The New England Revolution and Seattle Sounders played one another to a boring, drab, but ultimately mutually beneficial 0-0 draw last Saturday night at Gillette Stadium. Neither side took many risks in a game that offered few memorable moments.
Nevertheless, here are three takeaways from the snoozer of the season:
This was more kickball than soccer
It took 73 minutes for either side to record a shot on goal. That first shot on goal came off the foot of Seattle’s Nicolas Lodeiro and was hit from 40 yards. Needless to say, Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner was equal to the long-range effort.
Jalil Anibaba headed a Diego Fagundez corner kick over the crossbar and Cristian Penilla scuffed a promising build-up wide of the net during the second half as well, but that was basically it for the offense.
Both sides were stuck in a seemingly never-ending midfield battle; Revs coach Brad Friedel said after the game that Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer told him the visitors were just playing for a draw. Be that as it may, the Revolution were still rather putrid in going after three points.
Watch: Highlights from the match
Diego Fagundez, Teal Bunbury and Penilla were stopped on nearly all of their collective forays forward. The Revolution had nearly 55 percent of possession and connected about 76 percent of their passes, but didn’t do much with what they had of the ball through the midfield, either.
In short, Seattle absorbed New England’s high press and quieted the best offensive players on the field, all while doing very little to create chances of its own.
Maybe the Revolution do need a new playmaker
Lee Nguyen was never really in Friedel’s plans, but the Revs are missing a playmaker with his skills.
Now, credit Fagundez, Bunbury and Penilla, who are all enjoying productive seasons. But the same trio of players won’t always be able to get the job done. That much was clear on Saturday night against Seattle.
Curiously enough, Friedel left Krisztian Nemeth on the bench throughout Saturday’s match. Nemeth, despite playing well in most of his time on the field this season, has been mostly on the fringes of Friedel’s tactics. Nemeth is a Hungarian playmaker who competed in Euro 2016 and also has plenty of experience in Major League Soccer. This season, he has just 12 appearances, including just four starts.
So, Nemeth doesn’t seem to fit into Friedel’s plans. That said, there is both an opening and a need for another playmaker to either back up or compete with Fagundez and Penilla. Reports surfaced recently that New England is interested in acquiring Stoke City’s Bojan Krkic; the club has also been linked to other attacking players, prospect and veteran alike, across Europe and South America.
Regardless, having someone else to pull strings in the attack may have garnered the Revs more than a point this past weekend.
Credit the defense
Facing Seattle – a talented team with plenty of attacking options – could have been a trap game. With few attacking chances by other side, one goal would have likely sealed the deal for either side.
New England, to its credit, remained lapse free for most of the night and didn’t offer the likes of Will Bruin, Clint Dempsey or Lodeiro many clear-cut chances.
The Revs secured their fourth clean sheet of the season and first since April 28.
Sure, they probably dropped points by going scoreless at home against arguably the league’s most underperforming team, but the back line deserves credit for preserving a positive result.
Anibaba said after the game that he and his peers reflected on the importance of staying focused in a tight game.
“Our job as back unit in games like that is to make sure we’re clean and that we don’t give anything cheap or give up any mistakes,” said Anibaba. “From that standpoint, I thought the guys were solid.”