature of the side's training sessions.
"We are blessed with a tremendous squad. Everybody is competitive, combative, but it's all meant in the right spirits. What we try to foster here is the whole squad. We want every single player to develop as best as they possibly can. We involve everybody in everything and don't split the groups, even in warm-ups for games we keep everyone together. We think that is an important part of the education for the players."
In the playoffs, the chopping and changing has continued with different teams picked for each of the Revs' three games as key men such as Clint Dempsey, Shalrie Joseph and Steve Ralston have been forced to miss postseason time. However, the replacements that have come in have picked up the slack with little fuss, as was emphasized by the Eastern Conference Championship win at D.C. United last week.
"I thought James (Riley) adjusted incredibly well," said Mariner. "Khano (Smith) is a tremendous asset when he comes off the bench. Jeff (Larentowicz) came in for (Daniel Hernandez) and didn't really miss a beat when."
In last year's MLS Cup, the Revolution bench contained three players -- Connally Edozien, Ricardo Phillips and Luke Vercollone -- who were released by the club two days later. Another substitute that day was Larentowicz who, at the time, had played precisely one minute in MLS. This year, by contrast, head coach Steve Nicol is set to have players of the caliber and experience of Riley, Smith, Jose Cancela (also a sub last year), Jose Manuel Abundis and, if he recovers from injury, Dempsey, to choose from as replacements.
In addition to the evidence of its depth, the quality of the Revolution squad was tested in a different way against D.C. United, when it became apparent that a formation change would be required to combat the attacking threat of the home side. Once again, as Mariner explained, the regular season experience was critical in making the switch from 4-4-2 to 3-5-2.
"It comes from the players. You can't throw in a 4-4-2 or a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-3 if you haven't worked on it. At this level that's nigh on impossible to do. What we have had this season is three systems that we have worked on so we are in a fortunate position where we can more or less snap our fingers and the players instantly click into whatever system."
Having dealt with the toil of the regular season and battled from two goals down to defeat Chicago before coming away from Washington, D.C., with a win, the Revs now stand on the verge of their first championship in franchise history. The unique atmosphere of the week of the final is something that many of the squad have experienced before and Mariner and Nicol are relying on their veterans to keep the entire roster focused on the job in hand.
"The media is around so much," said Mariner. "There are demands on the players with extra stuff outside the training ground but it's up to us as coaches to try and maintain that air of consistency. To a large extent, it falls on the senior players as well that have been here before."
Having acknowledged that it is not possible to treat the final as just another game, Mariner admitted that the excitement among the Revs party was growing as every day goes by. Furthermore, the experience of losing at this stage last year drives New England on. Though nothing that happened against the Los Angeles Galaxy twelve months ago will be changed by what happens on Sunday, there does remain a feeling that the Revolution, twice losers in MLS Cups, have a point to prove.
"We have got to prepare for the most important game of the season," said Mariner. "All the other teams and players that play the game want to be in the final. We are in a terrific spot, it's going to be exciting to get down there and we are just thrilled to be there. We didn't really show up last year. We didn't really give it our best and we want to try and put on, not so much a show, but we want to do ourselves justice."
Andrew Hush is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
