Revere's Ride: Three Final Thoughts on Revolution vs. Timbers

1. This was a game of milestones.

The New England Revolution won their first regular season game since September 10, when they beat FC Dallas at home. The 1-0 win over Portland was also the sixth consecutive home-opener win in franchise history. Matt Reis became the sixth goalkeeper in MLS history to record 1,000 saves, and Shalrie Joseph became the Revolution's all-time leader in minutes played. This was an important win in many ways, but it was nice to top it off with some team and individual milestones--even if, in the words of Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers, achieving milestones is mostly a sign of age.

2. The Revolution's flank midfielders tightened the exterior defense.

Sporting Kansas City (and former Revs) fullback Seth Sinovic was involved in all three of that team's goals against the Revs last week. He completed 85% of his 80 passes, and his heat map glows with activity up and down the left flank. If the Revolution were to win this game against the Timbers, they had to limit the impact of Timbers' fullbacks in the attacking third.

Fortunately, Ryan Guy, Lee Nguyen, and Alec Purdie were up to the task against fullbacks Rodney Wallace and Lovel Palmer. There were moments such as the 62nd minute, when Palmer found himself wide open on the right wing and was able to whip in an uncontested cross. But for the most part the exterior defenders did well minimizing the threat posed by Wallace and Palmer. Unlike last week, when Kansas City's fullbacks completed 61% of their 31 attempted passes in their offensive third, the Timbers' fullbacks completed only 41% of their 17 attempted passes in that area. Centerbacks Shalrie Joseph and A.J. Soares deserve credit for this improvement, but the wingers deserve most of it.

3. It will be nice when (if?) the Revs add an effective target striker to its lineup.

Blake Brettschneider played better against the Timbers than he did against San Jose a couple weeks ago. But he's not the long-term solution, and if he goes on to start at least two-thirds of the Revs' games like he has so far, then the Revs will have a tough time creating scoring chances.

Even though Saer Sene's body type (6'3" 185 pounds) suggests a player who's more comfortable playing the target forward than a dropping forward, his skill set and his heat map for the two games he's started indicates a player more comfortable playing in the hole between the attacking central midfielder and the target forward. That's where Jose "Pepe" Moreno comes in.

Moreno, the Colombian forward whose February 2 signing immediately inspired the Revs' marketing department to boast No. 9 jerseys featuring his name, finally joined the team earlier this week.

We haven't seen him play yet, but he's got to be an upgrade over what the team's thrown in its starting lineup in the No. 9 spot so far.

Let's hope that "So, a Colombian and Frenchman walk onto the field..." signals a punchy front line instead of the proverbial punch line.

- John C.L. Morgan