New England Revolution Notes: Moving on to Philadelphia Union

It’s often hard for any player to put his finger on what exactly went wrong after his team gets hit with a 4-0 loss in its season opener. Sure, you could place the blame on the defense for allowing four goals to pass through. Or you could look at the attack and cast them as the villain for failing to find the back of the net not even once.

03/13/2014

It’s often hard for any player to put his finger on what exactly went wrong after his team gets hit with a 4-0 loss in its season opener.

Sure, you could place the blame on the defense for allowing four goals to pass through. Or you could look at the attack and cast them as the villain for failing to find the back of the net not even once.

But according to Revolution midfielder Diego Fagundez – who found himself in the above situation after he and his teammates were handed a brutal 4-0 loss to Houston last week – the answer can be found anywhere and, well, everywhere.

“I think all over,” Fagundez said about where the team needs to execute better. “From finishing to defending, we had all of our chances and we didn’t finish them. We probably have to mark a little better, stay focused, and try to finish a 90 minute game (going forward).”

All of the above will be points of emphasis for the club this week, especially with a clash against a rebuilt Union side on tap for Saturday. But that doesn’t mean that last week’s dreadful loss to the Dynamo has been completely forgotten.

“We learn from our mistakes,” Fagundez said. “We didn’t start well, so we just have to look at video and get better from what we’re watching. I think everyone’s frustrated about that game but we have to put it behind us because we have Philly now.”

Looking forward to Philadelphia

If there’s one antidote to the sting that comes from a humbling scoreline, it’s the promise of another chance to set everything straight. And for Revolution coach Jay Heaps, that means purging the negativity associated with it and replacing it with a positive mindset.

“Anytime that you lose on a lot of different fronts in the game - and there wasn’t much to be positive about - the only reaction has to be a positive one,” Heaps said. And with good reason.

Heaps knows what a poor performance can do to a team’s psyche, and how the thoughts associated with it can sabotage an entire team’s performance. In light of that, you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who’s more excited about the chance to hit the reset the button other than Heaps.

“There has to be some type of change to the game,” Heaps said. “I think that it will be good for us to get that game sooner rather than later.”

Slow start mystifies players

It is a phenomenon that even the finest sides sometimes fall victim to: the slow start. And last Saturday, the Revolution undoubtedly experienced it first-hand at Houston.

Given the puzzling nature of how a talented team can come out of the chute so poorly, Fagundez was at a loss as to why he and his teammates didn’t come out sharp against the Dynamo last weekend.

“No one really knows what happened,” Fagundez said. “We probably weren’t ready yet. It was one of those things where we just didn’t start well, and we got punished for that. So we’re just going to learn from all of our mistakes.”

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