As seems to happen every year, the New England Revolution are slowly falling into a summer slump where they just cannot buy a win. Points at home and on the road are being left on the table and a full 90 minute performance has not occurred in quite some time.
In most cases, a string of results like this would do a lot of damage psychologically to all parties involved. Minds would wander, questions of ability would arise, and hope would dwindle away. Don't tell that to those in the Revs locker room, though.
The players are well aware that things aren't going their way, but they're not allowing it to get to their head, as there still is optimism and belief that things will get better.
"THE SPIRITS AREN'T DOWN, THEY'RE NOT LOW, AND WE'RE STILL CONFIDENT" - Davies
"The spirits aren't down, they're not low, [and] we're still confident," Charlie Davies said after Saturday's 2-1 defeat to the Vancouver Whitecaps. "Guys are still having a good time, having a fun time being in this locker room. We have a great team and we're just not putting the right performance out on the field. We're doing it at times, but we're not putting out a full 90 minutes and that's what we have to work on."
On top of searching for a complete 90 minute performance, Chris Tierney pointed out that there is emphasis on not allowing their current slump to snowball any further. Everyone is staying positive and focusing their energy on what they can do to get a result, rather than harping on past struggles.
After all, the team doesn't have to look very far for a model to follow. They endured a similar string of results last year and, with help from some of the more experienced players, are focused on not letting their current state doesn't define them.
"There's plenty of guys here with experience, so you don't have to look much past last year to see the way a team can turn things around," Tierney said post-game. "We lost I think eight or nine straight last year and ended the year pretty well. Like I said, we're going to stay positive, try to improve moving forward, and at the same time we're going to work hard to get out of this."
Most importantly of all though, the Revs are not pointing fingers or getting down on each other. There is a wide-held belief that the team has plenty of talent and ability to turn their losing streak into a winning streak and no single player is getting singled out.
Through a professional approach to every game and maintaining faith in each other, the Revs are set on righting their ship.
"Obviously guys are going to be disappointed now, everybody here hates to lose, but everybody here wants to work for each other and wants the best for each other," Teal Bunbury said following Saturday's match. "...We will continue to have fun and enjoy playing because at the end of the day we all love playing this sport and that's what we have to continue to do. As soon as we start bickering at each other and getting down on each other, that is when things can get even worse."
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