FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution will be forced to dig deep into their defensive depth on Saturday night when expansion side New York City FC visits Gillette Stadium.
With Kevin Alston (hamstring), Darrius Barnes (knee) and Jermaine Jones (groin) all sidelined by various injuries and Jose Goncalves suspended, the Revs are left with just four natural defenders available for selection this weekend: Andrew Farrell, Jeremy Hall, Chris Tierney and London Woodberry.
Donnie Smith, naturally a left winger, has featured primarily as a defender in preseason and U.S. Open Cup games in recent years, giving head coach Jay Heaps another option as he prepares for NYCFC.
But regardless of which players comprise New England’s defensive unit on Saturday night, Farrell says it’s all about rising to the occasion when the lights are on.
“Guys have to step up. It’s time,” he said. “We’re all professional athletes. We all know we deserve to be in this locker room, we deserve to play this sport that we all love and we’ve got to step up. When someone of [Jose’s] caliber goes down in an important game, someone has to fill the role.”
The most likely scenario would see Woodberry shift centrally to partner Farrell, with Hall taking over duties at right back and Tierney continuing on the left.
While that group has never played together as a backline in a competitive match, Saturday night will be more about defending as an 11-man unit, which the Revs feel they’ve struggled to do in recent weeks.
“I think right now it’s just about team defending,” said Hall, who’s started two games and made one sub appearance in his first year with the Revolution. “It’s not just the back four; it’s 11 guys on the field.
“We’re training hard, so that’s what’s most frustrating about the losses. We’re putting in the work during the week, then we’re not engaged for 90 minutes. It’s going to take 11 guys to get the win this weekend.”
The Revs face a difficult task against a New York City side which has scored multiple goals in five of the last six games, led by Spanish star David Villa, who has notched eight goals in the past seven weeks.
Meanwhile the Revolution have conceded multiple goals in five straight games for the first time in almost four years, but Heaps is confident that New England will put out a defensive unit on Saturday night that’s prepared to help put that regrettable streak to bed.
“We train for these types of scenarios,” Heaps said. “Going into this game, we have a group of guys that is going to go out and prepare for New York. That’s where we’re at.”
