What to Watch For: MLS Cup Final - Revolution vs Galaxy
Thursday, December 04, 2014
The New England Revolution will pack their bags and travel to Los Angeles in search of their first ever MLS Cup. They will take on the host LA Galaxy in the final game of the MLS season. Here are five things that you should be watching for in the match.
Hostile Territory
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTStubHub Center in Los Angeles, California holds 27,000 fans at capacity. That number will likely be surpassed on Sunday — with most of the crowd cheering for the home town LA Galaxy. Although the Revolution supporter groups, The Midnight Riders and The Rebellion, travel extremely well (just ask Red Bull Arena), they will face a loud, proud group of LA supporters who will be extra loud when cheering on the Galaxy and Landon Donovan in his final home game.
The emotions of the final match coupled with a loud crowd will give a big mental edge to the Galaxy, something the Revolution will have to combat in the opening minutes of the match.
Road Warriors
The New England Revolution faced their struggles on the road in the 2014 regular seines, going 6-10-2 for 20 points. They did, however, go 3-1-1 over their final five home games of the regular season and took both away legs of their playoff matchups. This late-season road warrior mentality is going to be needed for the Revs on Sunday.
The Galaxy posted a ridiculous 13-1-3 record at home in 2014 for 39 points. They took both home portions of their playoff matchups. The home field advantage for LA is real, but the road warrior Revolution will have to overcome that if they want to hoist their first MLS Cup.
Bless the Rains
“Bless the rains” has become a rallying call for Revolution fans. On Sunday, that could change. Los Angeles has experienced more rain in the past two days than they had experience in almost a year. This could lead to a messy field on a natural surface. With the Revs being used to playing on an artificial surface, they would have to adjust. The slow surface will also drastically effect the fast-paced attack of the Galaxy, however.
The End of an Era
It is well known that Landon Donovan will be playing in his final game as a professional soccer player. Donovan is a MLS legend, a legend on the U.S. Men’s National team and has even earned the social media hashtag #LegenD. The Galaxy will obviously do everything they can to send their living legend off with the cup.
The Revs will look to play spoiler for the second consecutive week. The Revs ended the MLS, and possibly professional career, of Thierry Henry when they eliminated the Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals. With their first ever cup on the line, the Revs will look to end the legend of Donovan in this match.
Offensive Attack
Both New England and LA are known as attacking team. Although they attack in different ways, and from different places on the field, both teams are going to look to push early and often. The Galaxy will use their trio of forwards, Landon Donovan, Gyasi Zardes and MLS MVP Robbie Keane to pepper Revs goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth with shots.
The Revs will use their dynamic midfield of Teal Bunbury, Kelyn Rowe, Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen to create chaos in the box and to spring Charlie Davies behind the defense.
Both attacks are dynamic. Both attacks can score at a tremendous rate, but which attack will put their team over the top on Sunday?
