FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The respite provided by an open weekend on the schedule allowed New England coach Jay Heaps to pause for a moment and review his side's efforts so far in 2012.
He liked what he saw.
Although the Revs have mustered just two wins in six matches this season, they possess the talent level to push forward if they instill a bit more pluck into their performances, according to Heaps.
“I was going through – I've watched every game quite a bit and I took [last] week to review quite a bit – to see where we are at this point,” Heaps told MLSsoccer.com last week. “Talent-wise, it's as good as any team I've ever been on, man-for-man. The difference is just that little extra edge, that little bit of [Clint] Dempsey, that little edge.”
Heaps ticked off all of the ways he wants to see that quality manifest in his players – game management, intangibles and toughness all merit a spot on the list – over the next few weeks.
“That's what we're going to get,” Heaps said. “It's a lot harder to get talent than it is bite, but we'll use all of it. I'm really happy where we are from a talent standpoint. We're going to continue to lean on the guys that have the bite to make sure the rest of them get it as well.”
Although determination and grit remain at the top of the list these days, another player or two at the top end of the roster also features somewhere on it.
There isn't any urgency to add a piece for addition's sake at this point with the transfer window closed and the summer approaching, but the need to continue this forward progress through the campaign will likely push the Revs into the market at some point after the club's next weekend off in June.
“We're always looking,” Heaps said. “It would be a disservice to our team and to the organization if we weren't always looking, but we're very comfortable where we are in that talent reserve that I'm talking about. Now it's a matter of one or two players we need to add on into the summer that will be difference makers, if we go that route.”
