Write On Sports LLC - "New England Revolution 2006: Winning the Bid, Losing the Contract" by Jeff Bull

New England Revolution 2006: Winning the Bid, Losing the Contract

2007-01-24 13:07:55 | By: Jeff Bull

Set aside the second consecutive losing effort in MLS Cup and look past the familiar late-season hot streak that carried the New England Revolution to that championship game; in fact, just forget the sport of soccer for a moment, or narratives typical of any professional sports. One can find as fitting an analogy for the Revolution's 2006 in contract bridge as anywhere. Imagine this: your side won the bidding, but on a high contract. Still, you feel confident thanks to the solid hand you're holding; the hand your partner organizes across the table, the one you'll play in tandem with yours, is better still. But that's when it hits you: you may hold all the right cards, but either bad play or unlucky distribution could easily prevent you from making your contract.

Change those great cards to some of Major League Soccer's best players and you've got your metaphor: the tools are there, but that's cold comfort if you can't play them.

New Men

With the players on their roster and, in Steve Nicol, a smart coach guiding them, 2005 supposed to be the Revolution's year. They failed to win MLS Cup that year, but most observers blamed bad luck rather than the personnel. As such, New England held on as entirely viable contenders for 2006 with roughly the same roster. That's not to say no departures or arrivals occurred. But the players who left between 2005 and 2006 - Connally Edozien, Gilberto Flores, Luke Vercollone - rarely suited up for the Revolution and, as such, their absence went unnoticed. And the one significant player that arrived - midfielder Leandro de Oliveira, who was the team's first pick in the 2006 Superdraft - didn't play a single minute for the team - ever.

The Bad

With league-leading players like Taylor Twellman and Pat Noonan at forward and a midfield containing guys like Steve Ralston (third in career assists league-wide), Andy Dorman, and the show-stopping Clint 'Deuce' Dempsey New England certainly had the offensive punch to win the 2006 title. That these players failed to translate talent into goals returns to the contract bridge analogy: they can't score goals if Coach Nicol can't play them. All these players missed chunks of the season and for a variety of reasons. To use Dempsey as an example, he left for the World Cup in May, only to endure suspension after injury after suspension upon his return. What discipline issues and World Cup duty did to Dempsey, injuries did to other players. Making matters worse, chronic absenteeism among to the team's "work-horses" - guys like Shalrie Joseph, Daniel Hernandez, and Khano Smith - removed the midfield safety net that allows the offensive players to flourish.

As hard and as often as the injury bug hit, the Revolution also had to cope with late-summer discontent among their key players, with the most bedeviling situation revolving, again, around Dempsey. A solid World Cup performance led to interest from abroad, notably from one of the smaller English clubs, Charlton Athletic. When reports surfaced in mid-August that MLS rejected a $1.5 million bid for Dempsey, he responded by, 1) very publicly stating his desire to leave the MLS ASAP, and 2) breaking another player's jaw - which accounts for one suspension. His teammates, notably Twellman, went to the media with complaints of their own - about his comparatively modest salary in Twellman's case. Before long, Joseph joined Dempsey on the list of players drawing foreign interest; shortly after that news surfaced, Joseph picked up a bizarre bar-room injury to his hand. As the playoff push gathered steam, it seemed the distractions had piled so high that connections to New England's generally mediocre season started making sense. But that's when things changed.

The Good

With the exception of the 2005 season, when they led the MLS's Eastern Conference from start to finish, the Revolution ended every season since 2002 on a hot streak. 2006 was to be no different. After a season of matching the up-and-down mediocrity of their Eastern Conference peers, New England suddenly couldn't lose. They closed out the regular season on a seven game unbeaten streak (5-0-2). Even a loss to the Chicago Fire in the first of their two-game, first-round playoff series failed to derail their seemingly one-way express to MLS Cup. Twellman, who struggled with erratic play all season, became the team's talisman through this period, scoring clutch goals in game after game and leading by example on the field, everywhere on the field.

Vital as Twellman's goals and drive were, they relied on New England's defense to make them stand. The back three of Michael Parkhurst, Jay Heaps, and Avery John, all playing in front of Matt Reis in goal, boasted the league's best defensive record in 2006, allowing only 35 goals over 32 regular season games. By limiting the opposition to one goal or less in 25 of those games, the Revolution's defense gave their offense a decent shot at picking up points in any game; it's a shame the offense responded too infrequently.

One last point: the bright side to all those absences, suspensions and injuries comes with the opportunity it gave some of the team's lesser-known players to shine. Dorman's season was already mentioned above, but the comparison between his 2005 and 2006 stats - 2 goals and 5 assists versus 6 goals and 10 assists, respectively - reveal how much he grew as player. What Dorman did to cover Dempsey's absence, Jeff Larentowicz replicated in covering for Shalrie Joseph. While the role of holding midfielder doesn't produce handy numbers that reveal improvement, it's generally acknowledged Larentowicz didn't disappoint.

Wrap Up

We know by now how this story ended: Twellman, who had been frustrated through two previous MLS Cups, FINALLY scored a goal in extra time, giving his team the lead over the Houston Dynamo with eight minutes left to play in the final. Just 71 seconds later, the defense that had carried the Revolution all season suffered an devastating, unlucky lapse, allowing Brian Ching to tie the score; Houston went on to win on penalty kicks and New England's reputation as the Buffalo Bills of MLS gained further credence. That heart-breaking loss, combined with the expectation that key players would leave in the off-season ahead - never mind the drama already surrounding those departures - factors into a general perception that the New England Revolution missed a hell of a chance to win MLS Cup. The incredible thing about 2006 was, when they finally got all their starters at, or nearly up to, speed, they went on the unbeaten run that carried them to the Cup; that was the kind of talent this team had. And, piece- by-piece, it's going to fall away.

The Future

After two years of being a favorite, New England heads into 2007 with more questions than answers. Clint Dempsey is already gone - to England's Fulham FC, for the record - with equal helpings of good wishes and anxiety from New England fans. It is generally expected the Shalrie Joseph, widely regarded as the anchor for the team, will also leave for Europe shortly, with Scotland's Celtic FC as the destination. The fact that some key players have re-signed - Ralston, Hernandez, midfielder/defender Joe Franchino, and Noonan - gives some hope in that veteran leadership will stick around, at least. Twellman looks like he'll be back, but as great a player as he is, he can't carry a team on goals and inspiration alone. With too many of New England's better players either cresting the proverbial hill - think Ralston, who will turn 33 this June - and with others having a history with injury - Hernandez and Noonan rate high in this category - the Revolution could find themselves repeating the struggles of 2006 in 2007. While it's true strategy and smarts count for something - in both contract bridge and soccer - none of that matters if you're not holding the aces.

Editor's Note: This is part of a series wrapping up the 2006 season for each of Major League Soccer's 12 teams. Readers can find other entries in the series by clicking on the author's byline.

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