FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – “How good can we get?”
That was the question posed by Charlie Davies in the aftermath of the New England Revolution’s 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Union last weekend. And in part, he offered his own response.
“I think we can be a very special team when everything’s working for us,” Davies said. “I’m very excited for the future with this team. We still haven’t put it together and I think that’s the scary part.”
Results indicate that the Revs are in fact putting it together. They’ve overcome a slow start to climb into a tie for first place in the Eastern Conference, going 3-0-2 in their past five games without conceding a goal from the run of play in 456 minutes. Two of their three wins have come on the road.
But while the Revs are pleased to be picking up points week after week, there’s a sense that they’re doing so without ever truly hitting top gear. At least not yet.
“I don’t think any guy in [that locker room] feels content with where we are,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “We’re a work in progress. We’re still finding out exactly where everyone is.”
Heaps highlighted the fact that both Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen – perhaps the Revolution’s two most influential players during last year’s run to MLS Cup – are still regaining sharpness following preseason procedures to repair nagging injuries.
Jones has played just 45 minutes in his preferred midfield spot this season – making one other 90-minute appearance at center back – while Nguyen has started the past six games, but with a different set of midfielders around him on almost every occasion.
“Jermaine and Lee are still coming back,” Heaps said. “Lee’s a little further along, but he still hasn’t hit his stride all the way yet because we haven’t had a consistent lineup week-in and week-out.”
Jones and Nguyen reaching top form will be necessary for the Revs to hit their peak, but they’ll also need continued contributions from everybody who steps on the field in a Revolution jersey.
“We’ve got guys like Teal (Bunbury) scoring, Charlie scoring, Diego (Fagundez) coming in and playing great; everyone’s stepping up,” said Andrew Farrell. “When we get [the full team] playing great soccer for 90 minutes, then we’re going to get good results.”
The fact is the Revs are already getting good results, peak form or not. What’s most important, Heaps said, is that the Revs continue to put forth peak effort. Only then will they realize their true potential.
“I’m excited about where we can go, but it’s going to take a lot of hard work,” Heaps said. “It’s not going to be something where it’s just going to happen. We have to make it happen.”
