FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- A tired performance in Columbus may not have been the first time the New England Revolution had looked fatigued this season. But a 4-0 result against the Eastern Conference-leading Crew might have seen the Revs stretched to their breaking point.
"We've been tired for three or four weeks," Revolution head coach Steve Nicol said. "It didn't just appear in Columbus. It has been building through the end of SuperLiga."
That stretch saw the Revs slip from comfortably in first place to worryingly looking behind them to see whether Chicago had overtaken them as the team stumbled in league and CONCACAF Champions League play.
"We went through a rough patch," Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis said. "The double trip from Toronto to Trinidad messed with a lot of people. We've gotten over the hump now. We've had a little bit of time off. We've had some time to get away from each other and think about the season. It's the stretch run."
The stretch run might have started in Columbus, but the Revs would prefer to shift the focus towards last Thursday's 4-0 win against Chivas USA as a sign that the revival could be forthcoming.
An extra couple of days worth of rest and training gave New England a buffer it hadn't seen in two months to propel them past a weary Chivas USA side missing several regulars.
The reward? A long weekend to rest and a full week of training ahead of Saturday's trip to Colorado.
"It's going to be nice to get a few days off and get a full week of training," Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston said. "It's been so long that I can't remember. We'll go over some basics and some things that we need to work on."
Practice isn't the first thing most players say they want, but Reis said missing out on that practice time has hurt the team because they haven't been able to work on the bad habits that have crept into their game over the past couple of months.
"We'll get in a good week before we have to play," Reis said. "That's most important. We need to get away from each other and recharge our batteries. We need to look at this stretch run of the last six games and make sure that we're in a good position for the playoffs."
That position has been complicated by the recent three-match winless streak. The win against Chivas USA closed the gap between the Revs and Columbus to three points by the end of the weekend. The two teams meet again at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 27, a match New England will need if it aims to earn the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
"We'd love to get home-field advantage in the playoffs, but we need to get there first," Ralston said. "It's a long season and a lot of teams have closed the gap. Every point is important now. If we can win our conference, that would be great."
Reis said that this little break will give the team the mental break it needs to push for conference supremacy.
"The end of the season is around the corner now," Reis said. "It's just important to play better."
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