There has been a lot of news coming out of Gillette Stadium in Foxboro over the last two weeks and all of it has been decidedly negative. One of the Revolution’s main supporter’s sections- The Fort- has been essentially run out of town in an attempt to create an even more fan-friendly attitude at the stadium (a stadium that can ill-afford to see its attendance drop any further), two of last year’s and two of this year’s “big signings” have left the club for one reason or another, and perhaps worst of all, the club’s performance on the pitch reached its nadir this weekend in an absolutely uninspired and ineffectual effort against the Philadelphia Union. It was the kind of showing that has caused me to think long and hard about why I support this team and whether I should continue to do so. It’s one thing to be disappointed by the way the club is being run, it’s quite another when you are disappointed by the effort- or lack thereof- being given by the players. As one can well imagine, the name-calling and finger pointing has reached a fever pitch around this club and it is unlikely to die down any time soon. I’m going to let others continue to cover the growing rift between the club and its supporters (those who are interested should click through to The Drug is Football), instead, I want to focus on the undeniable drain of talent away from this club over the last five seasons.
Perhaps at some point in the future I will try to sit down and assign some blame- and there’s plenty to go around- over the largely poor roster moves made by the Revolution since the departure of Clint Dempsey for Fulham F.C. in 2006. I am sure that some of that blame will go Robert Kraft et al. for running this team as little more than a way to keep some revenue coming into his growing empire when the Patriots are not in season. I am sure that some of the blame will go to MLS for having too heavy a hand in deciding which teams get which players and how much they have to pay them. I am sure, sadly in this final case, that some of the blame will have to fall with Steve Nicol and his staff for signing players who might have been “bargains,” but who turned out to be “busts” as well.
For now, however, I’d simply like to take a more “factual” approach to this situation by looking at those “players of note” (a euphemism I had to make up because, to this point in their history the Revolution have never signed a designated player that I’m aware of) who have left the club and those players who has been brought in to replace them. I will start with a list of the “players of note” who have departed the club and the circumstances of their departure as best I understand them and the follow with a list of “players of note” (at least according to the club) who have ostensibly been brought in to replace them. This is not a “one-for-one” look at this situation, but rather a look at whether, face with the loss of a talented player, the club acquired another one of equal talent. That being said, if you look at the position of the player who departed the club and the date of his departure you can make a pretty good guess at who his “replacement” was meant to be by looking at the players that were brought into the club around the same time and who played the same position. I’ll conclude by looking at the Revolution’s choice to sign young, inexpensive talent from Africa as well as their draft history. Not every player who has appeared for the club since Dempsey’s departure will fit into one of these categories- and some, like Kheli Dube, fit into more than one- but there should be enough breadth and depth of data to create a meaningful sample of my purposes. I’ll begin with those “players of note” who have left the club in the last five years.
Clint Dempsey (M): The former MLS Rookie of the Year and U.S. international left the club following the 2006 season to play in the EPL. To say he’s done well since then would be a bit of an understatement. The club received a sizable transfer fee as a result of his departure, but the question remains, “What did they do with it?”.
Andy Dorman (M): The Welsh international left the club when contract negotiations fell through after the 2007 season and joined Scottish Premier League side St. Mirren. During his time with the Buddies he was an SPL Player of the Month and the team’s leading scorer for 2008-2009 season. He is now in the second year of a three year contract with Crystal Palace F.C. in the nPower Championship.
Joe Franchino (M): Franchino, a former team captain who spent 8 seasons with the club, took a leave of absence from the club in 2008 reportedly to deal with substance abuse issues before being shipped to the Galaxy.
Jay Heaps (D): The former MLS Rookie of the Year and U.S. international retired following the 2009 season after playing 250+ matches for the club.
Pat Noonan (F): Despite being one of the club’s most productive forwards and a U.S. international, the club declined to pick up Noonan’s option following the 2008 season and he moved on to Norway for a spell before returning to MLS.
Michael Parkhurst (D): A U.S. international, an MLS Defender of the Year winner, a Best Eleven player, a two-time MLS Humanitarian of the Year and Fair Play Award Winner, Parkhurst left the club after the 2008 season to play in Denmark’s Super Liga.
Taylor Twellman (F): Forced to end his career prematurely- officially in 2010, but in reality after the 2008 season- Twellman was a league MVP, Golden Boot winner, scoring leader, Best Eleven player, and a U.S. international.
Jeff Lawrentowicz (M/D): After over 100 matches for the club during which he showed steady improvement (he received his first cap in 2011) New England didn’t want to pay what MLS (which negotiates the contracts with players) said he was worth so he was shipped to Colorado with Wells Thompson for Preston Burpo, a draft pick, and allocation money after the 2009 season.
Steve Ralston (M): Ralston chose to leave the club following the 2009 season in order to rehab a torn ACL and then chose to join the ill-fated AC St. Louis (Ralston is from the St. Louis area) as a player/coach. He was a former Rookie of the Year and he is still the all-time MLS leader in assists, appearances, starts, and minutes played.
Theses departures came for myriad reasons- trades, retirements, injury, expired contracts, etc.- so it is not appropriate to assign blame to the club over a player leaving- it happens. The real issue is how the club responded in these situations- especially when the club was behind the player’s departure? If the player chose to leave, how did the club react? If the club chose not to keep the player, did they have a plan to replace the player and did it work? Here are the “players of note” (in the club’s view if not anyone else’s) that the Revolution brought in during the same period (I’ll deal with draftees and others later):
Chris Albright (D): The U.S. international was brought into the club prior to the 2008 season and was a dependable starter for one season before missing most of 2009 through injury. He was traded to the Red Bulls for draft picks following the 2009 season.
Mauricio Castro (M): The Honduran international joined the club for the club for the 2008 season and played in 30 matches (25 starts) over the next two years. He was released early in the 2010 season before playing in a match- he hasn’t been picked up by a club since.
Gabriel Badilla (D): The Costa Rican international was signed late in the 2008 season and waived just prior to the 2010 season after making only 7 appearances for the club. The club chose to bring back Khano Smith rather than to keep Badilla…ponder that for a moment.
Edgaras Jankauskas (F): Jankauskas played in the top leagues in Spain, Portugal, Russia, Belgium, Greece, France, and Scotland and even won a Champions League medal with Porto. However, in two injury-riddled seasons with the Revolution he score just 2 goals in 14 matches. He was released by the club at the end of the 2010 season.
Cory Gibbs (D): Gibbs played one season (2010) for the Revolution, and started about 2/3s of the club’s matches. He only rarely displayed the form that had made him a U.S. international.
Ryan Cochrane (D): A former collegiate star, U.S. youth international, and MLS veteran, Cochrane has played well-enough since joining the club for the 2011 season.
Ousmane Dabo (M): A former French international who has played in Serie A, Ligue 1, and the EPL, a lack of fitness and injuries limited him to only 3 matches before he abruptly retired on July 18.
Didier Domi (D): A veteran of Ligue 1, La Liga, the Greek Super League, and the EPL, Domi made 9 appearances for the club in 2011 before being released on July 15.
Benny Feilhaber (M): Feilhaber joined the Revolution in midseason after a successful career in Denmark. Thus far his impact has been minimal- 9 matches he has no goals and a red card- and his temper/frustration with his teammates often gets the best of him.
Ryan Guy (F): Guy was picked up just over a month ago after leaving St. Patrick’s Athletic F.C. and has only played in two league matches since his arrival- but he has played well. Dabo’s retirement could give him an opportunity to see more playing time.
Marko Perović (F): Signed at the beginning of the 2010 season, Perović scored 7 goals in 29 matches in just over a season of play, took great free kicks, and was a fan favorite. Following a season-ending knee injury early in the 2011 season he asked the club not to renew their option on him- the club complied.
Illija Stolica (F): Though played somewhat sparingly during 2010 and 2011, Stolica still managed to score 4 times in 16 matches before being loaned to F.C. New York of the USL Pro Division to get him some regular playing time. When this didn’t happen he was released by the club.
Rajko Lekić (F): After a career spent mostly in Denmark, the Danish international joined the club at the beginning of the 2011 season. Thus far he has only 3 goals in 13 matches, but given the lack of service he has received it’s hard to imagine how he could have many more goals.
That’s 12 “players of note” signed since 2006, only four of which are still with the club. Clearly, signing higher profile, mostly foreign-born players between the ages of 30-35 has not been an effective strategy in terms of replacing younger, home grown (even Dorman went to college in the U.S.) talent. I think it is safe to say that with the possible exception of Feilhaber and maybe Lekić, the club has not come anywhere near replacing the departed players by signing players of equal (never mind better) quality.
The club’s almost complete failure to make effective big signings has left them with two options during this period- sign free agents and draft well. In pursuing this first option the club has made a point of scouting and signing young African players. There is nothing inherently “wrong” with this approach, and given that historically most MLS clubs have scoured Central and South America for cheap talent, it might even be a clever strategy. The problem is that for the most part, the players have either been busts from the beginning or have failed to develop into impact players of any kind. Here are the African free agents the club has signed.
Arséne Oka (M): On the roster in 2006 and 2007, the Ivorian made only one appearance for the Revs- no wonder I don’t remember him.
Sainey Nyassi (M/F): Signed at the end of the 2007 season, the Gambian international is still only 22 years old, unfortunately he still refuses to use his speed and dribbling skills to take the ball directly at the opposition- this might explain why he has only 8 goals in 97 matches.
Kenny Mansally (F): The Gambian has been with the Revolution since the beginning of the 2008 season- he has 7 goals in 75 matches. Not good enough for a forward.
Stephane Assengue (F): The Cameroonian was signed in 2009, played in two matches, and was waived.
Emmanuel Osei (D): The Ghanian played in 44 matches over two seasons (2009-2010) before being waived by the team. While he had a lot of ability, he tended to make bad decisions,”and the back line was no place for that.
Joseph Niouky (M): Signed for the 2010 season the Senegalese midfielder was released after only 13 matches.
Which leaves us with “drafting well.” Drafting players in any sport is a risky endeavor and I think the best thing to do here is simply to take a “thumbs up” – “thumbs down” approach to evaluating New England’s draft history since 2006. My criteria will be simple- a player gets the nod if he has made a lasting contribution to the club or was at least good enough that another club was willing to trade for him. Anything else is a failure.
Thumbs Up
Kevin Alston (D): Selected in the 2009 SuperDraft, if he can stop giving the ball away once he wins it, he might have a future with the USMNT.
Darius Barnes (D): Selected in the 2009 SuperDraft, Barnes played in every minute of every match as a rookie, but has been used more sparingly since then.
Zak Boggs (M/F): Selected in the 2010 SuperDraft, Boggs has been used as a role player thus far. If New England ever lands a proper striker Boggs’ game will improve as he does provide good service when he plays on the wing.
Adam Cristman (F): Selected in the 2007 SuperDraft, Cristman served the Revolution well as a back-up striker. He is now with the Galaxy.
Kheli Dube: The Zimbabwean was taken in the 2008 Supplemental Draft and has scored 14 times in 69 matches. Not bad numbers, but he has clearly been a “complimentary” player, not a “first team regular,” and certainly not a “star.”
Ryan Kinne (M/F): Selected in the 2011 SuperDraft, it’s too early to make a judgment on Kinne so he gets a pass for now.
Alan Koger (F): Selected in the 2011 SuperDraft, it’s too early to make a judgment on Koger so he gets a pass for now.
Zack Schilawski (F): Selected in the 2010 SuperDraft, Schilawski gets the benefit of the doubt for now, but his inability to hold down a starting place on a team bereft of strikers does not bode well for him.
Andrew Sousa (M): Selected in the 2011 Supplemental Draft he has yet to make a league appearance for the club.
Wells Thompson (M): Selected in the 2007 SuperDraft Thompson was a solid, if not spectacular, player for the club before being traded to the Rapids in 2010.
Chris Tierney (D): Selected in the 2008 Supplemental Draft, Tierney has worked his way into the first team- which may say more about the first team than about Tierney.
Thumbs Down
Kyle Brown (F): Selected in the 2006 SuperDraft he played only 12 times for the Revolution before being traded to RSL, who waived him. He was selected in the waiver draft by Houston, who waived him. He’s been out of MLS since 2008.
Bryan Byrne (M): Selected in the 2007 SuperDraft he played in 1 match for the Revolution before being waived and never played in MLS again.
Amaechi Igwe (D): Selected in the 2007 SuperDraft he managed only 22 appearances over three seasons with the Revs.
Seth Sinovic (M/D): Selected in the 2010 SuperDraft he appeared in 20 matches before being waived. Currently with Sporting KC.
Clearly, the Revolution have had- by my criteria- more success with draft picks than they have had failures, but there are still draft-related problems for the club. The first of these problems is that of those “successes” still with the club, only two of them- Alston and Tierney- could be considered regular starters at this point in their careers, and there is some question as to whether Tierney would be a starter on a team better than the Revolution. The second is that because of the club’s refusal to sign quality players or trade for them, a lot of role players (Boggs and Schilawski come to mind) have been thrown into the deep end of the pool too early and too often because the quality isn’t there in the first team. If I may mangle a historical theory by way of illustration, the Revolution are a team with too much “periphery” and not enough “center.”
What does it all mean?
Players moving on to pursue other opportunities- especially talented players- is a fact of life in any sport, so it is hard for me to get too worked-up about the players that have left the Revolution in the last five years. I was disappointed to see some of them move on in general and I was disappointed with the specific reasons why some of them left, but that’s business. What concerns me more, and does cause me to get worked-up is the way in which the club has gone about replacing these players.
My grandmother, a wise and “thrifty” immigrant from Scotland was fond of the phrase “penny-wise and pound foolish,” and I think that, over the last five years, the New England Revolution have been guilty of this sin to the nth degree. I could start dragging out terms like “opportunity costs” and the “law of diminishing returns,” but my only question to the Revolution about their strategy of acquiring players over the last five years would be this: at some point, isn’t signing fewer, better players for the same amount of money better than this constant parade of inexpensive, lower level players who have a minimal impact on the team’s success? I’ll close with an example.
This year the Revolution signed Didier Domi and Ousmane Dabo for a total of $350,00. In return for this the Revolution received (in terms of minutes played), just over nine matches worth of play. According to player’s union salary list, this was guaranteed money, although Dabo has indicated that he would not accept any further payment even if he is entitled to it. I’m not going to say that the Revolution could have or should have signed any of the players listed below, but here is a sample what that same kind of money (with ample change leftover in some cases) could have bought them in 2011 in terms of quality MLS midfielders and defenders:
- A.J. De La Garza: $55,000
- Tim Ream: $63,000
- Roy Miller: $100,000
- Marco Pappa: $125,000
- Joel Lindpere: $125,000
- Break Shea: $133,000
- Todd Dunivant: $142,000
- Jack Jewsbury: $158,000
- Jeff Lawrentowicz : $165,000
- Dax McCarty: $175,000
- Jan Gunnar Solli: $180,000
- Sebastian Le Toux: $180,000
- Omar Gonzalez: $197,000
- Paulo Nagamura: $231,000
- Brad Davis: $235,000
- Geoff Cameron: $245,000
- Jamison Olave: $290,000
- Chad Marshall: $320,000
No player on this list is older than 30, and about 75% of them are current international players.
It makes you think…
I haven’t finished with the article yet, but you’re to be commended for the wealth of information in here. It’s a shame that the Revolution seem to be regressing in terms of player acquisitions and in terms of their relationship with the core fanbase – the Boston/New England market deserve far better.
One question: is Steve Nicol’s job in jeopardy, and if he goes, how far do the Revs fall, and how fast? He’s one of the best coaches in the league, doing what he’s done with a lack of impact imports – but that will only keep you in a job for so long.
I think it’s his job for as long as he cares to put up with it- and the day he can’t may not be too far off. The problem with Sunday’s match against Philadelphia is that it’s the first time a Revs team has clearly just “quit” and that’s never happened in Nicol’s tenure- no matter how poor the talent was from which he had to choose.
How fast and far do they fall if he leaves? Not very- they’re the second worst team in the league already! The only reason this club has bottomed out before this is because of what Nicol has been able to do with it.
You say only two players are currently with the club out of the 12 players of note, yet by the individual descriptions I count Lekic, Feilhaber, Guy, and Cochrane. Are they all still with the team? Is part of the problem guys playing out of position, or just too much too soon?
Sorry, Martin. That’s a mistake on my part- lots of comings and goings to keep straight here!
For me, the problem is that there are young players being forced to play out of position because the club has done such a poor job signing quality players and retaining them/replacing quality players who leave.
I would think that being a young player on this team is bewildering. One match you’re playing in your natural position, the next you’re not, your a starter, then you’re not, and on and on and on.
It’s especially sad for Revs fans when you think that about 5-7 years ago, they were a virtual lock to reach MLS Cup for about 3 years running. And chasing away your most loyal and vocal supporters is never good business either. Those are folks who are going to be there EVERY time, not the soccer moms/dads who will come 1x/year when their team buys group-rate seats.
As to player management, it’s always uphill in MLS. One question to ask is who’s Stevie got on his technical and scouting staff? How much is he having to do on his own? SKC has had one of the largest tech staffs in the league the last 2 years and the results are finally starting to show. The Revs might look to that model, because frankly they’re not going to be in the same league as LA/NY for high-dollar players. You can make good finds on the cheap, but you have to spend the money to find them. Aurelien Collin is a great example.
I don’t think that the staff is the problem, I think it’s the constraints they are forced to work under by ownership. Whether Nicol, Mariner (in the past), Burns, or Myles, I think they’re all pretty adept at identifying talent, I just don’t think they are allowed to sign it, so they do what they can.
Don’t be so sure. Most of the Revolution’s greatest signings – draft and otherwise – were made in 2005 or before when John Murphy was Nicol’s #2 and Mike Burns didn’t hold his present position as Director of Player Personnel. Murphy had an extensive old-boy scouting network that allowed the Revs to land guys like Shalrie, Taylor, Dorman, Dempsey, Cancela and others. The current player acquisition regime can’t even hold a candle to that kind of success.
A small ray of hope for Revs fans: the club’s first home-grown “phenom,” 16 year old Diego Fagundez will be joining the club on their upcoming road trip. He’s played (well) in reserve matches and has seen some US Open Cup duty, but this will be the first time he is on the roster for a league match.
Couple corrections. The Fort is not a supporters group it’s a section. The groups are the Midnight Riders, Rebellion and Rev Army.
Dax McCarty not McCarthy.
Dabo retired so he is not entitled to guaranteed compensation and also indicated he would refuse it out of principle.
Feilhaber never was in MLS, so it’s not a return to MLS.
The blog is called The Drug Is Football, not Football is the Drug.
Ralston also departed after an ACL tear requiring nearly a year of rehab.
Franchino’s removal appears to have been related to alcohol abuse
Thanks for those, fixed- I hope!
I feel like much of this article applies to the Fire as well. And probably a couple other “legacy” teams like DCU. The old standards of mediocrity no longer seem to apply in MLS.
So why exactly are the loud ones being chased out of Gillette?
outstanding article but goes way too light on what is clearly an incompetent management team, whether it is Burns, Nicol, or Kraft or all three we may never know. what is clear is that they have turned a good team into a league doormat and a regional embarassment
this family gave up watching two years ago as the declining trend became obvious and Frank dell’appa’s Globe commentary with its lack of insight became even more annoying.
please Krafts, sell this franchise to someone who knows what they are doing and is willing to pay for talent.
Switching to the Bruins.