Revolution-Red Bulls Prepare For Eastern Conference Finals

Friday, November 21, 2014

Matt LaPan, Go Local Sports Reporter

The wait is finally over. The New England Revolution will finally be making their return to the Eastern Conference Finals of the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2007. The last time the Revolution made the East Finals, head coach Jay Heaps was an on-field member of the Revolution. Revs fans have waited seven years to return to this level, and on Sunday they will get the opportunity as the Revolution travel to New York to take on the Red Bulls in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Finals.

It will not be just the team making the trip, however. The supporters of the Revolution will be invading Red Bull Arena as 1,150 fans are taking official team-chartered buses to New York to support their team.

These Eastern Conference rivals will take the field against each other for the third time this season, with the Red Bulls taking each of the two regular season games. The Red Bulls took the June 8th game 2-0 at Gillette Stadium and then the August 2nd game 2-1 in New York. The loss in August came with the Revolution leading 1-0 at the half with the Red Bulls playing down a man for the entire 2nd half and is widely considered the worst loss of the season for the Revs.

Since that game, the Revs have been on a roll, winning 11 of 13 games and only dropping one game.

The Revolution are coming off a 7-3 aggregate dismantling of the Columbus Crew in the Eastern Conference Semifinal, having the highest goal total ever in a two-legged playoff series and matching the largest margin of victory in a two-legged playoff series. The Red Bulls are entering the series after defeating top-seeded D.C. United 3-2 in their semifinal matchup.

Both teams are teams that like to push forward offensively, though they do so in different ways. The Red Bulls rely on their dynamic duo of forwards: Thierry Henry and Bradley Wright-Phillips. The Revolution play only one forward (Charlie Davies) and rely more on their own high-powered duo: Lee Nguyen and Jermaine Jones.

Wright-Phillips and Henry combined for 37 goals and 16 assists in 2014. Of those 37 goals, an MLS-record tying 27 of those goals came from Wright-Phillips. Nguyen and Jones played in just 10 games together in the regular season, but have combined statistics of 20 goals and nine assists. 18 of the 20 goals came from Nguyen, who set a MLS record for goals by a true midfielder in a season. Nguyen is also a candidate for MLS MVP while Jones is up for MLS Newcomer of the Year.

With all this fire-power, it will be up to the back lines for each team to neutralize the opponents stars in the two-game playoff series (based on aggregate goals scored). The Revolution are paced by their athletic outside backs Andrew Farrell, who will be returning from injury, and Chris Tierney and their physical center backs A.J. Shares and Jose Goncalves. These four front Bobby Shuttleworth, who was one of the top goalkeepers late in the season. Shuttleworth allowed 1.25 goals against this season and showed true ability in a great effort in the 2nd leg of the East semifinal.

The Red Bulls back line includes Richard Eckersley and Roy Miller on the outside with Jamison Olave and Richard Eckersley in the center — fronting Luis Robles. The New York defense uses speed and positioning to stifle opponents with Robles registering a 1.47 goals against in 2014.

Both teams do have the same pitfalls on defense. Both have shown that they can be susceptible to allowing runs through the box, allowing players to get open in front of the goal.

With both teams healthy and rested, it is time for the Eastern Conference Finals opening leg to begin.

Prediction for Leg 1: Revolution 3, Red Bulls 2