Pros

Revenge Not a Factor, Revs Just Want the Win By Sean Donahue
July 21, 2007
With the defending champions coming to Foxboro on Sunday, the Revolution will have to be at their best to get a positive result. The Houston Dynamo, who defeated the Revolution on penalty kicks in last year's MLS Cup, head into town with a 10 game unbeaten run and a MLS record 695 minutes shutout streak. The teams last met on May 19th in Houston when the Revolution came away with a 1-0 victory over the hosts. It was the middle of a three game losing streak that saw the Dynamo off to an unimpressive 2-5-1 start to the season before going on the current 10 game run of eight wins and two draws.

"Getting all their international players back and the injury worries out of the way [has helped Houston on their current run]", said Revs Assistant Coach Paul Mariner, who has been leading the team through training this past week while Head Coach Steve Nicol was in Denver for the All-Star Game. "I think that [Houston Head Coach] Dominic Kinnear and [Assistant Coach] John Spencer have a very strong squad. They have one of the best starting elevens out there and they seem to me to be picking pretty much the same team. The continuity helps."

The Revolution themselves will hope for some continuity as they should be able to field the same starting eleven that catapulted the team into first place last weekend with a win over the New York Red Bulls. While James Riley is listed as questionable, he looked ready to go in recent training sessions, so the only real worry is Shalrie Joseph. Joseph picked up a knock in the late stages on the MLS All-Star game and his status for Sunday is unknown.

Houston, however, has shown the ability to change up their line-up without missing a beat. Last Thursday against Chicago the team rested two of their star attackers in Brian Ching and Dwayne DeRosario, but still came away with a 4-0 victory. The team will have to do more line-up juggling on Sunday as midfielders Brian Mullan and Brad Davis both appear set to miss the match with injuries.

"It is always tough against Houston," Mariner said. "The games are always close. Go back to the MLS Cup final last year and that was a very tight affair. The game in Houston was tight. It is always a close game because they are very well organized and they have got some high quality in the team."

Breaking down Houston's defense will be key and the Revs' league leading offense will need to be on the top of their game to get something past a defense that hasn't been scored upon in seven games. "We were very fortunate to beat them last time we played them," said Revolution captain Steve Ralston, who recently broke the league's all-time assist record and is also atop the assist charts for this season. "We won 1-0 in a game that we actually got hammered pretty good, but we held on defensively and we need to come out and do a much better job this time. They are playing great right now. They are the hottest team in the league and I think it is going to be a great match-up. We are a team that can create a lot and we've been playing really well at home and scoring a lot of goals, so it is going to be an exciting game."

A win here is key for both teams if they wish to hold onto the top spots in their respective conferences. The Revs hold just a one-point lead over Kansas City for first in the East and only two points separate them from fourth. Houston, meanwhile, sits just three points ahead of FC Dallas in the West.

Both Ralston and Mariner agreed, though, that revenge wasn't entering their minds. "It's the second time we've played them since the MLS Cup," Ralston said. "It's a new season, we need to concentrate on what's going on with us right now. We are one point in first place and we want to add to that."

The game kicks off at 4:00PM and can be seen live on TV 38.