February 23, coach Steve Nicol, Chris Tierney and Matt Reis spoke to the press via teleconference about the preseason. After failing to make the 2010 post-season and finishing 13th in 16-team MLS, the New England Revolution’s off-season player transactions and technical strategies are being closely scrutinized. New England finished the regular season with the most goals allowed (50) in the League and the third fewest goals scored (32).
Shalrie Joseph arrested
Concerns about the team increased on Sunday, February 20, when captain Shalrie Joseph and Kevin Alston were ejected from preseason camp in Orlando, Florida and flown back to Boston for disciplinary reasons without further explanation. Those concerns spiked when the Boston Globe reported that Joseph had been arrested at 3:30 a.m. Sunday morning at the team hotel for trespassing. Police had broken up a loud party in the room of two women and asked Joseph and others to return to their rooms. Joseph and another remained in a stairwell, argued, refused to leave and were subsequently arrested.
Joseph, the League’s highest paid non-designated player (annual salary approximately $450,000), started the 2011 preseason on the wrong foot by not showing up for the first day of preseason practice. Last April, Joseph missed five games after being suspended for testing positive for marijuana during a random League drug test. The perennial All-Star was required to participate in the League’s substance abuse and behavioral health program and then returned to the team.
No new strikers signed
The Revolution’s first off-season acquisitions were defensive players – former Dynamo Ryan Cochrane, French Didier Domi, draft picks A.J. Soares and Stephen McCarthy, Argentine Franco Coria, and French midfielder Ousmane Dabo. No forwards have been signed and Nicol has left last year’s line-up in tact. Still featuring as preseason forwards are four-year veterans Sainey Nyassi, Kheli Dube, Kenny Mansally, Chris Tierney, and 2010 signings Zack Schilawski, Marko Perovic, and Ilija Stolica.
To date, the Revolution have won all three of their preseason games, but only one opponent was a professional team. New England beat the University of Central Florida 2-0, defeated the second string of the US U-17s 2-0, and beat FC Dallas’s second string and trialists 1-0.
Excerpts from February 23 press conference
LE: Can you explain why you started three veterans [Nyassi, Pat Phelan, and Tierney] in the midfield versus FC Dallas instead of trying out Zak Boggs, Roberto Linck or other trialists in their natural forward/midfield position? [Boggs played right back vs. Dallas, Linck played right back vs. US U-17s.]
Nicol: We look to win the games that we play, so that means we can’t just throw anybody out there and treat it lightly. I think it’s important that you win games. But generally, today was the first day that we worked to make sure that a large part of the team got 90 minutes, if not almost 80 minutes.
LE: So the priority was on giving veteran starters additional time rather than trying out the trialists?
Nicol: No, not at all. At the end of the day, we’re starting getting the majority of people plenty of time on the field. Everybody is working hard in training. A lot of young guys we’ve got, we’ve seen an awful lot of them. They’ve all played in the two or three games we’ve had so it’s not a case of keeping on playing willy-nilly and playing anything.
LE: What is the strategy behind opposing U-17 teams in preseason? There's an obvious benefit for U-17s, but what’s the benefit for MLS teams?
Nicol: Some would say that results don’t matter, it’s all about the preparation, but we tend to like to win games and think it’s always a good habit, so there’s strategy behind this. You don’t want to kick the season off playing against Real Madrid away. You don’t want the first preseason games to be against teams clearly miles ahead of you, so it’s kind of dual purposes. Most players haven’t kicked a ball for three or four months. It’s about fitness, but it’s also about confidence. You need to get confidence and you certainly don’t get confidence by losing games. You get confidence by spending time on the ball. Every team is pretty much doing the same thing, just trying to get confidence both fitness-wise and quality-wise between now and the start of the season.
LE: Is the search for a important striker underway and when might this person come to the team?
Nicol: Yes, we’re actively trying to bring in another striker and we’ve spoken to some people. These things take as long as it takes. It’s always something, whether it’s paperwork or somebody changed their mind – there’s all kinds of things that can affect us bringing players in. But we’re actively trying to bring another striker in.
FOLLOW BOSTON PRO SOCCER EXAMINER AND LE EISENMENGER ON TWITTER AND SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL ALERTS.
Comments