MLS Cup Final: New England-Houston 11/18/07:

This was a tough one for Revs’ fans to accept. For the fourth time in six years New England advanced to the finals only to lose again, for the second straight year to Houston Dynamo in Washington last Sunday afternoon. Everything lined up perfectly for New England as they had the revenge factor combined with the loss of Brian Ching from the Houston lineup with an injury. If they played a consistent match in both ends of the pitch, there was no reason why they couldn’t win the match. Revs came out in the first half looking to burn down the house. Revs scored the first when Twellman’s header of Ralston’s cross in the 20th made it past Onstad. For the balance of the half, Revs kept up the play but were unable to push across another score.

In the second half, Dynamo coach Kinnear changed his team’s alignment from 4-4-2 to a more offensive-oriented 3-5-2. If you have been reading Roscoe’s soccer posts this year, he had repeatedly discussed how Revs have not been a good second half team. Maybe it was the formation change by Houston or maybe it was a case where Revs decided to play things more defensively. Whatever it was, within the first ten minutes Dynamo stole the momentum and the match. In the 61st, Ngwenya banged in the equalizer on a cross from De Rosario. It seemed as if nothing New England tried would stem the tide. Once the score was tied, Houston simply took over and New England fans were resigned to the inevitable. At least this time the fans didn’t have to wait long. In the 74th, De Rosario put the Dynamo headed in Davis' cross into the right corner past Reis. Heaps defended the play well but De Rosario made a flawless play. This guy is money, as he steps up big at the most important moment. De Rosario won the Cup MVP for the second time in his illustrious MLS career. In the 88th, Revs had a golden chance on a corner but Onstad made a brilliant leaping grab to preserve the lead.

Dynamo walked away with the Cup and the Revs once again come up empty handed. It’s now open to debate whether 2007 was the team’s last chance at the brass ring. While the team finally captured its first silver by winning the US Open Cup, the core group of Ralston, Twellman, Heaps, Joseph, Parkhurst and Reis are not getting any younger. The League’s decision to sell Dempsey to Fulham didn’t help the Revs midfield issues nor did the Revs management take any affirmative steps to replace him with a comparable player. The only newcomer who was an impact player was rookie striker Adam Cristman who was often a spark off the bench in the second half. There were a number of foreign players (not named Beckham) who joined a few teams and made a big impact, most notably Blanco in Chicago. Coach Nicol knew better than anyone what was needed to put the team over the top and it seems as if management failed the team and its fans. Yes, Revs did remarkably well just getting to the finals, in large part aided by Chicago’s upset over DC United. However, Roscoe pointed out numerous examples of how the team had second-half breakdowns and no personnel changes were made to correct the deficiencies.

However, the single best possible move the Revolution could make is to construct a soccer-only stadium that seats 20-25,000 fans in the Metropolitan Boston area. Foxboro may be a great venue for international matches or MLS Cup, but its distant location is unattractive for fans of The Beautiful Game who reside within the Boston area and to the North and West of town.

Things ought to be very interesting next year…