FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It's been more than three months since they last squared off against the New York Red Bulls, but the New England Revolution are more than familiar with their opposition as they ready for leg one of the Eastern Conference Championship.
In game-planning for Sunday’s match against an explosive New York offense (1:30 pm ET; NBC and NBC Live Extra), the Revolution know they have a laundry list of names to account for at Red Bull Arena. Marking talented attackers Thierry Henry and Bradley Wright-Phillips is important, of course, but so too is being aware of New York's other players in the 4-2-3-1 formation they've deployed since early September.
Which team will the series?
“We have a lot of respect for New York,” said coach Jay Heaps. “They’ve got a great balance. When I look at them now at this part of the season it’s their balance all over the field. They’ve anchored the midfield with Dax McCarty and [Eric] Alexander. Those two guys really put out a lot of fires and it allows their attacking players to play.
“You give Henry some freedom, you give Bradley Wright-Phillips some freedom, you give Lloyd Sam, [Peguy] Luyindula some freedom, they’re dangerous. That balance ... is really in good form.”
In trying to limit the opportunities for MLS Golden Boot winner Wright-Phillips – who has now scored 30 goals between the regular season and playoffs – the Revolution must start from the outside in.
With Sam on the right and Henry on the left side, New England will attempt to lock New York's wingers down by limiting the 1-v-1 opportunities that allow the duo to get the ball into the box and onto the head and feet of Wright-Phillips.
“It’s going to be tough,” said right back Andrew Farrell. “Sometimes the outside backs are going to be isolated one-on-one. As outside backs, we’ve got to win our battles. We know we can’t get Henry and Lloyd Sam in behind us because if we do they’re going to put the ball in the box and when that happens, 30 times [Wright-Phillips] has scored.”
- Get more New England Revolution news at RevolutionSoccer.net
A lot of the discussion in New England this week has started and ended with the legendary Henry, who seems to have upped his game down the stretch, dropping pin-point passes at the feet of his teammates like the one that gave the Red Bulls a road goal at RFK stadium.
With Henry assisting on four of the club’s six postseason goals, the Revolution know Sunday will be more about containing him as much as possible rather than negating his impact entirely.
“It’s really tough to shut him down,” said Farrell. “Getting on him early, not letting him get in the flow of his game and not letting him get a head of steam is important. I want to keep him in front of me and force him to go backwards.”
