New England 3 TFC 0: You want sloppy and boring? You got it!

By: Sam | June 24th, 2007

Scorers:
NE- Dorman 13′
NE- Noonan 33′
NE- Dorman 81′

Analysis:
What is it with us? How can we win so well against Dallas and then lose so pathetically to New England? How can a midfield go from so dominant to so confusingly incompetent from one game to the next? We’re beginning to look like the Tottenham of the MLS.

With all the honesty I can muster, I’ll tell you all that I didn’t think the Revs played a good game either. Besides Khano Smith, they didn’t look like a bunch of winners either, especially since they’re still dealing with the absence of Taylor Twellman with the USA team. And hey hey hey, wouldn’t you know it… All three goals came to be in part because of lazy defending! Where have we heard this before? Not unlike the first time we played them.

The goals started on thirteen minutes, when Kevin Goldthwaite was on the guilty end of a bad bounce in the box, and the ball fell right to Andy Dorman who walked in and blasted it past Djekanovic, cool as a cucumber. Twenty minutes later, Jeff Larentowicz floated in a hell of a cross for Pat Noonan, who caught Djeky (I’m gonna call him that) off his line and got some help from the spectating Wynne and headed in a fine one. The cherry on top came with ten minutes left, on a spectacular combination that completely paralyzed the TFC defenders and ended with Andy Dorman netting his second of the night, goal of the week for my money.

It’s kind of depressing to write this report, because, come on, we lost, but it was probably the most boring game I’ve ever seen the club play. Looking at the midfield battles, it kind of made me think of an eleven-year old playing FIFA 2003. The turnover count must have been a four-figure number. The forwards were basically invisible as a result of that. And the defending was just. Plain. Bad. Sigh.

Player’s grades:
Djekanovic: 4/10 - Didn’t get much help from his backline, but not very good positioning on all three goals, and a dumb and obvious yellow card. Although a few good saves, I want Sutton back asap.
Boyens: 3,5 - Are you kidding me? What the hell happened? Indecisive, too nice on the ball, didn’t win anything in the air. I want Marshall asap.
O’Brien: 5 - One of the few players who wasn’t terrible. But not great. Some good runs down the middle, but too many fouls and too inconsistent.
Edu: 4 - Barely noticed him out there. But did his share of standing around and choppy play.
Welsh: 3,5 - Got destroyed by Wells Thompson. Could not get anything started and gave the ball away 99% of the time. Probably his worst showing of the season.
Goldthwaite: 4 - At fault on the first, definitely. Barely any offensive contribution. Between all that, he had some decent tackles.
Dichio: 4 - Aw, man. Bad touches, one shot, not good. Didn’t attract nearly as many fouls as he usually does. Maybe he wasn’t 100% after that injury, because he just didn’t cut it.
Brennan: 4,5 - Probably the best defender, but that’s not saying much. Weird decisions at times and some obvious miscommunications. Maybe some of it was Boyens’ fault?
Wynne: 4 - Almost no runs, slack marking on the sides. From time to time would cause problems, but not too often. Dumbass caution in injury time.
Robinson: 4 - No 8,5 grade for him this time. Weak defending in the midfield, way to many turnovers. Bad touches and so-so passes, totally unexpected.
Cunningham: 4,5 - Had some decent chances, but couldn’t put them away, as usual. Letdown of a second half for him as well.

New England Revolution: Played similar to TFC, but with better defending and more luck. Khano Smith was impeccable, as I remembered him in the last meeting, and Wells Thompson did more than his part against Andy Welsh. Not very cohesive on the breaks, but they were when it counted. Oh well, they still owned us.

Officiating: Spot on.

Looking ahead: Next is the third meeting of the season between TFC and the Kansas City Wizards on Canada Day (July 1st, duh). Still no Tyrone Marshall, and Greg Sutton isn’t looking good either. Second of six games on the roadtrip. Let’s hope for the best.

For hate and love outside of this game, drop by the .