Posted by Here are my three takeaways from the Revolution’s recent 3-2 win over Toronto FC:
1) Friedel wins the tactical battle
In his first professional coaching job, the ex-U.S. Men’s National Team goalkeeper collected his most impressive victory to date with a 3-2 win over defending MLS Cup Champions Toronto FC. Friedel has said that he will not tolerate one second without full effort, and this expectation is evidenced through his tactical outlook. In this match, New England constantly looked to pressure Toronto high up the pitch when defending, looking to create turnovers in the final third. When the Revs won the ball back, they tried to transition into attack as quickly as possible, repeatedly launching long balls forward in the direction of Teal Bunbury and, to a lesser extent, Diego Fagundez.
This strategy paid dividends on all three of New England’s goals. On the first, defensive midfielder Scott Caldwell pressured a slack pass from Toronto center-back Michael Bradley and managed to poke forward for Teal Bunbury, who played a first-time pass into the path of right-winger Cristian Penilla. Put through on goal, Penilla took three touches before slamming a low, right-footed drive into the right-hand corner of Alex Bono’s goal. A similar pattern was followed for the second goal, as pressure from the swarming Revs forced Bono to play a short ball forward for midfielder Ager Aketxe. With Revs midfielder Luis Caicedo on his back, Aketxe played an ill-advised square ball right to Penilla, who took a touch before slotting past the keeper’s desperate dive.
The third goal was also the result of New England’s commitment to quick attacking transitions. When an errant Toronto pass was played right to New England right-back Andrew Farrell, he used his first touch to play a quick pass forward for Bunbury, cutting out Toronto’s midfield and allowing the New England forward to run at the Toronto defense. After breaking into the box, Bunbury’s deflected effort found its way inside Bono’s far post.
Although New England’s commitment to high pressure and quick transitions was crucial to establishing their lead, the drawback to such a full-throttle strategy was also on display. Midway through the first half, New England began to ease the pressure they were putting on Toronto’s defense and midfield. This allowed Toronto to gain a foothold in midfield, with Jonathan Osorio and Marky Delgado seeing more of the ball. About 15 minutes into the second half, 2015 MLS MVP Sebastian Giovinco was introduced from the bench and Michael Bradley was pushed into midfield. With the changes and the increasing weariness of New England’s players, the Revs began to defend much deeper than they had through the early stages of the first half, and ultimately had to hold on in the last minutes to preserve the victory.
New England is not the most talented team in the league, which is why Friedel’s full-throttle approach makes sense. However, they must improve their ability to possess the ball with quick combination play, if for no other reason than to make their hold on leads more comfortable.
2) Bunbury Breaking Out
Since he made his professional debut with the Kansas City Wizards in 2010, New England center-forward Teal Bunbury has not scored more than 9 goals in a season. However, after 10 games in this campaign, Bunbury is more than halfway to his own personal best, with 5 goals and counting. The four-time U.S. international has scored the winning goal in three of New England’s five victories on the season.
However, Bunbury contributes more than just goals. In this match, he was constantly available as an outlet for long balls, and used his strength on repeated occasions to hold-up play. Bunbury also exhibited an impressive mobility, as he repeatedly ran into the channels to pick up possession. Furthermore, the ex-Akron standout exhibited a willingness to serve as the first line of pressure against Toronto’s attempts to play out from the back, looking to win the ball off their defense and midfield as high up the field as possible. These attributes are critical to the success of Brad Friedel’s high-pressing, quick-transitioning Revolution.
Bunbury’s strike for New England’s third goal exhibited his increased confidence in the attacking third. Turning into space and running at the Toronto defense, Bunbury had fellow forward Diego Fagundez running alongside him as he reached the edge of the box. Instead of looking to play Fagundez in, Bunbury burst into the box and found New England’s third goal. Although his effort benefitted from a deflection off Toronto center-back Jason Hernandez, Bunbury deserved that slice of luck for an enterprising performance.
3) Tired Toronto Overwhelmed
Going into this match, reigning MLS Cup and Supporters Shield holder Toronto was positioned a lowly 10th of 11 teams in the Eastern Conference. With only 7 points accrued from their first nine matches after this loss to New England, Toronto has struggled to adapt to the busy schedule that they have faced in the first few weeks of the regular season. In addition to MLS matches, Toronto played an additional 8 games in the CONCACAF Champions League, where they made the final and nearly became the first MLS side to win the tournament. Along the way, the Canadians defeated Mexican giants Tigres and Club América, demonstrating that the quality of their squad has not decreased since last season.
In an effort to have a fully-rested starting 11 for the final stages of the Champions League, Toronto has played a second-string lineup for three of their regular season matches so far. Furthermore, due to injury, they have been without key forward Jozy Altidore since the second leg of the Champions League Final. Altidore’s absence, however, does not excuse the 18 goals that Toronto have conceded so far this year. Nevertheless, Toronto has the advantage of the United States not qualifying for this summer’s World Cup, which means that The Reds will be able to field Bradley and Altidore alongside Giovinco for the entire year. Given the quality of those three players in particular, Toronto should be expected to start climbing up the table sooner rather than later.
Just for Kicks 