Revolution at a loss without healthy bodies
Team in pieces after break in MLS play
The bus ride to New Britain, Conn., Tuesday didn’t include an overflow of Revolution players. Normally, 18 players are available, but the Revolution stepped off the bus for their US Open Cup match against the Harrisburg City Islanders with 14 players.
The reality was shaded by optimism that surely they wouldn’t need all three available bench players. Not only did the Revolution use all three subs, but two players went down with injuries, leaving the Revolution with nine on the field. Harrisburg walked away with a 2-1 victory in extra time, eliminating the Revolution from the tournament.
“It’s a tough situation when you’re walking out on the field and you’re looking at the bench and there is only three or four guys there,’’ Revolution midfielder Jeff Larentowicz said. “You don’t want to think about the worst, but it’s always in the back of your mind that something could happen.’’
Not much can surprise the Revolution (4-4-4, 16 points in MLS play) these days. Players are falling to injuries around every turn and all the club can do is just push along. A break from MLS action to play three SuperLiga matches and the US Open Cup match was billed as a chance for the Revolution to build momentum. As the defending SuperLiga champion, New England managed to win its group and advance to a semifinal against the Chicago Fire July 15.
“Winning games is a positive and holding on in games and pushing teams to the limit the way we did, I think those things are all positives,’’ Larentowicz said.
But as the Revolution travel to Los Angeles for tomorrow night’s match against the Galaxy, the wait continues for healthy bodies.
Shalrie Joseph (knee) and Steve Ralston (hamstring strain) are the Revolution’s leading scorers with a combined nine goals and eight assists, but their respective injuries will keep them out this weekend. Chris Albright continues to recover from lateral meniscus surgery and Mauricio Castro is hampered by a hamstring strain that has kept him out all season. Striker Taylor Twellman is on the disabled list because of concussive symptoms and defender Jay Heaps has been called to join the US national team for CONCACAF Gold Cup action.
Revolution coach Steve Nicol wrote off Tuesday’s match as a “strange one’’ but added that “we don’t have a lot of choices. It’s just kind of par for the course at the present time.’’
Good news did make its way to Foxborough yesterday as Lithuanian forward Edgaras Jankauskas received his visa approval and traveled with the team to California.
The Revolution acquired an international roster spot from Kansas City in exchange for New England’s natural third-round pick in the 2010 MLS draft. The move created a spot for Jankauskas, a 34-year-old who has played more than 18 seasons in European professional leagues. Among his highlights are two seasons at Belgium’s FC Bruges, where he scored 16 goals in 52 appearances. The club went on to win the Belgian League in 1997-98. Most recently, his career has taken him to AEK Larnaca (Cyprus), Belenenses (Portugal), and Skonto (Latvia). And he is a five-time footballer of the year in Lithuania, the most recent honor coming in 2004.
Any offensive boost will be welcomed as the Revolution’s probable starters for tomorrow’s match have just three MLS goals. For every player that goes down, someone is asked to step in. Amaechi Igwe has been given more chances to play in recent games and said all he can do is stay in shape so that “when I get my opportunity, I play well.’’
Nicol said Larentowicz is an experienced player who is providing consistency while others work to get healthy. Nicol described Larentowicz as “really taking a step forward and saying, ‘Follow my lead,’ and he’s been fantastic.’’
Monique Walker can be reached at mwalker@globe.com. 