Admittedly, the last, oh, two weeks certainly – and possibly last four, four-and-a-half weeks – haven’t been great. The team wrapped up Saturday’s game and was exhausted – mentally, physically, emotionally. When staff can feel how tired we are and how heavy our legs and brains feel, imagine how the players are affected with all the running, playing, competing, etc., they’re doing that we aren’t.
But, with a new Monday, we have a new week and a new mindset, and – thankfully – just one game for the first time since the end of July. What a new week also means is that we’re inching back to normalcy.
While we still won’t get there this week as the team has another modified schedule this week – today off, non-starters in tomorrow and a full-squad run-through on Wednesday before Thursday’s game, we’re getting there. After Thursday’s game, it’s four days off for everyone, and then we’re back on a “normal” week for the first time since the end of June.
Think about that. For a sport that thrives on habit and repetition, this team hasn’t had a “normal” week since June – the last week of June ahead of the Toronto game on June 28 to be exact. If you take it back further, with all the midweek games, in-season tournaments and strange travel we’d had, this team has had exactly FIVE normal weeks this year … and we’re in the 25th week of the schedule
What does a normal week entail, you ask? For the Revs, it’s generally Sunday and Monday off, Tuesday a moderate training, Wednesday and Thursday a full, hard training and Friday a light training or travel with a game on Saturday. Yes, that’s right: we’ve had a normal week just five times this year.
Which got us thinking. Since we just played 10 games in the last five weeks – again, normally, it’s five – and travelled approximately 14,000 miles in that stretch, too, what have we done for training since July – when this run began?
Well, not much. There has not been one single day of an actual training session since before the SuperLiga final. Not one. The last ones the team had were Saturday, Aug. 2, and Sunday, Aug. 3. So we’re looking at more than one month since our last real, true training session. Add into that all the injuries we’ve picked up, the international call-ups and the new player added, and we haven’t had time to actually work on anything with the personnel we have available. Most of the time, players have been told and explained what needs to be done, but they haven’t actually worked on it as a group.
It really can’t be stressed how much all the factors of the last month have affected the team. Unless you see it day in and day out, you think it’s like snapping your fingers to make something happen – like turning on the players’ drive and competitiveness. But it isn’t. We wish it was. The drive and competitiveness are there, but as Steve Nicol has said the last couple of weeks, the engines are just tired and worn out and we have not had our legs. We certainly wish our record since SuperLiga was better, but it’s not and right now, nothing can be done to change that at this point in time.
But as we said in the title: new week, new view. The past is behind us and we hope everyone has learned something from our experiences this summer.
But for us now, there is a Supporters Shield to win, as well as an MLS Cup to final hold up on the final day of the season.
New week, new view: one of dead straight ahead to winning.
Thanks for putting things in perspective. The fact that they haven’t had a regular training session says so much, especially when you consider that with all the injuries it’s not even the usual starters who have a feel for how their teammates play. As with any sport, it’s easy to cheer for a person/team when they’re doing well and a little tougher when they aren’t doing so well. But really, isn’t it when they hit a rough spot that they really need our support? I’m going out to the game on Thursday and will cheer for the Revs with the same enthusiasm (maybe more) than if they were sitting on top of the their division. They’ll rest, they’ll heal and they’ll come back strong – have faith!
Thank you for the “behind the scenes” look. I have a feeling the team will start to play better in the next couple of weeks.
It was painful to watch the Revs playing like that last Saturday. They looked tired, totally lacking motivation. One can understand that they are facing hard times but something has to be done. They must focus to come back well-rested and energized.
By the way, Reis played rather well.
Weeellll… that said, a true fan must display loyalty whatever the circumstances might be and that’s me. So go Revs!
Great post Li…revseye. Not a full training in a month is a crazy stat. I hope Don Garber reads this post.
That is some crazy news. I’m reminded of the old adage, ‘practice hard, play hard.’ Of course, if you’re not practicing, that makes things quite a bit more difficult. I’m sure the players are looking forward to some normalcy. I know the fans are frustrated with recent results and I’m sure the players are too, but you guys are right. It’s just time to put the nose to the grindstone and get down to business. The Supporters Shield is still within reach, especially with another home match against Columbus!
But first, lets take care of business on Thursday.
Go Revs!
I hope you’re right that a more normal schedule is going to improve the team, but with what we’ve seen the last few weeks, I’m not too optimistic. I’m looking forward to the end of the ‘tired and exhausted’ excuse.
I hope everyone is able to get a good rest.
Maybe I’m too optomistic, but I think if things settle into what constitutes a “normal” schedule and people are given a chance to heal, it can’t help but make an improvement. It has been difficult to watch the last few games but the Pollyanna in me refuses to join the “kick ’em when they’re down” crowd.
So everything’s fine now?
will anyone be signed before the deadline or does the team think badilla is enough? where are the goals going to come from?
Thank you for a great summer of soccer. Light is at the end of the tunnel. Know you will play hard Thursday night. Then a well-deserved though short rest. After that. look out MLS the Revolution will be ready to take back the lead in the Eastern Conference.