| New England Revolution
CAN REV’S FILL THE KANTE VOID?
09/10/02
by Jeff Dieffenbach
Going in to the New England Revolution’s first semifinal match against the Columbus Crew, the absence of central defender Carlos Llamosa was billed by many as a deep hole from which to recover. As the table below shows, however, the U.S. international has not been one of the biggest contributors.
| Revolution defense playing time (minutes): 7-1-2 run |
|
Joe
Franchino |
Jay
Heaps |
Dauoda
Kante |
Carlos
Llamosa |
Rusty
Pierce |
W2-1 8/24
Chicago |
|
90 |
90 |
90 |
59 |
W3-1 8/28
Colorado |
90 |
90 |
90 |
11 |
79 |
T0-0 8/31
Columbus |
100 |
100 |
100 |
|
56 |
W3-0 9/7
DC |
90 |
90 |
90 |
|
76 |
W2-1 9/14
Dallas |
90 |
90 |
90 |
|
|
W3-0 9/21
NY/NJ |
90 |
90 |
90 |
90 |
|
W2-0 9/26
Chicago |
90 |
90 |
90 |
90 |
|
L1-2 9/29
Chicago |
90 |
90 |
90 |
90 |
|
W2-0 10/2
Chicago |
90 |
90 |
90 |
|
46 |
T0-0 10/6
Columbus |
100 |
100 |
82 |
|
100 |
In New England's 7-1-2 run since August 24th, including 3 playoff games against the Chicago Fire and a 4th against the Crew, Jay Heaps, Daouda Kante, and Joe Franchino have been the anchors of the defense.
Injuries to Llamosa and Rusty Pierce have forced head coach to rely on his defensive depth. In a sign of depth and balance that are the hallmarks of team defense, one starter and several role players filled in admirably.
Starter Daniel Hernandez, who played central defense prior to the arrival of Kante, stepped in with Llamosa and Pierce both unavailable. The platoon of Braeden Cloutier and Nick Downing spelled Pierce in his several short outings.
The Revolution will need their team defense in top form for Game 2 against the Crew. Mimicking the dual yellow card effort that caused Llamosa’s latest absence, Kante picked up a pair in the first Crew match and will therefore be unavailable.
The expected starting defense for New England will be Llamosa and Pierce in the middle flanked by Franchino and Heaps. Against the experience of Brian McBride, the pace of fellow forwards Jeff Cunningham and Edson Buddle, and the scoring production of recently acquired midfielder Freddy Garcia, a Revolution defense absent Kante will face a challenge stiffer than they did with Llamosa out.
As a US International, Llamosa possesses both the credentials and the skills of a top line MLS central defender. He’ll need them all to fill Kante’s shoes.
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