FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Competition for playing time has been a hallmark of Jay Heaps’ coaching philosophy since he took the reins ahead of the 2012 season. The fourth-year head coach has consistently preached depth and has lauded the benefits of daily competition on the training ground.
Heaps currently has such a scenario amongst his attacking corps.
Both Juan Agudelo and Kelyn Rowe have found themselves out of the starting lineup in recent weeks; Agudelo has appeared as a substitute in four of the past five games, while Rowe has started just once in New England’s last eight games. Naturally, it’s left the duo hungry for playing time.
They stated their case for increased minutes last weekend against the Chicago Fire, linking up on the game-tying goal in an eventual 2-2 draw – Agudelo creating the attack with hardworking holdup play before laying off to Chris Tierney, who crossed for Rowe to finish from close range.
“All three of our substitutes came in and changed the game,” Heaps said, including Steve Neumann in his praise, as well. “But talking specifically about Kelyn and Juan, the two of them really changed the game when they came in and that’s what you’re trying to do.”
Heaps has stuck with a consistent front four in recent weeks, using Charlie Davies up top, Teal Bunbury and Diego Fagundez on the wings, and Lee Nguyen centrally in four of the past five games. That consistency has been by design, allowing that group to develop chemistry and confidence.
“You’re trying to have that consistency with a group of guys,” Heaps said. “Then when you do make changes, you want them to do some of the same things, but also add something different. I thought both of those guys did.”
Now the question becomes whether Agudelo and Rowe have earned starting minutes with their recent performances, or whether they’ll continue to be used off the bench where they’ve been so effective.
It’s a problem Heaps is happy to have, particularly as his entire group appears to be rising out of the summer slump which plagued the Revs through June and early July.
“I think we’re finally starting to turn the page and starting to come together at the right time,” said Davies. “I think just like last season, we had a little bit of a midseason lull, but I think now we’re all starting to get on the same page. There’s a good understanding of what we need to do to win games.”
