SKC vs Revolution Game Report

Another away game, another 3 goals given up, and another red card.  These are things that are becoming way to common when talking about the Wizards games.  The only difference with this game from the previous is the fact Sporting KC played solid for most of the game.  For the first time I don’t feel like SKC beat themselves in this game.

Formation

The formation didn’t change from the previous games.  The only change was Aurélien Collin making his debut in place of Julio Cesar.  Collin played in central defense with Matt Besler with Micheal Harrington and Roger Espinoza playing out wide.  The midfield again had Birahim Diop playing in the middle with Milos Stojcev and Davy Arnaud playing on either side of him.  Kei Kamara, C.J. Sapong, and Teal Bunbury were the forwards with Bunbury playing in the middle.  Again I don’t like this formation.  It did work better this game than the last 2 games, but every team is now attacking us out wide were we are the thinnest.

Defense

The defense played pretty good this game.  Collin’s presence was seen from the first couple of minutes.  He did a very good job of stepping in and intercepting entry passes as well as being able to step in and make the hard tackle when needed.  In watching this game I saw one thing that Collin was doing that I never saw Cesar doing.  That was directing traffic.  Several times a ball was played to Besler or Nielsen and you could see Collin yelling orders to them.  This helped with a few less miscues with passes from the defense. After his ridiculous suspension I hope to see Collin back in the starting lineup.

Midfield

I will admit that this midfield group played better this game than the previous 2 games, but I still don’t like it.  It is basically playing with only 2 midfielders because Stojcev was playing as high up the field as any of the forwards.  This leaves way too much space on the outside of the midfield and Shari Joseph and Benny Feilhaber to play balls out wide all game long with little problems.  Feilhaber showed that he can make pinpoint passes to forwards when given space a couple of times, yet our midfielders couldn’t close him down.  Although they played better in this game this position was still the weakest players on the field.

Forwards

These guys did a much better job of tracking back and still being available for counter attacks.  Bunbury and Kamara showed a lot of individual efforts in creating the 2 goals for SKC.  Kamara’s first goal was great to see because that is what you want from Kei especially when he gets the ball at the corner of the penalty area.  Bunbury showed he has some great foot skills when he put the moves on Alston to draw foul and get rewarded with the penalty kick.  Sapong played better this game than last game, but again he is showing signs of being a rookie.  I think it is time for him to take a seat on the bench and allow him to watch and learn from Kei and Teal.

Referee

I thought the referee did a good job throughout this game.  There were probably a few more calls that caused the game to run a little slower and killed some of the flow of the game, but overall he didn’t do bad.  With all that said this referee made a blatant error when he gave Aurélien Collin a red card in the 2nd half.  The challenge against Matt Reis was a clean challenge.  The referee blowing the whistle to stop the play when Reis comes down hard and loses the ball was the right call since there was contact between Collin and Reis, but I have no idea why there was a red card.  It was this card that changed the game, but SKC should have plenty of experience playing with only 10 men considering they have done it for 3 games now.

Overall

SKC didn’t play a bad game this game.  They played hard and had lots of possession.  They were even able to score 2 goals.  But, there is a serious problem when this team consistently gives up more than 2 goals per game.  Something needs to be done to fix this.  The Wizards need to find a way to provide more of a presence in the middle of the field too.  I believe this weakness in the midfield is starting to hurt this team.  Lastly, the Wizards need to figure out how to finish a game with all 11 players on the field.  3 red cards in 5 games with 2 of those cards coming against central defenders.  These players and coaches need to figure out why this is happening and stop it.  There was one shinning moment in this game that could go unnoticed.  Ryan Smith did see the field for the last few minutes.  This is a very good sign.

Goal Summary

NE — Marko Perovic 1 (Benny Feilhaber 1) 12
KC — Kei Kamara 2 (Teal Bunbury 1) 14
KC — Kei Kamara 3 (unassisted) 69
NE — Shalrie Joseph 3 (Kenny Mansally 1) 72
NE — Rajko Lekic 1 (Zak Boggs 1) 83

Misconduct Summary

NE — Stephen McCarthy (caution; Reckless Tackle) 19
KC — Aurelian Collin (caution; Reckless Foul) 23
NE — Marko Perovic (caution; Dissent) 42
KC — Matt Besler (caution; Reckless Tackle) 48
KC — Michael Harrington (caution; Tactical Foul) 54
KC — Aurelian Collin (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 75
NE — Kenny Mansally (caution; Reckless Foul) 79
NE — Rajko Lekic (caution; Shirt Removal) 84
NE — Shalrie Joseph (caution; Reckless Foul) 93+

Highlights

Category: Aurélien Collin, Birahim Diop, C.J. Sapong, Davy Arnaud, Jimmy Nielsen, Kei Kamara, Matt Besler, Michael Harrington, Milos Stojcev, New England Revolution, Pre-/Post-Game Reports, Roger Espinoza, Ryan Smith, Teal Bunbury, Team News