Open Cup Finals Worries

New England faced off against FC Dallas last Saturday night in a preview of the Open Cup Final, to be held in Dallas on October 3rd.

The Revolution were able to handle Dallas last Saturday, but the opposition was without a number of Key Starters, including Kenny Cooper and Juan Toja. However both are expected back by October. If the Revolution were to play the same way they did tonight, then I like their chances; however, star midfielder Shalrie Joseph, who would match up well against Toja, will not be playing due to the red card he picked up in the semi-final against Carolina.

That leaves the Revolution with some tough choices to make. More than likely Steve Nicol will play Steve Ralston at defensive midfielder along with Jeff Larentowicz, and Wells Thompson will play on the right wing. However, that leaves the bench very thin. Another option is to play James Riley at midfield, but if Jay Heaps is not 100% then they will need him on the back line.

The other option is to go to the bench - where Gambian newcomers Sainey Nyassi and Abdoulie Mansally are fresh off a very good U20 showing. But even with that experience and the combined experience of the bench, the Revs don't even come close to replacing Joseph.

They will need top performances out of their defense and Jeff Larentowicz to keep the Dallas attack of Denilson, Ruiz, Cooper, and Toja in check.