FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger.”
It’s unlikely that German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche was referring to the 2014 New England Revolution when he first coined the popular idiom back in the late 1800s, but there’s little doubt he would’ve pointed to this year’s squad as a living, breathing illustration of his concept.
There are those who believed that the Revs were, in fact, dead as they struggled mightily through an eight-game losing streak midseason, a tailspin which dropped them from first in the Eastern Conference all the way to sixth, out of playoff position. That was just four months ago.
But, as it turns out, reports of the Revolution’s death were greatly exaggerated. The Revs still had a pulse – they felt it themselves – and when they came out breathing on the other side, they were better for it.
“It was a pretty tough time, but no one bailed,” said Jay Heaps. “We stayed strong as a group.”
Not only did the Revs stay strong, they actually became stronger.
“If you go through hard times, things usually go in one of two directions,” said Chris Tierney. “One is it breaks the team apart and you get on each other’s backs. The other is it galvanizes the squad and you realize that it’s a group of guys that can battle through tough times together.
“Luckily for us, it was the latter. It’s really made us come together and realize that if we want to win games, if we want to commit to winning, we can do it.”
A pair of home wins over the Colorado Rapids and Chivas USA had the Revs headed in the right direction by mid-August, while the addition of Jermaine Jones shortly thereafter provided the final piece of the Revolution puzzle, both on and off the field.
From there the Revs didn’t just crawl off their proverbial deathbed, they leapt out of it. They finished the regular season on a 9-1-1 run, which they’ve followed with a 3-0-1 mark in the MLS Cup Playoffs.
Now the Revs are the picture of health as they prepare to visit the LA Galaxy on Sunday afternoon with MLS Cup on the line, and those painful midseason experiences have helped shape the squad which will take the field at StubHub Center.
“We’re excited to be in the position we’re in,” said Tierney. “It’s been a tough, long season and we’re going to try to do it here one more time.”
