FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – In many ways, Kei Kamara’s contributions are easily quantifiable. His 22 goals and eight assists last season attributed for more than half of Columbus Crew SC’s total offense. He already has five goals this season, tied for sixth in the league.
But the powerful striker’s value to the New England Revolution goes well beyond statistics. Kamara’s mere presence on the field – and the attention he demands from opposing defenses – opens up space for his creative teammates to operate more freely.
For a Revolution side rife with attacking weapons, that space can be deadly.
“You have to cover him with two,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “We went through it ourselves when we defended against him. With center backs, if you go one-v-one against Kei, you’re playing with fire. That’s what we’re hoping his presence brings.”
The knock-on effect of Kamara’s presence was clear even in his first appearance with the Revs last Saturday night. Although the Revolution’s new forward didn’t get on the score sheet himself, he attracted the attention of multiple Chicago Fire defenders who were concerned about limiting his influence.
The result was increased space for New England’s other attacking weapons, in particular Lee Nguyen, who scored his first goal from the run of play in 2016 and added an assist on Femi Hollinger-Janzen’s late insurance strike.
“They’re going to key on him,” Heaps said of Kamara. “I think when teams key on him, it opens space up for Lee. I thought Lee had one of his better games, because there was so much space there. Kei’s going to occupy two and sometimes three players, and that right off the bat helps us.”
“For me, Lee, Juan (Agudelo), Kelyn (Rowe) – whoever’s playing those positions – there’s going to be a lot of space for us,” said Diego Fagundez. “He’s a big forward who can flick balls over the top for us to run on to, or he can hold up.”
Kamara led the Revolution with six shots against the Fire – including four on target – and he’s going to score his fair share of goals with his new club. But the Revs are just as excited about the fact that both Nguyen and Agudelo had the freedom to register three shots apiece, while Nguyen also created a game-high three chances and had 65 touches, most amongst the Revs’ attacking players.
“I really want to be able to connect with [my teammates] on the field and it looks like we’re kind of understanding each other a bit faster than I expected,” said Kamara after he debuted in the 2-0 win over Chicago. “It’s going to be a lot of work going into the training ground, but today was good.”
