After a huge win at home over FC Dallas last weekend, the Fire head back to the turf in New England to finish out the MLS weekend schedule against the Revs on Sunday night (5:30pm CT on My50/TWCSC). New England convincingly beat a plummeting SKC team in the midweek and are on a roll. Here are some things to look out for from a tactical perspective.
Harnessing Lee Nguyen – slowing down the red hot Revs creative midfielder
The Revs have won their last three matches against Chivas, TFC and Sporting KC, with attacking midfielder Lee Nguyen playing some fantastic soccer. Nguyen plays behind target striker Charlie Davies in a 4-1-4-1 formation and has contributed with some brilliant goals and assists to date.
Nguyen is particularly dangerous when he is able to find space at the top of the box. He has found the back of the net from long range in multiple matches recently and can also find runners from that position with through balls into the box. When Nguyen inevitably gets the ball in these positions on Sunday night, the Fire back line must step up to pressure him.
Too often Nguyen is able to either take a shot or pick a pass before a defender is able to force him into a mistake.
Last week, Bakary Soumare had a brilliant game at center back and often stepped forward to block a pass or intercept a through ball. Defenders like Soumare need to do the same on Sunday afternoon not just against Nguyen, but players who also like to take cracks from outside the box such as Kelyn Rowe.
With four goals in his last three games, Nguyen will be hard to stop, but if the Fire defense can keep him quiet on Sunday night, the Men in Red stand a great chance to leave New England with some points.
More creativity in the final third – taking more risks in possession
In last week’s win against Dallas, the Fire really didn’t create too many clear cut chances to score. Perhaps the Fire’s best chance before Robert Earnshaw’s goal was a speculative shot by Lovel Palmer that bounced right in front of the Dallas goalkeeper but no Fire player was able to follow up and put in the rebound.
The Men in Red enjoyed large spells of possession, especially after Matt Watson and Co. were able to break up the Dallas attacks but when the Fire got to the attacking third, the players on the field were unable to break Dallas down.
Gonzalo Segares spent a lot of the match high up the field but was not able to get behind the Dallas backline very often. Razvan Cocis, Alex and Sanna Nyassi looked lively in the attack but were not able to link with Quincy Amarikwa and create many dangerous opportunities for the striker.
In Sunday night’s match, I would like to see players like Cocis especially try and take a few risks in the final third and look to play some higher risk passes in an attempt to open New England up.
The speed of play when the Fire get the ball in the attacking third must also be increased. Too often against Dallas, the players would look to pass the ball square around the box instead of taking players on.
In the Fire’s last match against New England, the Men in Red were able to capitalize early from a through ball to Amarikwa from Mike Magee after a turnover. Getting chances like that on Sunday evening would be nice, but if the Fire can put together some more cohesive play in the attack, they will certainly create many more scoring opportunities.
Maintaining possession in the middle and defensive thirds – keeping wary of the Revs high pressure tactic
Against Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday, New England’s four more advance midfielders along with Charlie Davies did not let SKC have any time on the ball, especially in the central and defensive thirds of the field.
Players like Lee Nguyen, and Kobayashi were able to force the SKC midfielders into turning the ball over or resorting to playing long balls instead of their usual possession-based play. With the partnership of Cocis and Watson blooming over the past couple of matches, I fully expect the Fire midfielders to deal with the pressure from the Revs’ attacking players, but the team must try and limit the amount of aimless balls played forward due to the pressure.
As I mentioned earlier, Gonzalo Segares was a good outlet on Saturday night against Dallas and if the Fire outside backs can stretch the field, it will provide more targets for players like Larentowicz and Watson to relieve the pressure put on them in possession.
Prediction – the Fire get a much-needed point on the road 1-1 with a goal from Quincy Amarikwa.
