FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – As the close of a lost season beckons, the New England Revolution hope to at least provide a palatable ending.
A victory against Eastern Conference leaders New York on Thursday night won't send the Revs to the playoffs, but it would at least give them a third consecutive victory to conclude the campaign.
“We want to go out and play for our fans and play for our team,” Revolution coach Steve Nicol told MLSsoccer.com earlier this week. “It's the same story.”
Nicol and the Revs want this chapter of the New England-New York rivalry to mirror the tale of the past 14 meetings. New England hasn't lost to New York in MLS play since Sept. 17, 2005, an unbeaten streak that includes eight wins and six draws.
[inline_node:312184]Another result against the Red Bulls would also push the Revs' current unblemished run to three matches after consecutive victories against Houston and Kansas City over the past two weekends. The extra points may not provide any tangible benefits, but Revolution defender Darrius Barnes said a season-ending victory would provide a boost to the team as it starts to plan for 2011.
“It’d be huge [to end the season] with three straight wins,” Barnes said. “You always want to build off your last game. They say you’re only as good as your last game, so if we can kind of have that mindset going in and try to get a [win] in New York, it would be huge for this team.”
The return of Cory Gibbs and Pat Phelan could also prove important as the Revs try to name an 18-man squad for the first time in several weeks. Gibbs and Phelan missed the 1-0 victory over Kansas City last Saturday while serving one-match bans for yellow card accumulation, but both players look set to return to the starting XI for the season finale.
Gibbs' restoration could push Emmanuel Osei out to right back, while Phelan may displace Jason Griffiths and partner Shalrie Joseph in central midfield.
Adding Gibbs and Phelan to the mix should bolster the Revs as they seek to extend their unbeaten run and sustain their dominance over New York. It won't be easy given the stakes in play for the home side. With a victory against the Revolution, New York will seal top spot in the Eastern Conference and home-field advantage until MLS Cup.
New England caught a break when news broke earlier this week that Thierry Henry (knee) won't feature in the Red Bulls' quest to complete its worst-to-first climb, but Phelan said the Revs will focus less on how New York plans to compensate for Henry's absence and more on how to continue their recent run of encouraging performances to provide a positive result to end the season.
“You don’t single out any players,” Phelan said. “We don’t with any team in the league. There’s dangerous guys you’ve got be aware of, but our game plan isn’t to stop those two or three guys or however many you want to say. For us, it’s about us. It always has been. It’s about us going out there, being strong defensively, taking our chances well when we get them and being a dangerous attacking team.”
