By Danny Picard
CSNNE.com
It's no secret the New England Revolution's biggest issue lies in the offensive end of the pitch. Their coach, Steve Nicol, expressed his disappointment in the team's lack of finish after Sunday's 1-0 loss to the Chicago Fire at Gillette Stadium.
Goals were "staring them right in the face," according to Nicol after the loss. But the ability to perfect their service into the box, or even put the ball into the goal when it got there, was nowhere to be found.
In fact, goal scoring has been non-existent for quite a while for the Revs. To be exact, New England hasn't scored a goal since May 29 in a 3-2 win over the New York Red Bulls at Gillette.
To be fair, the Revs (3-8-2, 11 points) have only played two official MLS games since then, thanks to a three-week World Cup break. In the only other league match since May 29, the Revs were shut out 3-0 by Seattle on May 5. So the opportunities to get back on track, offensively, haven't really been there, with regards to a consistent schedule.
They'll try to break the drought on Friday night in Utah against the Western Conference's Real Salt Lake (7-3-3, 24). It's the same Real Salt Lake team that defeated New England 6-0 last regular season, and then went on to win the 2009 MLS Cup championship.
The Revs enter Friday night's game as the sixth-place team in the Eastern Conference, just one point out of last. Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake is in second place in the West, nine points behind the Los Angeles Galaxy.
Following Friday's match with Real Salt Lake, New England returns home to host the Galaxy, making for two teams you don't necessarily want to face in back-to-back weeks if you're still trying to find your offense.
But if the Revs can out-play either one of those teams like they out-played the Fire last weekend, they'll have a chance to turn things around.
They just have to finish.
Danny Picard is on Twitter at http:twitter.comDannyPicard