MLS news and notes: Henry, Javier Morales, Player Salaries and Trading Cards

By Ryan Fleming

To start off my MLS thoughts of the weekend, I won’t mention the dribbling circus that Thierry Henry busted out on Saturday night against Los Angeles. Yes, impressive. Not, great enough to mention, especially since it didn’t result in a scoring chance.

1. The issue of terrible tackling needs to be, well, tackled in the MLS. After one of the most gifted players in the league, Real Salt Lake’s Javier Morales, suffered a horrific injury from a similar silly tackle that downed Seattle’s Steve Zakuani, the league has a perfect opportunity to make a statement. The nine-game sentence handed down to Colorado’s Brian Mullan after his ruthless tackle ended Zakuani’s season, should also be slapped on Marcos Mondaini’s tackle on Morales.

Revs Report Card 2010: Lack of Finishing and Poor Defending, Not A Good Mix for New England

Steve Nicol was unable to coach the New England Revolution into the playoffs for the first time since 2001.  Courtesy Revolutionsoccer.net/Keith Nordstrom

By Ryan Fleming, Kevin Koczwara and Michael King

To say the season was a disappointment would be a severe understatement. At the beginning of the season the New England Revolution struggled early and often; unfortunately that abysmal pattern followed the Revs all season.

Missing the playoffs for the first time since 2001 will hurt no one more than the team’s longest tenured player, Shalrie Joseph.

“I guess when the regular season’s done, then it’ll fully hit me,” said Joseph talking about the shock of missing the playoffs.

Well, by now it’s surely hit the captain and the rest of his teammates. The season is over and the visions of a team that was riddled by injuries and a sudden absence of their captain (Joseph) aided their demise.

Forwards: D+

Certainly the most inconsistent position within the team. Scoring only 31 goals on the season, good for 13th out of 16 in the MLS, the Revs’ offense lacked any significant punch throughout the entire season.

The arrival of Marko Perovic a day before the Revs opened the season against LA, was one of the higher points for the club.

This Time, With Heart

Revolution defender Kevin Alston prevents a Red Bull goal. The Revolution beat the New York Red Bulls 3-2 back on May 29 at Gillette Staduim in Foxborough, Mass. Courtesy Revolutionsoccer.net/ Keith Nordstom

By Ryan Fleming

Coming into the season, like every other team in the MLS, the New England Revolution’s main goal was to win the MLS Cup. About a month ago, that goal changed after the Revs were eliminated from the playoffs following a 2-2 tie to Columbus on Sept. 26th.

“It still hasn’t hit me yet,” said Revolution captain Shalrie Joseph following the game. “I guess when the regular season’s done, then it’ll fully hit me. Right now, we’re just trying to practice and stay focused. We’ve still got a couple of games left and we’ve still got to finish strong.”

Well, Joseph has followed up on his words. The Revs are having more fun – playing more like a team, more smiles are being seen on the field – probably a result of their record since the bad news of their first playoff absence in nine years. New England posted a 2-1 record since the elimination; both wins were impressive ones over Houston and a dire Kansas City squad that was eliminated from the postseason after the loss.

Revolution need playoff push

Kevin Alston's (right) long throw-ins came in handy against Seattle. In the second half his throw-in was flicked on by Shalrie Joseph to Chris Tierney who headed the ball into the net to tie the game. Courtesy Revolutionsoccer.net

By Kevin Koczwara

Major League Soccer doesn’t just crown a champion at the end of the season if the team is at the top of the MLS standings. No, the regular season allows teams to qualify for the MLS cup playoffs. Teams have to finish in the top half of the league to qualify for the end of the season tournament in the hopes of being crowned kings of American soccer.

Currently, the New England Revolution are on the outside looking in at the playoff crowd in 12th position with eight games left to play. Of the eight games remaining on the Revolution’s schedule, three are at home and five are away.

The Revs have a horrid away record this season, and they will need to improve on it quickly if they want to make any sort of push toward a playoff spot. The Revolution is 1-8-1 on the road this season, the one win was a 2-0 victory over last place D.C. United in the second game of the year back on April 3.

Monarcas Crowned King of SuperLiga, Beat Revolution in Finals

Monarcas Morelia won its first trophy since the club won the Copa Pachuca in 2001. Courtesy Kevin Koczwara

By Kevin Koczwara

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Revolution defender Kevin Alston scored his first professional goal against Mexican team Monarcas Morelia in the SuperLiga final, but his goal wasn’t enough to help the Revolution win the tournament for the second time in three years. Morelia won, 2-1, its first SuprLiga title with two goals from striker Miguel Sabah in the second half.

The Revolution’s loss to Monarcas is the first time the Revs have lost a game to a Mexican team in SuperLiga play (7-1-1). Monarcas’ win makes them the third Mexican team to win the SuperLiga championship in its four years of existence — the Revolution are the only MLS team to be crowned champions of the tournament, 2008.

Neither New England or Monarcas were able to break the deadlock and find the back of their opponents net in the first half. The Mexican side enjoyed much of the possession on the first half as the Revolution came out of the gates slow and Monarcas came close to capitalizing, twice.

Revs Take Top Spot in Group B with Win Over Monaracas Morelia

Courtesy RevolutionSoccer.net

By Melissa Turtinen

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – With a 1-0 win over Monaracas Morelia on July 20, the New England Revolution secured the top spot in Group B in the SuperLiga.

The Revolution only needed a tie to advance to the semifinal round in the tournament, but after winning the group stage they have secured a home game in early August.

“It’s huge,” Revolution coach Steve Nicol said about gaining home-field advantage in the semi-final round. “Obviously, it’s good to win, but certainly it means more games, and the fact that we’re at home will give us more juice for the MLS games.”

Short Bench for Revs After Suspensions

Courtesy Revolutionsoccer.net

By Kevin Koczwara

The New England Revolution have been struggling with injuries all year, but now they have a whole new player personnel issue to worry about: suspensions.

Midfielder Joseph Niouky and forward Kheli Dube will both serve a one game suspension after both players were shown straight red cards for separate incidents during Saturday night’s 1-1 draw with FC Dallas.

Revs Battle to Draw for FC Dallas

Courtesy Revolutionsoccer.net

By Ryan Fleming

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Revolution know how rough it can be to to play without their leader – their star – Shalrie Joseph. Dallas doesn’t know how it feels to win a game yet this season. Saturday night, both teams battled to a 1-1 tie in an attempt to, if not to end, at least shore up their woes.

Dallas dominated every aspect of the game, peppering New England goalkeeper, Preson Burpo with 10 shots in the first half and 12 in the second. Helping hold the struggling Revolution back was referee Jeff Gontarek who, a bit card happy, lifted 12 different cards including 10 yellows.