FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- One look at the standings told the New England Revolution that Saturday night's 1-0 loss to Columbus was a game they had to have.
The Revs started the day five points behind the Crew with five games to play. Chad Marshall's 35th-minute header extended the deficit to eight points with four games to play and crippled the Revs' hopes for the Supporters' Shield and the Eastern Conference title in the process.
Revolution head coach Steve Nicol wasn't pleased with how his team adapted to the Crew's defensively attuned, pressing style.
"In the first half and for most of the game, we were just dumb," Nicol said. "If you look at how they played, especially in the first half, we tried to make passes in the middle of our own half and they just squeezed us. We tried that and it didn't work. We weren't smart enough to change it. We're trying to stretch out the game and get it wider earlier and we couldn't do it."
Revs midfielder Shalrie Joseph said that Nicol expressed those views at halftime to the team in an attempt to prod them forward in the second half.
"He wanted us to push up some more and win some more second balls," Joseph said. "We were trying but it wasn't happening. Even when they went a man down, we weren't moving the ball well enough. We didn't pick up second balls and we didn't create enough chances. We didn't put them on their back heel. It was a frustrating game."
Not even Frankie Hejduk's second-half red card could spark the Revs out of their stupor. The ball didn't get wide enough quickly enough, Nicol said. Instead, the Revs played right into the Crew's hands by keeping the ball in the middle of the park.
"It had nothing to do with attitude or commitment," Nicol said. "We just weren't smart. We went about it the wrong way. We have to realize that when we're doing one thing and it's not working, we have to change it. If you keep banging on the door and no one opens it, you have to find another way of getting in."
The alternative way never came. Chances were few and far between after Hejduk's dismissal as the Crew held their lines and the Revs struggled to break them down. William Hesmer rushed out to block Sainey Nyassi after Steve Ralston played him through, but the Revs couldn't create the one or two quality chances they needed to turn over the result.
"They played like the best team in MLS," Joseph said. "We weren't good enough to match them. We put out the effort but it wasn't enough at the end of the day."
Joseph said his team needs to rebound ahead of its last four games. With Chicago only a point behind in third place, New England doesn't have any margin for error when Real Salt Lake come to Gillette Stadium next weekend.
"We have to find some positives," Joseph said. "We created some chances but it wasn't good enough. They did what they were supposed to do and got the early goal. They defended for their life and created one or two chances after that as well."
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