WASHINGTON -- Last Tuesday, D.C. United dispatched a second-string New England Revolution squad 3-1 in a U.S. Open Cup semifinal match at RFK Stadium, but afterwards United's joy was balanced by their recognition of Steve Nicol's pragmatism. With a SuperLiga title already won and CONCACAF Champions League action ahead, the Revs coach clearly prioritized his team's need for rest ahead of its Open Cup ambitions, and D.C. knew it.
"They have bigger fish to fry, I guess," said Devon McTavish. "Kind of a different lineup than we expected to see against them -- and I'm sure we'll see that next week when we play them."
Indeed, McTavish and his mates can expect something much closer to a full-strength Revs side in Wednesday night's crucial league clash at Gillette Stadium, another occasion where three precious points will be ferociously contended by two teams in the midst of the scrum that the Eastern Conference standings have become this season.
But the weekend's results have contributed to a dramatically different outlook for both teams. With a shocking 4-0 road trouncing at the hands of heretofore cellar-dwelling San Jose on Saturday, New England has suddenly lost three consecutive matches in all competitions, allowing Columbus to retake the top spot in the East. Stung by the absence of Kheli Dube, Abdoulie Mansally and Michael Parkhurst plus a suspended Shalrie Joseph, the Revolution endured a horror show at Buck Shaw Stadium that was further aggravated by an adductor injury to veteran goalkeeper Matt Reis.
For his part, United boss Tom Soehn downplays the events of the past eight days. He'd certainly prefer to pile more pressure on New England's psyche with a strong start on Wednesday night, however.
"Different team, different situations," he said on Tuesday afternoon, shortly before D.C. flew north in advance of the Revs match. "You're not going to draw many conclusions from last week. I think the only thing you're going to draw is that they've conceded a lot of goals in their last three games, but having Shalrie back, and whatever their situation is, it's important to get up early there. You tend to bring back memories of their last three."
In contrast to the Revs' West Coast travails, United traveled to Chicago and returned with an important victory that offered a number of positives for Soehn and his men -- namely some stingy defending which, alongside new signing Louis Crayton's MLS debut in goal, resulted in the Black-and-Red's first road shutout of the season.
"I don't think we created a ton of opportunities. I don't think it was our forwards' best day in general," said Soehn. "But we still created enough quality opportunities, and we put one away and we learned how to defend and win a game 1-0 on the road, and I think that's a huge learning experience."
Crayton's learning experiences with his new club are continuing as well, with goalkeeper coach Mark Simpson guiding the Liberian international through detailed film sessions to compress his MLS adjustment period. Last week the duo spent hours looking at the habits of the Fire's attacking mainstays, and more such preparation is now being conducted on Revs weapons like Joseph, Steve Ralston and Taylor Twellman. Crayton looks like a lock to start at Gillette on Wednesday, where he will also have to contend with his first competitive match on artificial turf.
"Obviously all those factors are new to him, the surface and just different guys in the league. But we have pretty good resources [for] match analysis," said Simpson. "I'm going to go and show him people that are dangerous on New England, their touches, their tendencies, so he can start reading those players an opponents when we face them."
Soehn and Simpson took a bit of a gamble in starting Crayton so soon after his arrival in Washington, but feel vindicated by Saturday's performance. Now United are challenging themselves to make life as easy as possible for their new netminder, and knit together more such results with the consistency required for meaningful late-season and playoff success. That task has surely been helped by the memory of the 4-1 mauling they suffered in New York just over a week ago.
"We want ... to play, on the road or at home, the same way," said captain Jaime Moreno. "Unfortunately we haven't been able to do that: after New York, having that performance and then going to Chicago and winning -- that's what we don't want. We don't want these up and downs, we want to maintain the same level and now we've got to continue working the same way. We know what we have to do. If we create less mistakes, then we have less chance to lose the game."
Soehn has reminded his players that for all their struggles this season, they can vault right back into Supporters' Shield contention with a sustained run of success, starting in Chicago and continuing in Foxborough on Wednesday.
"We talked about these two games being the path to get there," he said, "so we've finished the first piece off, but the second piece is as, or if not more, important."
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