As Sporting Kansas City faces the New England Revolution in a midweek clash at Sporting Park, I caught up with Revs beat writer and FoxSports.com's Kyle McCarthy to preview the match. Live coverage of Wednesday's match is available on ESPN 2, ESPN Deportes, Sports Radio 810 WHB and La Grande 1340 AM.
Jonathon Feyerherm: What is New England's form heading into this match?
Kyle McCarthy: New England has hit form recently. It's a testament to the structure put in place by Jay Heaps and the willingness of the players to implement those tactics effectively. You look at the performances they've put together and you look at the contributions they are getting across the board and it's not really a surprise to see them churning out results week after week.
JF: Who are some of the New England players who have stood out to you through the first two month of the season?
KM: It's truly a collective effort for the Revs at this point. You look at the depth of their squad and the number of players who have contributed meaningful minutes this year and it's the mark of a good team in MLS. New England has received fantastic contributions from players like London Woodberry and Charlie Davies. Guys who may not have expected to be starters at the outset of the season but they have really risen to the occasion and entriched themselves in the lineup with their displays.
JF: How do you expect New England to approach Wednesday's match?
KM: Jay Heaps looked at the schedule and understood he wanted to rotate things ahead of this game. The Revs have a difficult game at home to D.C. United on Saturday. The presence of three tough games in a short period of time will necessitate some changes but the fabric of the team will remain the same. New England is a team that wants to win the ball in good areas and punish the oppposition by breaking quickly through midfield and to the final third. Those tenets don't change even if the personnel is a little different. The onus is on the Revs to soak up that Sporting pressure and then respond accordingly.
JF: What are you looking forward to seeing from the match?
KM: It's interesting because these teams know each other so well but it's still a cross-conference battle with Sporting KC now in the Western Conference. That fact makes the game a little bit more interesting because you've got two teams who are scrapping and clawing for every possible point and this game provides them a chance to step out of the conference battle and try to secure a precious result as the season unfolds. I expect more of the same out of these two teams. I think the battle lines are pretty well drawn. It's just a matter of which team will implement their blueprint more effectively.
