Revolution ‘playing for their jobs'

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By Danny Picard
CSNNE.comFollow @dannypicard
FOXBORO -- Emotions are running high in the New England Revolutionlocker room these days. Thats what happens when you go two full months withouta win.

The Revolution are in dead last place in the EasternConference, and didnt help themselves out on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium,losing to the Philadelphia Union 3-0, and extending the Revs winless skid tonine games.

Its the type of stretch that goalkeeper Matt Reis calledthe worst experience of his soccer career. And if it doesnt improve soon,things could get even uglier in New England.

I think everybody needs to realize that theyre playing fortheir jobs, said Reis after Sunday nights loss. Its their livelihood. Ithink everybodys out here thinking everythings great and everythings fun. Inthe end, if we keep sucking like this, then guys are going to be out of jobs.

Revolution coach Steve Nicol said after the game that theteam needs some new faces and that New England was close to acquiring a pairof players over the weekend, until those deals fell through at the last minute.

In the meantime, the Revs must improve on the basics,something that they didnt do well with on Sunday. Its a domino effect thatscaused by a lack of heart and determination.

It was like watching a bunch of schoolboys, said Nicol.

We talkedbefore the gameof growing a pair, Nicollater added. And that doesnt mean you can run around kicking people andfighting people. That means that you do the basics well, and you do your ownjob well.

Philadelphia put the game out of reach in the first half,when Carlos Ruiz and Carlos Valdes scored in the 12th and 24th minutes,respectively. Both goals were the results of a lack of communication on theback end, leading to wide-open bids out front.

When you dont pick up your man, what do you expect isgoing to happen when you do stuff like that, said Nicol. So real basics.

Weve been like that for most of the season. We haventdone the basics of the game well. Every successful team and every team thatwins games, at the very least, they do the basics well, and then they add theirown quality on top of that.

We really have to get on the same page, said Reis. Wevegot guys doing two different things. Were losing goals on set pieces. Werejust very uninspired out there. We didnt show all the stuff that we needed todo. We didnt fight. And all in all, it was a terrible game.

Part of that lack of communication was caused by the absenceof Revolution captain Shalrie Joseph, who was suspended for Sunday nights gamebecause of yellow card accumulation.

Shalrie will open his mouth, and hell get people in placeswhere they should be, said Nicol. So when you dont have that, andeverybodys kind of relying on somebody else, guys need to take responsibility,and we didnt do that in the first half.

Now, Benny Feilhaber will be missing from Wednesdays matchin Washington D.C., after he was ejected from Sundays match on a pair ofyellow cards.

Still, the Revolution can no longer afford to playschoolboy football. And that starts with whats inside their chests.

We need to see whats inside them, said Nicol. Its aboutheart as well. Having ability and all those other things is fantastic, but ifyou dont have the heart for a fight, then you dont have a heart to fight foryourself or your teammates.

So thats what well see on Wednesday. Its time to stepforward and let everybody know what youre made of.

Danny Picard is on twitter at http:twitter.comDannyPicard.

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