There’s a lot of shade being thrown at the Eastern Conference these days. Well, to be entirely fair, it probably stretches back at least six years. Accurate or not, the perception has been that the Major League Soccer’s best teams reside in the West.
New York Red Bulls vs. New England Revolution, 2014 MLS Playoffs: Can anyone stop the Revs?
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
And, to be fair, an Eastern Conference team has only won the MLS Cup once in the previous five years. This year, the differences were even more pronounced as the top two teams in the league were both out West and happen to be playing against one another in that conference final.
But let's not that allow that to distract us from a pretty sweet matchup in the Eastern Conference finals. In the New York Red Bulls and New England Revolution we have a pair of teams that like to score goals, have entertaining players and are generally averse to packing it in and playing for ties.
In fact, you’d have to go back an awful long way to find two Eastern Conference teams who were simply more fun to watch than these guys.
Lee Nguyen leads an attack that has gotten goals from more different players (14) than any other team in the league and has revived the careers of the likes of Teal Bunbury and Charlie Davies (22 combined goals and assists between them).
For all the flair the Revolution attack has shown, though, it’s the play of Jermaine Jones that has really brought them within reach of the franchises first MLS crown. The defensive midfielder has been an absolute rock, both helping cover for a sometimes suspect defense and showing remarkable offensive flair when the moment strikes.
On the other side, the Red Bulls are also led by a veteran. Thierry Henry, even at 37, remains as dangerous as he's ever been and might be playing the best soccer of his five MLS season, having already registered four assists in three postseason games. Bradley Wright-Phillips, meanwhile, is one of just three players in MLS history to score at least 30 goals in a calendar year after scoring three playoff goals to go with the 27 he scored in the regular-season.
This should be fun.
Team news
Red Bull Arena has a legitimate claim as the best soccer-specific stadium in all of North America. But for all its majesty, the crowds have rarely matched. Sunday’s game should be an exception. The game is sold out, meaning a crowd of more than 25,000 should be on hand. That includes 1,150 Revolution supporters, who the team is bussing the 200-odd miles down I-90. This long simmering rivalry may finally be ready to boil over.
Projected lineups
New York Red Bulls: Luis Robles; Ambroise Oyongo, Ibrahim Sekagya, Jamison Olave, Richard Eckersley, Eric Alexander, Dax McCarty; Thierry Henry, Peguy Luyindula, Lloyd Sam; Bradley Wright-Phillips.
New England Revolution: Bobby Shuttleworth; Kevin Alston, A.J. Soares, Jose Goncalves, Chris Tierney; Jermaine Jones, Scott Caldwell; Teal Bunbury, Lee Nguyen, Kelyn Rowe; Charlie Davies.
Key questions
1. Will this be Henry’s final MLS game? Barring some kind of massive shock, this will be Henry’s final game at Red Bull Arena. No matter what happens from here on out, the Red Bulls won’t be playing another game there and Henry is expected to leave after the season. What’s a little more intriguing is the possibility that Henry may sit out the second leg at Gillette Stadium. Why? The big, bad turf. As crazy as it sounds that a professional soccer player could sit out a match as big as that simply because he’d rather play on grass, Henry was noncommittal about the possibility when asked. Hopefully, he’s just playing head games because that would be an awful way to go out. Keep in mind that if the Red Bulls do advance, there’s a decent chance the final will be at CenturyLink Field, whose turf is two years older than Gillette’s and in far worse condition.
2. How do you slow down the Revs? No team is playing better right now than the Revolution, who absolutely steam-rolled the Columbus Crew in the last round. Since Jones made his debut on Aug. 30, the Revs have gone 10-1-1 with their only loss coming in a game the U.S. international didn't start. In that time, the Revs have outscored their opponents 27-13. What makes them so hard to stop is that aside from Nguyen (20 goals), there's no other players to really focus on as the goals can come from virtually any position. This has been a team that's almost impossible to stop for more than three months.
3. What’s up with the Revs’ defense, though? It’s easy to overlook, but for as well as the Revolution have played over their last 12 games, that defense has been a little suspect. Jose Goncalves has not played at a level anywhere near last year’s when he won MLS Defender of the Year, the full backs are sometimes a bit too offensive minded and Jones has often looked more interested in getting forward than you might want. Yes, it’s worked, but it gives the Red Bulls some hope.
Prediction
The Revolution are really, really good right now and it’s hard to see the Red Bulls doing much to slow them down. But this is looking like it could be a track meet, which would at least be fun. New England head back to Gillette tied 2-2.
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