The Revolution Re-Signed Star Forward Gustavo Bou To A Two-Year Contract Extension

 

    By any measure, it's been a spectacular year thus far for the New England Revolution (22-5-7): on Sunday night, they just wrapped up the best regular season in MLS history (73 points!) and they earned the first Supporters' Shield in franchise history. For all that, they get to endure perhaps the most absurd break in sports: they won't play another real game again until November 30 (7:30, FS1) when they host an Eastern Conference semifinal match at Gillette Stadium vs. the winner of NYCFC (14-11-9) and Atlanta (13-9-12). It is all set up perfectly for them to win their long-awaited first Cup since they would also host the Eastern Conference Final and the MLS Cup should they reach it. This being the cursed Revs, we will sadly believe it all when we actually see it happen. Keeping the good vibes going though, the team shared some great news this morning as they announced that they had re-signed one of their star forwards Gustavo Bou to a two-year contract extension which will keep him in a Revolution uniform through the 2023 campaign.  

    The 31-year-old Argentinian has been here for three seasons now and he will continue to occupy both a Designated Player and an international roster slot. In 30 games this season (25 starts), Bou put up 15 goals (2nd to Adam Buksa's 16) and nine assists (2nd to Carles Gil's 18). This is no question the best team that the Revolution have ever fielded with other greats like goalkeeper Matt Turner (who has morphed into one of the USMNT's top options), defender Andrew Farrell (former No. 1 overall pick) and midfielder Tajon Buchanan (one of the top players on Canada's national team) in addition to Bou, Buksa (rising Polish star) and Gil (expected to be named the MLS MVP this season). Plus they are led by head coach Bruce Arena-the all-time winningest coach in league history and a former U.S. men's national team head coach. In other words, they'll never have a better chance to end their 25-year championship drought than during this postseason. 

    Like the other Revs players that I just mentioned, Bou is so good that in the back of your head you always wonder how much longer he will choose to play here and not take his talents elsewhere to better leagues and more prestigious clubs. However, I guess that given his age and nomadic career before he came to MLS, maybe he is happy to settle down with the Revolution and he sees the makings of something special these next few years. You have never really lived anyway until you spend a winter in the Foxborough, MA area. In his brief time with the club, Bou has already solidified his place as one of the best to ever play for New England. In 62 regular season games, he has notched 29 goals and 14 assists. He also proved to be a stud in the playoffs as well last season as he scored three goals and added an assist in four games as the Revs reached the Eastern Conference Final. It will take all of these guys and many others to win the Cup but honestly, how can you bet against this group in 2021?

The Best Player On The Revs-Carles Gil-& One Of MLS' Top Stars Is Staying Here Until At Least 2024

 

    You probably did not even realize it but today was a great day for the New England Revolution and they have actually had a bunch of those lately. This morning, it was announced that they signed their captain and midfielder maestro Carles Gil to a contract extension that goes through the 2024 MLS season. Since he joined the Revs in January 2019, Gil has quickly developed into one of the league's top playmakers and this move for the designated player is awesome to see from a club that historically has not had many stars like him before. In fact, he is the rare talent that makes you want to tune into all the Revolution games and there are only a few guys in club history (Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies, Lee Nguyen and Taylor Twellman all come to mind) that I feel like you can honestly say that about and I love soccer more than most Americans.

    A native of Valenica, Spain, the 28-year-old Gil has the pedigree of someone that you do not expect to find in Major League Soccer healthy and in the prime of his career: Valenica (La Liga) and Aston Villa (Premier League) are his most notable stops before he ended up calling Gillette Stadium home. Usually, it's the other way around as many top players use MLS as a stepping stone to bigger and better things (like Dempsey) or a last stop on a decorated career (think David Beckham). For those reasons alone, it makes you wonder what Gil likes so much about his situation with New England that he wants to see where it goes for the next three seasons (not including this campaign). 

    After missing the playoffs for three straight years, it is no coincidence that things turned around for the Revs as soon as Gil joined the team. Last season, they reached the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2014 and this season, they are off to a wonderful start as they own the best record (4-1-2) in the Eastern Conference. In his first season with New England, Gil started in all 34 games and had a team-leading 10 goals and 14 assists which earned him the team's Golden Boot honors, the 2019 MLS Newcomer of the Year award, an MLS best XI spot and the title of Revolution MVP. Injuries limited him to only six regular season matches last season but he came alive in the postseason with two goals and three assists in four games as New England made an unexpected deep run. So far in 2021, he has started every game and played in every minute with four assists (tied for the most in MLS) and a goal (on a clinical penalty kick) to his credit. 

    One of the main reasons that New England has never brought home the MLS Cup is that they are not a sexy destination for free agents like a New York or Los Angeles. That is why it's so refreshing to see a guy like Gil choose to remain here for a long time as the club tries to bring home its first title in franchise history. With him in the fold along with other very good players like forward Gustavo Bou, defender Andrew Farrell and goalkeeper Matt Turner to name a few along with sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena (arguably the best to ever do it in MLS), you have to like New England's chances to finally get it done at some point in the next few years. One of the league's original clubs was a disaster for awhile but they have clearly gotten their mojo back in the last few seasons and when it's all said and done, I'm confident that we will look back at signing Gil-already one of the greatest players ever on the Revs-as a major turning point along with the hiring of Arena.

Revs Gonna Revs: Instead Of Choking In An MLS Cup Final, This Time They Bow Out In The ECF

 

    For the first time in years, there genuinely was (a little) buzz about the Revolution, both around New England and even nationally when it came to hardcore MLS fans. What interests me is the fact that people who normally don't pay any attention to the team or league were starting to take notice so of course, the Revs did what they always do in big games, they lost 1-0 this afternoon in the Eastern Conference Finals vs. Columbus at MAPFRE Stadium. Just like that, their great postseason run is over as the Crew advance to host the MLS Cup Final on Saturday night (8, ESPN) against the winner of tomorrow night's (9:30, FS1) Western Conference Finals matchup between Seattle and Minnesota.

    I would love to say that I'm surprised by this depressing result but the truth is that I'm not at all. As a longtime Revs supporter (granted many of those years I hate-watch them), I knew that no matter how much success they were having and how everything seemed to be going their way lately, impending doom is always right around the corner for a club that is 0-5 all-time in MLS Cup Finals. I guess we'll never know what kind of bump they would have received in terms of creating new fans since many of them end up going away once you lose. That's the harsh reality, everyone loves a winner and if you cannot do that on a consistent basis, what's the point in watching an inferior product when all the top European soccer leagues are easily viewed with a basic cable package.

    Revolution head coach Bruce Arena is the best at his job in league history so if anyone can end this dare I say curse, it should be him. Furthermore, despite my initial tone here, it shouldn't be all doom and gloom since they have a ton of talent returning next season and many young players that hopefully will be here for years to come. Still, the path to their first MLS title was right there for the taking. Columbus is a solid team but they are not better than Philadelphia (who New England beat two rounds ago) and probably about on the same level as Orlando (who they dispatched in the previous playoff game). Ugh. 

You got a bad feeling that it wasn't the Revs' day when striker Adam Buksa hit the post with a shot in the 28th minute. He had teammate Gustavo Bou going to the net (mostly covered) but instead of playing it into traffic-where many things could have happened-he chose to take a low-percentage shot that went off the outside of the the post. New England had scored first in all three of its playoff games during this postseason but finding themselves scoreless at halftime was not the worst fate in the world. The home team broke the deadlock in the 59th minute as they scored following a corner kick and some pretty passing: midfielder Artur hit a low one-time shot past Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner (MLS postseason-high 6 saves) with an assist from defender Jonathan Mensah.

    Trailing for the first time all postseason, the Revs never put enough pressure on Columbus' goalkeeper Andrew Tarbell (4 saves). There two best chances in the second half both happened very late as Bou's shot was saved in the 92nd minute and then on essentially the final play of the game, a corner kick bounced to New England midfielder Matt Polster but he lamely kicked it right into Tarbell's chest. The Crew did a nice job bottling up Revs midfielder Carles Gil who is by far their top playmaker that makes most good things happen offensively. With him contained, New England could only manage to earn four corner kicks and take 10 total shots. When they struggled for long stretches in the regular season, goal-scoring was usually the main issue so it's fitting that came up one last fatal time. 

    Probably the toughest part out of all this was the fact that the Revolution were probably the closest of the five main Boston pro sports teams (Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins, Patriots) to winning a championship. That's not to say that they are the best of that bunch, only that MLS' new one-game format for each playoff round makes it easier to navigate in addition to soccer's utter randomness in big games not to mention few fans at the stadiums due to the pandemic. I know plenty of die-hard Revs fans (haha seriously, they do exist) that will watch them forever no questions asked but I wonder how many more casual fans were ready to jump on the bandwagon with their recent success but now they are already gone. Ultimately, this team didn't reach the MLS Cup Final in 2020 but they still found a way to bum us all out, just what we don't need in this nightmare year on Earth.

The Revs Are Just The Team That We Desperately Need In This Nightmare Of A Year, Seriously

 

    Reaching the Eastern Conference Final has become old hat for the Revolution considering that they have now reached that game eight times in the franchise's long history (they are an MLS original club that started in 1996). However, I doubt that there was ever a more improbable run in team annals to reach that stage than this season's wacky edition. New England led from start to finish this afternoon at Exploria Stadium as they put together their second straight huge upset, 3-1 vs. Orlando City SC in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. With their latest fantastic result, they will next get to play at Columbus on Sunday afternoon (3, ABC) in the Eastern Conference Final for a spot in the 2020 MLS Cup. Did I mention that the Revolution have never won an MLS Cup (0-5) and this is the furthest they've gone in the playoffs since their last ill-fated journey to the Final in 2014?  

    Once again, the Revs were ably led by their three best players: midfielder Gustavo Bou scored a brace (two goals) while fellow midfielder Carles Gil bagged a penalty kick and added an assist then finally, goalkeeper Matt Turner (2 saves) stepped up and made perhaps the biggest play of the game as he stopped Orlando's superstar midfielder Nani on a penalty kick that would have tied it at 2-2 in the 74th minute. Soccer is all about dictating the game which usually means scoring the first goal. Just like their 2-0 shutout of top-seeded Philadelphia in the first round last week, New England jumped at the opportunity to take an early lead and then they doubled it before Orlando knew what had hit them.

    Keep in mind, this was the first time in its six seasons in MLS that Orlando City had even reached the playoffs and they needed an absolutely bonkers penalty kick shootout to survive against NYCFC in the previous round just to get here in the first place. What I'm trying to say is that they were understandably a bit nervous from the beginning and you could tell that pretty early on as midfielder Oriol Rosell took down New England defender Tajon Buchanan in the 15th minute for a penalty kick. Gil gave Orlando City goalkeeper Brian Rowe (3 saves) no chance to stop his shot as he blasted it straight down the middle and into the net two minutes later. 

    Before the home team had any time to recover, they were down 2-0 as Revs striker Adam Buksa's initial shot (from a perfect low cross by Buchanan) hit the post but Bou was alertly there to smash the ball in for a 2-0 lead in the 25th minute. New England only really made two mistakes (of course they were big ones) on the day and the first came in the 33rd minute as their defense couldn't clear the ball out of a dangerous area in the box and Turner was uncharacteristically out of position after making a save. This allowed Orlando midfielder Junior Urso to swoop in and crank the rebound past a bunch of bodies between him and the net. As ugly as that moment was for the Revolution, full marks to them for not letting it affect them too much as Buksa forced a spectacular diving save from Rowe only five minutes later. 

    Nursing a 2-1 lead at halftime, New England was in good position to see out the game and that only increased when Orlando midfielder Mauricio Pereyra made a wild sliding challenge on Revs midfielder Matt Polster. With his studs up, Pereyra's reckless decision cost him and his team dearly because he was shown a red card so Orlando City was forced to play a man down for the final 30+ minutes as they tried to rally from down 2-1. Few in MLS possess a more lethal shot than Bou and he will let it fly from just about anywhere including well outside the box. Rowe made a pair of good stops on Bou and New England couldn't connect on either corner kick that came from those chances. Polster was on the other end of a penalty kick call as his foul of striker Daryl Dike in the 73rd minute led to the best play of Turner's blooming professional career. The Portuguese international and former Manchester United star tried to hit a low shot into the left corner but Turner guessed correctly and got over in time to deflect it out of bounds with his Inspector Gadget arm. 

    That took the wind out of Orlando's sails for the most part since they probably knew in their heart of hearts that was their golden opportunity to tie it up. New England did its best to smartly waste time and then pounce when the time was right for that killer insurance tally. That curtain came in the 86th minute fittingly with Gil putting a through ball to the top of the box that Bou got to before Rowe and his toe poke went in for what had to be one of the best and most meaningful goals of his life. PS check out his celebration in honor of recently deceased soccer icon Diego Maradona after his first goal of this win: it was incredibly moving as Bou found an Argentinian flag and pointed to the sky. When the final whistle blew, the Revs collectively went crazy with delight on the field as they had knocked off another darling of the league. 

    At this point, you'd be pretty idiotic to write off the Revolution as a fluke. Yes, they were the No. 8 seed in the East (out of 9 playoff clubs) but let's not forget that Gil missed much of the disjointed regular season and Bou was not healthy at times either. Obviously, every team deals with injuries and bad performances but you can see over these three playoff matches how much of a difference a healthy Gil and Bou can make. All I know is that New England is only one win away from another MLS Cup appearance and two from finally putting to bed the ugliest Albatross in Major League Soccer. With USMNT players such as striker Gyasi Zardes (who scored a goal in tonight's 2-0 win vs. Nashville) and midfielder/possession machine Darlington Nagbe, the Crew are more than formidable opposition. Still, bet against New England at your own peril or how about you check in with Philly or Orlando to see what they are up to at the moment.

Who Had The New England Revolution Being The Feel-Good Story Of The Year In Boston Sports?

 

    2020 has been a nightmare for everybody and just the latest example of the sports world being turned upside down as well is the fact that the Patriots (4-6) are slogging through their first rebuilding campaign in 20 years while the other (and for good reason often forgotten) club that also calls Gillette Stadium home-the Revolution-are giving us all something to be happy about when we needed it the most. With less than zero expectations coming into this postseason, the No. 8 seed New England followed up Friday's thrilling 2-1 victory over the No. 9 seed Montreal in the play-in game at Gillette with a much more unexpected and therefore mighty impressive result tonight: they went to Subaru Park in Chester, PA and knocked off MLS' top team-the Philadelphia Union-by a score of 2-0. With the win, the Revs advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday afternoon (3, ABC) at No. 4 seed Orlando City SC. 

    Above all, there are two primary reasons that make this latest triumph so impressive for New England: 1) The Union won the Supporters' Shield-given to the team with the best record in the league-so needless to say, nobody and I mean nobody was expecting Philly to lose their first playoff game after such a dominant regular season; 2) The Revs were 0-4-1 against Philadelphia in 2020 including three straight losses coming into this matchup. Furthermore, dating back to the last few seasons, they hadn't actually beaten the Union in their last nine meetings. So yeah, to say this was an upset is a bit of an understatement.

    The best part for the Revs is that this was far from a fluke result. They scored twice in the a four-minute span in the first half then smothered any hopes of a Union comeback in the second half with an air-tight defensive effort. Philadelphia's excellent Jamaican goalkeeper Andre Blake (2 saves) earned the Goalkeeper of the Year award in MLS this season but this evening, he was simply outplayed by New England's Matt Turner who made four saves to notch the clean sheet. Granted Turner didn't have to deal with hardly any real dangerous chances but that's besides the point. The Fairfield University alum and New Jersey native should soon find himself in the mix with the U.S. men's national team, he's become that good over the last few years of his rapid development with the Revs. 

    I think we can conclude that New England's midfield maestro Carles Gil is back to full health as he completely controlled this entire match. He not only set up both goals but he nearly added a strike of his own with a beautiful chip early in the second half that ricocheted off the crossbar. Another sign that this isn't your typical middling Revs team is that both of their tallies were beautiful in their own right: Polish striker Adam Buksa headed in the perfect free kick from Gil in the 26th minute for a 1-0 Revs lead. Before the Union had a chance to catch their breath, it was 2-0 and basically game over as fullback Tajon Buchanan (who is normally a forward) took a pass from Gil, beat his defender then blasted a low shot into the far side past a helpless Blake.

    Looking around MLS and particularly in the East, it's predictably clear that home field and seeding has meant little in this bizarre postseason. Most stadiums are devoid of fans because of the local Covid-19 protocols or they choose to let very few in-like the poor souls who watched the Union get beat tonight-so any previous home field advantage is thankfully for the Revs' sake nullified. Playing in their first season in the league, the No. 7 seed Nashville shocked heavyweight and No. 2 seed Toronto (MLS Cup winner in 2017 and runner-up in 2019) 1-0 in extra time earlier tonight in Hartford (Toronto can't play in Canada during the pandemic) so they are also in the Eastern Conference semifinals and they'll meet the No. 3 seed Columbus on Sunday night (8, ESPN). In the Western Conference the semifinals are the defending champions and No. 2 seed Seattle vs. the No. 6 seed Dallas next Tuesday (9:30, FS1) followed by top-seeded Sporting KC taking on the No. 4 seed Minnesota on Wednesday (9, FS1). 

    It's hard not to look ahead with the Revolution and dream about two more wins bringing them back to that elusive MLS Cup where they are a mind-numbing 0-5 all-time. Still, let's sit back and relax a bit over the Thanksgiving break and enjoy these first two tastes of playoff wins by the Revs for the first time in six long years. Who could forget that their 2014 playoff run of course ended in the MLS Cup with a crushing 2-1 loss in extra time to the Galaxy. Haha I'm not still bitter about it though! After being a laughingstock for years, Bruce Arena-who is unquestionably the best head coach in league history-has quickly brought them back to relevance and soon perhaps the ultimate glory after all these years of misery and irrelevance. I make fun of the Revs and MLS all the time but this is genuinely a fantastic story that could not come at a better time with the Pats floundering, the Celtics and Bruins at least a month away from returning to action and the Red Sox fading from everyone's radar more every year. 

In Their First Rematch Since Last Year's Crushing MLS Cup Loss, Revolution Tie Galaxy 2-2

It is still May (for a less than an hour) but the 2015 Red Sox' (22-29) season already looks hopeless. That means once again we need something to distract us in the sports wasteland known as summer with Patriots training camp and preseason games still over two months away. I'm not trying to convert anyone (that's not my style) but only noting that the Revolution (5-3-6) appear to be a title contender in MLS for those that care. New England lost in heartbreaking fashion-2-1 in overtime-in the 2014 MLS Cup vs. Los Angeles (5-4-6) and on Sunday, those budding rivals met at Gillette Stadium in basically a monsoon.

They tied 2-2 in a up-and-down match that featured about as exciting a first half as you'll ever see (in MLS at least) before a dull second half that had no goals and few chances for either side. New England has tied its last three matches and they are winless in their last five (0-1-4) so they really could have used three points despite the fact that they are in second-place in the East (four points behind D.C.). Nothing was officially announced tonight but midfielder Jermaine Jones left in the first half with a groin injury and it sounds pretty serious. You feel terrible for him because he had just been called up earlier in the day for the US National team's exhibitions at Holland and Germany later this week. At 33 you never know, that might have been his last shot to represent the U.S. Ugh, hopefully that is not the case though.

The Revs grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fifth minute thanks to their quickest goal of the season. Midfielder Scott Caldwell served a perfect cross to the far post where midfielder Teal Bunbury ran onto it and one-touched the ball into LA's net. That was Bunbury's third goal of the season and Caldwell's fourth assist of the season as he becomes one of the team's rising stars.

The Galaxy responded soon after that as they scored a pretty goal in the 18th minute. Rookie midfielder Ignacio Maganto volleyed in a blast from outside the box that Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth had no chance to stop. Would you believe that was his first career goal? It had been the seventh straight match that New England had scored the first goal, which shows their need to tighten things up once they get a lead. Granted, they were missing defender Chris Tierney and star midfielder Lee Nguyen vs. LA because both had accumulated too many yellow cards in previous matches.

LA made it 2-1 in the 27th minute on a beautiful back heel by Maganto that was finished by standout forward Gyasi Zardes (another USMNT member). Perhaps the most notable development of the game, well besides Jones' injury, was the final goal. Revs midfielder Diego Fagundez has showed plenty of promise the last few years but head coach Jay Heaps doesn't seem to have much confidence in the youngster. Fagundez got the start tonight and he came through with a gorgeous free kick goal in the 37th minute. He bent the direct kick around LA's wall and past a diving Penedo. It was his first goal of the season and it couldn't come at a better time for his confidence.

Not including their Open Cup match vs. Charlotte on June 17 at Harvard, three of New England's next four matches are on the road. That tough June starts with a meeting with the Timbers (5-5-4) on Saturday (10:30, CSN) in Portland. The Revolution never seem to play well on the West Coast and the Timbers have one of the better home field advantages in Major League Soccer at Providence Park so getting a positive result there will be a chore.

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Sadly, The Revolution Remain Born Losers That Can't Win an MLS Cup To Save Their Lives

For the fifth time in club history, the Revolution had a chance to gain some more fans locally and positive publicity for their sport by capturing an MLS Cup but for the fifth time, they fell flat on their faces and failed. We all hoped that this year would finally be a different story but it turns out that even though many of the names had changed, New England still can't figure out how to win the only match that really matters.

Los Angeles outlasted New England 2-1 in extra time this afternoon at the StubHub Center for their MLS-record fifth title. MLS MVP Robbie Keane was also named MVP of the MLS Cup since his goal in the 111th minute was the game-winner. Conversely, Revolution MVP candidate Lee Nguyen limped off in stoppage time (of regulation) with cramps. Yup, that basically summed it up for the Revs.

American icon Landon Donovan didn't really do anything remarkable in today's contest (supposedly the last game of his illustrious career) but he still managed to become the first player in MLS with six Cup wins on his resume. It was 0-0 after a mostly dull first half that was lacking for action besides New England's Scott Caldwell clearing LA's Robbie Rogers' shot off the goal-line in the first few minutes. Thankfully, things turned up in a thrilling second half. LA got on the board first in the 52nd minute when Stefan Ishizaki's cross somehow founds its way to Gyasi Zardes in a maze of bodies. He was able to put his shot past Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth.

Sticking to almost the same exact script (at least this time they scored a goal), New England tied it up in the 79th minute on a goal by Wellesley native Chris Tierney. Substitute Patrick Mullins played it back to him in the box and his shot eluded Jaime Penedo who seemed to be in good position to stop it. You can't make up the fact that New England's two previous meetings with Los Angeles in the MLS Cup (2002 & 2005) both resulted in 1-0 losses in overtime. Then in 2006 they lost in penalty kicks to Houston and to cap it all off, they fell 2-1 the following year to the Dynamo as well.

I don't believe in curses but can we admit that there is no logical explanation for why the Revs lost once again in the Cup? Teal Bunbury had a chance to put New England up 2-1 late in the second half but of course his cross/pass hit the crossbar and didn't go in. Nguyen's injury forced the Revs to burn their third and final substitute at the end of the regulation. I can't say that fatigue really effected them too much in extra time (that's not why they lost) but it had to help LA to have the ability to make all three moves then.

The goal that everyone will remember from this match came via another defensive breakdown by the visitors except this one was even worse than the first. Marcelo Selvas' hopeful long ball found Keane who certainly knows what to do in the box with time and space. The Revs had many positive developments occur this season both on and off the field but I'm not the type of person that can reflect on that immediately after such a soul-crushing defeat from a team that appears to specialize in them. After a long absence, I returned to MLS this summer and I have to say I enjoyed it for what it was-a diversion while the Red Sox sucked. I will return next season and hope for another outcome but like a Cubs fan, I am building up some sort of PTSD related to this team.

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For The 1st Time Since 2007, The Revolution Get Back to the MLS Cup, Now It's Time To Win One

The Revolution tied the Red Bulls 2-2 this afternoon at Gillette Stadium in the second leg of the Eastern Conference Championship so coupled with their 2-1 win last weekend at Red Bull Arena, New England advanced to their fifth MLS Cup in club history (tying DC United for the most in the Eastern Conference). The Revs are 0-4 in the Cup but for now, they deserve to revel in a great accomplishment. They'll meet the winner of LA/Seattle next Sunday on the West Coast, the Galaxy lead 1-0 heading into tomorrow night's final Western Conference Championship match (9:20, ESPN) in Seattle.

Don't forget, this team had an eight-game winless streak in the middle of this season which had never happened before to an MLS Cup team. New England improved to 12-1-1 since they acquired Jermaine Jones (10-0-1 when he starts) and Lee Nguyen is an MLS MVP candidate but nobody better symbolizes their remarkable turnaround than homegrown striker Charlie Davies. If you are a soccer fan, you no doubt are aware of his incredible recovery but we always wondered if he'd get back his immense talent. After scoring both goals today to go with two against Columbus in the first leg of the previous round (no other Revolution player had done that), Davies declared himself back while also admitting that he's a smarter player these days.

New York scored first, Tim Cahill started in place of the suspended Bradley Wright-Phillips and he came through in the 26th minute by connecting on a pass from Thierry Henry for his first goal of the playoffs. New England didn't take long to get the all-important equalizer though as Davies headed in a cross on a set piece by Chris Tierney in a crowd of players by New York's goal in the 41st minute for his third goal of the postseason. Being tied 1-1 at halftime had to feel like a win for the Revs considering that they would progress with either a win, draw or 1-0 loss.

The Red Bulls didn't roll over by any means as Peguy Luyindula had a header go over in the 52nd minute then seconds later, he was there to pounce on a loose ball and poke it around Bobby Shuttleworth (2 saves) for his third goal of the playoffs. That was the only score that if it held would have resulted in extra time so it's fair to say that Davies' second goal was the most important of the season for the Revs. It was a pretty similar play as Tierney once again crossed it in, this time from the left side rather than the right and Davies headed it past Luis Robles (2 saves).

New England closed out its 2014 campaign at Gillette Stadium with eight straight wins, in fact their last loss here was way back on July 26. Anything can happen in a one-game playoff and obviously, they'll be an underdog against the heavyweight Galaxy or Sounders on their home turf but it's tough to bet against this team at the moment. The Revolution lost in the MLS Cup in 2002 then 2005-2007 so they are long overdue to get the only title that matters in MLS. It would be the perfect manner to kick off what we all hope is a championship filled winter with the Patriots-their Gillette neighbors.

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If You Haven't Already, It Is Officially Time To Jump On the Revolution Bandwagon

In case you haven't been paying attention (and you are excused if you haven't), it turns out that the Patriots aren't the only championship contender residing in Gillette Stadium this season. Haha no I'm not talking about UMass football, the Revolution picked up a huge road win today 2-1 at Red Bull Arena in the first leg of the Eastern Conference Final vs. Red Bulls. They will meet again at Gillette on Saturday (3, NBCSN) where New England will try to get back to the MLS Cup (which they have never won in club history).

It is all about away goals so a 1-1 tie which is how it looked to finish would have been perfectly acceptable for the Revs. They have been the best team in MLS since they acquired Jermaine Jones (11-1-1) this summer so it was fitting that their prized pickup came through with a clutch game-winning goal in the 85th minute. Lee Nguyen, who should be the MLS MVP this season, drew Red Bulls goalkeeper Luis Robles, before sliding it over to his fellow USMNT midfielder to tap in.

New York definitely threw everything it had into this match, owning possession (60-40%) and taking way more shots (18-8) although only three more (7-4) landed on goal. The problem was that the Red Bulls hyped themselves up too much, as proven by their six yellow cards which is a total I've never heard of for one team in a close game. Star striker Bradley Wright-Phillips picked up one of the aforementioned yellow cards on a lazy challenge in the second half and it was particularly costly since he came in carrying one from the previous match. This means that he is out on Saturday, oops!

New England forward Teal Bunbury opened the scoring in the 17th minute with a curling laser worthy of inclusion on Sportscenter's Top 10 plays. It was from outside the box but Robles still had no chance to stop it. Jones had the assist on it. New York responded 10 minutes later as a scramble in New England's box left Bobby Shuttlesworth (6 saves) and his weird haircut with nothing left to do but retrieve the ball out of the net. The Red Bulls hit the ball off the crossbar before Wright-Phillips followed that with a header which went in.

The long layoff didn't seem to be much of an issue for either side so I doubt that the most important match of their season will suffer from being less than a week away. Expect New York to come out strong since they need at least one goal. By being calm and playing their game, New England should have a great chance to get through the second leg and advance to the MLS Cup the following Sunday. Later this afternoon, LA opened the Western Conference Final with a 1-0 win on their home turf over Seattle.

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Revolution Beat Crew 7-3 on Aggregate to Advance to ECF vs. Red Bulls

For the first time in years, I started paying attention to the Revolution again this past summer for two reasons: 1) the Red Sox were so horrible that I couldn't watch their games anymore and 2) they signed USMNT World Cup hero Jermaine Jones. It has been a fun ride and one that will last at least for a few more weeks after New England beat Columbus 3-1 tonight at Gillette Stadium (7-3 on aggregate) to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals vs. New York Red Bulls. That begins on November 23 at Red Bull Arena (time TBA) followed by a game the following Saturday at Gillette (3, NBCSN).

Sunday was an example of how the Revs aren't just a team revolving around one (Nguyen) or two (Jones) players. Yes, Nguyen opened the scoring with a sweet one-timer in the 43rd minute from Teal Bunbury but it was defender Jose Goncalves who made it 2-0 in the 55th minute on a clumsy one-timer from Charlie Davies. Columbus got a red card in the 61st minute after Ethan Finlay ran into New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttlesworth. The Crew cut it to 2-1 on Tony Tchani headed in a cross by Justin Meram in the 67th minute.

No worries as Bunbury officially clinched it in the 77th minute by roofing a pretty through ball from Daigo Kobayashi. Meram picked up his second yellow card of the game in the 85th minute so Columbus shamefully finished their postseason with just nine players left on the field. Shuttlesworth made some big saves when it was still (somewhat competitive) and the one-sided scoreline allowed head coach Jay Heaps to take out Nguyen and Jones late in the second half.

MLS will never be the English Premier League or any of the top European leagues but the product is getting better, thanks to many washed up stars from Europe coming to the States for a lucrative pay day at the twilight of their career. There is also a decent mix of homegrown players-midfielders Scott Caldwell (Braintree, MA), Chris Tierney (Wellesley, MA) and Diego Fagundez (Leominster, MA) not to mention Davies (Manchester, NH) are all originally from New England.

I can't stand people that try to force soccer on others or even worse, look down on those who don't enjoy it as much or understand certain aspects. I completely understand why people make fun of it, there are plenty of things that bug me about it to no end but I am as into it now as I have ever been since I was a child. This is a long-winded way of saying that if you like soccer and especially if you're from New England, give the Revolution a try. I can promise you that you will enjoy it this season and who knows, maybe we'll finally see some history.

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All Aboard: Plenty of Room Left on the New England Revolution Bandwagon

One of the founding teams of MLS-the Revolution-made their biggest move in the team's up and down history tonight as they signed German-American USMNT midfielder (he's made 46 appearances for them) Jermaine Jones to a 1.5 year deal (through 2015) worth $4.7 million. He'll be introduced at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday and for what it's worth, their next match is on Saturday at Toronto (9-8-6) but who knows when he'll be available to play stateside.

I have always loved soccer because it was my best sport growing up but there a million things about it that I hate (if that makes any sense). I'm not one of those annoying soccer fans that has to make everyone around me enjoy every second of it and pretend to care about the million insignificant plays in a given contest; I completely understand why many people (mostly Americans) don't give a shit about it. There are so many issues: no scoring, faking injuries, whining to referees, etc.

I will admit though that this summer with the Bruins bowing out of the playoffs earlier than expected, the Celtics, Red Sox and Cannons (Major League Lacrosse) all going nowhere and the Patriots months away from real action, I started paying more attention to the Revolution than I had in years if ever before. After their 1-0 win over Chivas USA (6-12-6) last night at Gillette, New England improved to 9-12-3. With 30 points, they are tied with Philadelphia for the last playoff spot (Top 5 in the Eastern Conference). Both clubs have 30 points but the Revs have played one less match.

The Revs (also owned by the Krafts) are notoriously cheap (Boston Magazine had a great article about that), hence why they have mostly become irrelevant in the last few years save for last season's playoff appearance, but this is great news for their supporterse and those that casually got into the World Cup. Jones was arguably the U.S.' best field player in Brazil and he scored one of the best goals of the tournament (vs. Portugal). Ironically, they lucked out by getting him since it was the result of a blind draw between them and Chicago. Haha only MLS, have you ever heard of that before in pro sports?

Regardless of what convoluted way that he got there, this gives the Revolution and in turn MLS way more credibility in New England. Sure this would have been more powerful immediately following the World Cup but Jones has played in Germany (Schalke) and most recently Turkey (Besiktas) so he was probably looking for one last deal with a notable European club. When that didn't materialize, Major League Soccer wasn't a terrible backup option since it has accumulated more established European players and his newfound stardom with the U.S. would make him a drawing card for both his new team and the league as a whole.

He's tough and always good for a dirty challenge or two, MLS refs should buy some more cards ahead of his arrival. What's improved the last few years with the U.S. is his work-rate and also his offensive ability. Jones should make the Revolution much better overall and he could be the missing piece that puts them over the top and gets them back into the postseason. Where they go from there is anyone's best guess but for once, the Revs are relevant again in a solid soccer market that has supported them in some lean times. This is a nice reward that was long overdue by the Revolution, who had never signed a designated player.

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Curses still exist in New England, just ask the Revolution

I love soccer but generally I don't pay attention to the snoozefest known as MLS. However, I couldn't help but note that my New England Revolution made their third straight MLS Cup (and fourth all-time) and just like every other occasion, they came home empty-handed. The Revs fell 2-1 to the Houston Dynamo at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. yesterday afternoon.

Both nationally and locally, not many will even notice this result but it was just too painful to completely overlook. The Revolution have been one of the top teams in MLS since it was created yet they choke in the final time after time, in more painful fashion no less. In 2002, New England lost 1-0 to Los Angeles. In 2005, the Revs lost by the same score to the same team. In 2006, the Dynamo won 4-3 in penalty kicks after the teams tied 1-1 in regulation.

The Revolution dominated play in the first half and were rewarded in the 20th minute as star forward Taylor Twellman scored off a header. As the game went on though, you had the feeling that if the Revs didn't pop a second goal, they were in deep trouble. Sure enough in the 61st minute, Houston scored a garbage goal off a scramble in front of Revs goalie Matt Reis. Like clock work in the 74th minute Houston standout Dwayne De Rosario scored on a beautiful header and you knew what the final result was, 20 minutes before it would end. New England had one more golden opportunity-a header right out front in the 87th minute but wouldn't you know, the Houston goalie somehow got a hand on it. Houston won its second straight MLS Cup as the Revolution sat on the field and wondered what else do they have to do? It was a reminder that as good as we currently have it in New England sports, you're always one painful loss away from turning into the Buffalo Bills of the new millennium.