FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – In a season filled with little lessons for the New England Revolution to take forward in pursuit of their overarching goals, the primary message from this past Saturday's 1-0 defeat at New York represents one of the more important concepts to grasp.
A slow start – even with gradual improvement through the 90 minutes – can lead to an unwanted conclusion.
WATCH: Henry lobs Reis for game's only goal
“It's something we've shown the players on tape,” Revolution coach Jay Heaps told MLSsoccer.com. “It's a coachable moment.”
It didn't take long for the Revs to assess the impact of their modest work at the outset. Thierry Henry's seventh-minute winner and the inability to secure an equalizer in the remaining 83 minutes ensured that the opening stages of the match would draw some scrutiny ahead of Wednesday's match with Colorado (8 pm ET, watch LIVE online).
New England midfielder Clyde Simms said he and his teammates simply can't afford to stumble out of the gates as they attempt to pick up points.
“We didn't start off well at all,” Simms said. “In the first half, we weren't clicking at all and we were turning the ball over in easy spots. We kind of gave the game away there early. We tried to fight back in the second half, but it was too little, too late.”
The congested fixture list has handed the Revolution an opportunity to rectify their concerns in short order and show that they have learned their lesson from Saturday's defeat.
“We looked at the tape and learned from it, [but] we've moved on quickly,” Revolution defender A.J. Soares said. “We're ready to go against the Rapids and [we're] definitely going be improved on Wednesday compared to Saturday.”
