FOXBORO — It has been six seasons since the New England Revolution won an MLS playoff match.
But with the winningest MLS coach now on their sidelines in Bruce Arena, and having had two weeks of preparation, the Revolution will take to the pitch Friday at Gillette Stadium appearing to be favorable circumstances in their opening-round match of the MLS playoffs against Montreal.
“That’s a good question, I think we’re going to find out in the playoffs,” Arena said of New England’s identity and chemistry, which is further complicated by the fact that the team won just two matches at home this season. “I think the injury to Carles Gil set us back a lot during the regular season. Gustavo([Bou) has been juggled around in a lot of different positions, which has hurt us.
“We’ve been fairly steady with our back line and goalkeeper — that’s probably been our only consistency," Arena said. "And then, as Carles came back, Gustavo is still just returning from an injury, so we haven’t all been on the same page. But I think over the last couple of weeks, we’re getting a little bit closer.”
.New England is unbeaten in its last 11 playoff matches at home at 8-0-3, dating back to 2002, but hasn’t won an MLS playoff round since 2014. The club snapped a three-year playoff drought last year, when it finished in sixth place in the Eastern Conference and faced Atlanta United FC in the first round.
The Revolution, owners of five Eastern Conference championships, have a 17-17-9 all-time postseason record.
“This is probably the first week we’ve had in a long time where we can actually practice instead of having the typical rhythm of recovering and preparing for the next game," Teal Bunbury said. "We’ll use this to work on some individual issues with players as well as some team concepts.
“I think that, especially since this season has been so wild and crazy and it’s felt like a very long, extended season even though we’ve played fewer games than normal, it’s time for us to reward ourselves for what we’ve gone through as an organization and as a team
“These games are going to be close games, it’s not going to be 5-0 games, I think they’ll be 1-0, 2-1, or could go to penalty kicks so I think, right now, it is about mentality. It’s as simple as who wants it more. I think we can draw up a bunch of tactics, we could scout the team as much as possible, but I don’t really think that matters as much as the willingness or the drive and commitment as a team to go out there and execute.”
While New England was 2-3-5 in Foxboro, Montreal compiled a 4-5-1 road record. The Impact yielded 43 goals this season.
"We’ve played them four times so the benefits of playing them again is that we know what we’re playing against," New England veteran defender Andrew Farrell said. "Not necessarily the formation or who’s going to be in the lineup, but we know what each player will bring.
“We know what they’re going to do, we know what their tendencies are. But the negative is that they also know what we’re going to do and so it’s a battle of that and adjustments we can make here and there.
“We do know if we take care of business and play the way we can, we will hopefully win the game. We’ve got to be focused for 90 minutes. We have to show up.”
Arena knows that the Impact will be focused on solving the Revolution's back line, but he's not certain how they plan to do so.
“Teams are obviously going to play to win," Arena said. "Some teams will probably try to get into penalty kicks. Everyone is a little bit different. I can’t tell you what Montreal’s approach is going to be. My guess is it’s going to be a typical game we see in Gillette Stadium, where the visiting team does put a priority on getting numbers behind the ball. I would expect we’ll see that out of Montreal.
I think it’s an odd year If you really look at it, for our team," he added. "Friday will be our 24th game of the season. We’ve played Montreal four times and Philadelphia five times. Ten of our 24 games have been played against two teams It’s kind of ridiculous, to be honest with you. I’m completely confused as to what that means.”
Arena will be coaching his 51st MLS playoff match, where he has a 32-12-6 record. He also boasts a healthy list of candidates for the starting lineup.
“I think the days of tinkering are kind of over,” he said. “ We have to get it right. We’re going to utilize this week and next week to make sure that we think we have the right group of players on the field and we have the right approach each and every game. Hopefully, there’s going to be more than one playoff game.”
Added Bunbury,” We’ve definitely had some success against them but I don’t really think that’s going to matter. I think when it’s playoff time, both teams have to come in with that willingness and desire to want to win. We can go over all these tactics, how they might play, how they might shape up, but it’s going to come down to our battles. Our individual battles and collectively as a group. They’re a good team, they’ve had ups and downs in this season, but I’ve been there before. Our team’s been there before. I think our expectations are that we’re going to out there and put our best effort in and we want to win the game.
As difficult as it was in the first few years of the MLS getting off of the ground as a major sport in America, 2020 offers no parallel, according to Arena.
“This year has been very hectic, but an organized way of being hectic,” Arena said of the season being placed on hold in March, then a return to competition in Florida. “We knew what we were doing, but it was hectic because of the circumstances and certainly challenging.
“This year, I think, has been a phenomenal effort on behalf of the league and the players and the coaches and everyone involved, because it’s been real difficult going from the three- or four-month layoff we had when the league shut down to the bubble to returning from the bubble. To think now we are finished with the regular season, we actually have playoffs, and we’ll have an MLS Cup is, to me, absolutely remarkable.”
November 20, 2020 at 10:55AM
https://www.thesunchronicle.com/sports/local_sports/revs-look-to-end-playoff-winless-skid-with-arena-at-the-wheel/article_3cd710e1-bcc7-5a62-a5de-78c7bc112b72.html
Revs look to end playoff winless skid with Arena at the wheel - The Sun Chronicle
https://news.google.com/search?q=Wheel&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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