MLS New England Revolution

Revolution Update: August 10th

Published on August 10, 2009 under Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - After suffering its first regular-season loss in more than a month this past weekend, the New England Revolution (6-6-6, 24 pts.) will use its first bye week since mid-April to regroup and prepare for the club's trip to the Pacific Northwest to face expansion side Seattle Sounders FC on Thursday, Aug. 20, at Qwest Field. The Revs will take a few days off before returning to the training field for four sessions prior to departing for Seattle.

The Revolution will train on the Lower Practice Field at Gillette Stadium on Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday, with each session scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. A full schedule for the week is below.

Media wishing to attend any Revolution training session on the Gillette Stadium grounds must notify the Revolution Communications office (media@revolutionsoccer.net) by 5 p.m. the day before to RSVP and guarantee admittance. Media availability usually begins between 11 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. for 10 a.m. sessions, although the length of training sessions can and will vary.

SPECIAL NOTE: Because of the special events taking place at Gillette Stadium throughout the summer, Lot 6 is not currently open for media parking. All media visiting Gillette Stadium are asked to park in Lot 5C, adjacent to Lot 6.

Please note that the schedule is subject to change.

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION SCHEDULE: Aug. 10-18

Monday, Aug. 10 - OFF

Tuesday, Aug. 11 - OFF

Wednesday, Aug. 12 - OFF

Thursday, Aug. 13 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.

Friday, Aug. 14 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.

Saturday, Aug. 15 - OFF

Sunday, Aug. 16 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.

Monday, Aug. 17 - Training on Lower Practice Field (Gillette Stadium), 10 a.m.

Tuesday, Aug. 18 - Travel to Seattle

NEWS & NOTES

TAKE ADVANTAGE: REVS HAVE FIRST OFF WEEKEND SINCE MID-APRIL

With 12 games remaining in the regular season and the MLS Cup Playoffs inching closer and closer, the Revolution will have a perfect opportunity to gear up for the critical postseason push with 11 days off before the club's trip to Seattle to face Sounders FC on Thursday, Aug. 20 ... the Revs last had a weekend off in mid-April, when they had 12 days in between their matches against FC Dallas (April 4) and D.C. United (April 17) ... since then, the Revolution has played 20 games in 16 weeks and hasn't had more than seven days between games at any point ... the players and staff will take advantage of the current gap between games by taking four straight days off from Sunday, Aug. 9 to Wednesday, Aug. 12, before returning to the training field on Thursday, Aug. 13.

ALL EVEN

With their 2-1 loss to the LA Galaxy last Saturday night, the Revs (6-6-6, 24 pts.) dropped back to .500 after briefly climbing above the mark with a four-game unbeaten streak ... the Revolution is one of just two teams in the league sitting right at the .500 mark entering this week's action, with Eastern Conference foe Toronto FC (7-7-6, 27 pts.) the other ... eight teams are currently above .500, while five are below the mark, putting the Revolution right on the playoff bubble, as eight teams will qualify for the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs ... New England is currently three points out of the final playoff spot, although the club does still have multiple games in hand on all but one team ahead of them in the standings.

REVOLUTION HAS ALMOST TWO WEEKS TO PREPARE FOR FIRST TRIP TO SEATTLE

When the Revolution travels to the Pacific Northwest to battle the expansion Seattle Sounders FC on Thursday, Aug. 20, lack of preparation and tired legs shouldn't be an issue ... the Revs will have 11 days to prepare for their journey to the west coast and will use no less than five of those days to recover away from the training field, while they'll train five times ahead of the match ... Sounders FC will provide a completely unfamiliar opponent to the Revolution, as Major League Soccer's 15th club entered the league as an expansion team this season and the teams have yet to meet ... the atmosphere for the match is sure to be electric, as Seattle has more than 20,000 season ticket holders and regularly sells out its allotted seats at Qwest Field.

REVS SET TO EMBARK ON THEIR ONLY AUGUST ROAD TRIP

Hopefully the Revolution players and staff haven't forgotten proper travel procedures by the time they depart for Seattle next week, as the trip represents the club's only road trip in the month of August ... the Revs have already played back-to-back home games against Toronto FC (Aug. 1) and LA (Aug. 8) to begin the month, while they'll close August with home matches against Real Salt Lake (Aug. 23) and San Jose (Aug. 29) ... on top of that, the Revolution opens the month of September at Gillette Stadium with a game against the Kansas City Wizards (Sept. 5) ... New England's last road game was on July 25 against the Houston Dynamo, meaning that it will have been almost a full month in between road trips before the journey to Seattle (Aug. 20).

SEASON-HIGH FOUR-GAME UNBEATEN STREAK SNAPPED

Perhaps the only negative aspect of the Revolution's current 11-day layoff is the fact that the club will have plenty of time to reflect on last Saturday night's loss to the LA Galaxy, which snapped New England's four-game unbeaten run (2-0-2) ... nevertheless, the four-game undefeated streak matched the Revs' longest unbeaten run of the season after they started the 2009 campaign with a similar 2-0-2 mark ... the loss also put an end to the Revolution's six-game home undefeated streak (3-0-3), which stretched back to the club's 2-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo on May 3.

MLS FURTHER SANCTIONS NICOL; WILL BE SUSPENDED FOR SOUNDERS FC GAME

The Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee fined and suspended Revolution head coach Steve Nicol $1,000 and one game for conduct that led to his dismissal from New England's game against Toronto FC on Aug. 1 ... the $1,000 fine and suspension are in addition to the automatic $500 fine and one-game suspension received for a coach's dismissal, bringing the total to two games and $1,500 ... Nicol already missed the Revolution's 2-1 loss to the LA Galaxy (Aug. 8) and will conclude the suspension during New England's trip to face Seattle Sounders FC on Aug. 20 ... in his place, assistant coach Paul Mariner leads the team from the bench with the help of goalkeepers coach Gwynne Williams.

JOSEPH RETURNS TO STARTING LINEUP

All-Star midfielder Shalrie Joseph returned to the Revolution's starting lineup in last Saturday night's 2-1 loss to the LA Galaxy, marking his first start since June 13 ... Joseph - who leads the Revolution with six assists - missed seven games in all competitions with bone bruising in his right knee before appearing as a halftime substitute in three consecutive games against Chivas USA (July 19), Houston (July 25) and Toronto (Aug. 1) ... playing the full 90 minutes, the Grenadian started alongside Jeff Larentowicz in his more preferred role in the center of midfield, but pushed up to play forward after halftime when the Revs made a few tactical changes.

UPON RETURN TO RIGHT MIDFIELD, RALSTON SCORES TEAM-LEADING SIXTH GOAL

Captain Steve Ralston, widely regarded as the best right midfielder in MLS history, made his first start at the position this season in last Saturday night's 2-1 loss to the LA Galaxy ... Ralston has spent the majority of his 14-year career patrolling the wing, but he has moved to a more central attacking role in recent years and had seen time as a withdrawn forward, central midfielder and even left back in 2009 prior to the Galaxy match ... the 35-year-old didn't spend the entire match out wide, however, moving into a central midfield position after halftime when the Revs made tactical changes ... Ralston did score his team-leading sixth goal of the season in the match, converting an 83rd-minute penalty kick after Kenny Mansally was taken down in the box ... four of Ralston's goals have been scored from the penalty spot, where he is perfect this season.

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