Revs have little room for error

The New England Revolution doesn’t have a world-class superstar that can put the team on his back. Instead, they’re a team where everyone needs to contribute in order to get a result.

“We're built a little differently, so everyone – and I talked about it in the speech before the game – has to put it in a performance,” head coach Jay Heaps explained after Saturday’s 4-3 win over the LA Galaxy. “We can't have two or three guys carry the group. We're not built that way. We're built on the team and we need everyone to perform.”

When the team is clicking, the results are positive. Although they drew more often than they would’ve liked, the Revs only had five losses through the first 15 games of the season. (5-5-5).

That said, things can get derailed quickly, as highlighted by the four-game losing streak that began on June 17. If a player gets a red card or someone isn’t finding the target, it’s likely to be a bad night for the Revolution.

The team-focused system is something that Heaps has built but it’s also something that causes him a bit of stress. With 14 games left to play, everyone needs to step up if the team is going to make the playoffs.

“If one guy is off, the whole thing falls,” Heaps said. “Our margins for error are greater, I think, than most teams in the league, hence the super-gray hair.”