Final score: New England Revolution 1, Chicago Fire 1

The New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire have been a growing rivalry, despite the geographic separation between the two teams. The Revs knocked the Fire out of the post season for three seasons running, 2005-2007, while it was the Fire’s season to return the favor last year, thumping the Revs 3-0 out of the playoffs in Toyota Park last fall. And the Fire have certainly had the upper hand when they play the Revs at home, having swept the 2008 games against the Revs by a combined score of 9-1.

From the Revs’ outlook, they were coming off two of their worst games in recent memory, a 6-0 loss to RSL and a 2-0 loss to the Dynamo. Almost worse than the score, the Revs have looked un-Revolution like, having trouble with possession and with a suspect defense. In an effort to reverse the slide, Coach Steve Nicol closed practice to the media during the week to help the players concentrate. In addition, Coach Nicol tweaked the starting lineup, still dealing with injuries to key players, with some additional twists:

Keeper: Matt Reis
Defenders: Emmanuel Osei, Darrius Barnes, Jay Heaps, Kevin Alston
Midfielders: Jeff Larentowicz, Pat Phelan, Wells Thompson, Chris Tierney
Forwards: Shalrie Joseph, Kheli Dube

That’s right – Shalrie Joseph, one of the best midfielders in the MLS, started up top as forward. The presumable intent of this move was to provide the Revs with some additional possession when moving the ball up the field, with Shalrie to hold the ball when passed to upfield, allowing the midfield to move forward, then distribute the ball cleanly. This basic play has been mostly lacking in previous weeks by the usual forwards, primarily Kheli Dube and Kenny Mansally.

Other notable features include the first MLS start for Emmanuel Osei, the Ghanaian soccer player the Revs signed at the end of March, Kevin Alston, the promising rookie defender back after a brief hamstring injury, and Pat Phelan starting again in the midfield. Chris Tierney moved from being a defender, where he had been in previous weeks, to wing midfield.

The tinkering, as well as the coaching during the week, paid off. The Revs played better as a team, doing a much better job of keeping possession, making sure, crisp passes, and being patient in their attack buildups. At forward, Shalrie Joseph got fewer touches on the ball than he normally does at midfield, but was still able to hold the ball upon key occasions. The Revs equalizer goal came after just such possession, where Joseph help up a ball near the top of the box, distributed it to the far wing where he set up a shot by Larentowicz. The deflection fell back to Joseph where he calmly controlled it, then punched it into the net.

At defense, the four back-line players were all solid (receiving the same player rating of 7, below), doing a good job of holding shape and keeping their line on defense. Kevin Alston picked up where he left off a few weeks ago, locking down the right side and venturing forward for attacks on the flank. Newcomer Osei was calm and poised as a middle back, showing skill controlling the ball when defending rather than just clearing the ball out at the first chance.

However, all was not perfect for the Revs by any means, with too few real chances on goal to get a victory, and enough difficulty fully containing the always dangerous Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Brian McBride. In fact, slow reaction to a Blanco corner resulted in the Fire’s only goal by defender Wilman Conde and some critical saves were needed by Reis to hold on to the tie. Still, overall the Revs must feel good about turning their play around over the past two weeks, and should bring these positives with them to their upcoming home game against the Colorado Rapids (May 16th).

Ratings for the Revolution players on a Scale of 1 (low) to 10 (high), ranked from best to worst:

Matt Reis: 8
A redemption game after last week, with several great saves, including one right at the end of the game that surely would have cost the Revs the tie.

Shalrie Joseph: 7
Sometimes was able to hold the ball well up front, but perhaps not as much as was intended. Good setup and cool finish to his goal gives his ratings a boost. Looked more comfortable when moved back to midfield once Mansally came in as forward.

Emmanuel Osei: 7
A good first outing, with solid, composed play, and good ball control when distributing defensively up to the midfield.

Jay Heaps: 7
Solid play, few mistakes, even if a bit quieter on the night than is usual for him.

Darrius Barnes: 7
Continued with solid play at central defense. Might be time for the coach to re-think the long Barnes throw in as it has been largely ineffective.

Kevin Alston: 7
Good to have back on the right side, with good defense and attacking runs forward, even if he lost the ball sometimes when doing so.

Steve Ralston: 7
Ratings are not usually provided for players in less than a half, but he again provided a much needed creative spark on attacking where the Revs before had none. Good field vision and distribution helped set up some offensive chances.

Kheli Dube: 6
A better showing than some previous outings, having more of a presence in the attack. Still did not provide enough of a threat to create chances for himself or others.

Jeff Larentowicz: 6
Typically solid on defense, but more errant with shots and passes than normal.

Pat Phelan: 5
Did reasonably well in a defensive midfield role, but did not always distribute the ball well when passing.

Wells Thompson: 5
Similar play as in previous games, with lots of running when carrying the ball upfield, but often lacked good choices or execution at the end.

Chris Tierney: 5
Positioned himself well, but not especially effective at setting up the forwards nor creating chances for himself.