FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Preparations for the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship began in earnest on Tuesday morning when the New England Revolution returned to the training field outside Gillette Stadium. The objective, of course, is to replicate the process which helped prepare them for a 2-1 win over the New York Red Bulls in the first leg this past weekend.
Only this time the Revs will be preparing to face a Red Bulls side with a bit of a different look.
MLS Golden Boot winner Bradley Wright-Phillips, who tied the league’s single-season scoring record with 27 goals in the regular season and currently leads MLS with four goals in the playoffs, will be suspended for the second leg because of caution accumulation.
Speculation is that Tim Cahill, who’s appeared as a second-half substitute in each of New York’s last three playoff games, will step in to replace Wright-Phillips, who scored the Red Bulls’ lone goal in Sunday’s first leg before drawing his second yellow card of the postseason in the second half.
“It’s going to be different because Wright-Phillips is the top scorer for them,” said center back and Revolution captain Jose Goncalves. “I think they will play Cahill up top and he’s another type of player who likes to hold the ball. He’s strong in the air.”
“I think it definitely gives them a different look,” said goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth. “But ultimately we know they’re going to throw numbers forward, they’re going to come here full force and try to score goals. We’ve got to be prepared for that.”
The loss of Wright-Phillips is a blow for a Red Bulls team which needs at least two goals at Gillette Stadium to overturn the first-leg deficit, but with the likes of Cahill, Thierry Henry, Peguy Luyindula and Lloyd Sam still roaming the field, New England knows the task remains plenty difficult.
Luyindula already has a pair of goals in these MLS Cup Playoffs and Henry leads the pack with four assists, while Cahill presents a different – but no less demanding – type of challenge for the Revolution’s defenders than the one posed by Wright-Phillips.
“We know they’re a good attacking team,” said Shuttleworth. “They’ve scored a lot of goals this year and they’re very dangerous going forward, so we knew we were going to be in for a tough test. We know coming home we’ve got to stay organized, keep our communication and keep our lines. We’re going to be in for a battle.”
