FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It’s a fantastic time to be a New England Revolution fan. The Revs are scoring goals in bunches, drawing massive crowds and heading to the Eastern Conference Championship.
It’s just not a great time to be an impatient New England Revolution fan.
This weekend’s FIFA international fixture window means the Revs won’t kick off their series with the New York Red Bulls until next Sunday, Nov. 23, when they’ll visit Red Bull Arena at 1:30 p.m. That leaves an interminable wait of 14 days between last weekend’s win over the Columbus Crew and the first leg of the conference championship in Harrison, New Jersey.
An extended break is not ideal for a red-hot Revolution side which has rolled to an 11-1-2 record since its last visit to Red Bull Arena back in early August, but it’s also not an obstacle unique to the Revs.
“We’ve all had bye weeks in a season and we’ve all had to deal with it,” said head coach Jay Heaps. “It’s not something where one team’s playing and the other team’s not – we both have to deal with it, so I think how we manage that is going to be important.”
The plan is to manage these two weeks by separating them as much as possible, both physically and mentally. This week of training will focus primarily on the Revs, followed by a break during the weekend. When the players and coaches reconvene next week, focus will be locked on the Red Bulls.
“I think this week’s a good week to get guys some recovery time, but also to get guys sharp,” Heaps said. “Then the mandatory break, then we come back in and have our normal process of preparing for a big game and a good New York team.”
That process is designed to keep the players focused on the task at hand, taking each day – and each play – as it comes. But there’s little doubt that after a two-week wait, both the players and fans will have plenty of pent up energy by the time next Sunday rolls around.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Andrew Farrell, who hopes to be back in full training next week after missing the second leg against Columbus with a right leg injury. “We’ve had some good games with [New York]. They’re a great team and we’re on a hot streak. I can’t wait.”
