http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/s...articleid=97970Sparks fly at Revs' practice
By Mike Biglin / Daily News Staff
Friday, May 6, 2005
FOXBORO -- New England Revolution head coach Steve Nicol has strived over the last four years to build a deep, competitive squad that could survive the grind of the long Major League Soccer season. Nicol finally feels he has that, with depth at almost every position.
   A byproduct of that is tough training sessions, where a handful of players battle to keep their starting spots. Sometimes, that emotion can bubble to the surface.
   That happened during yesterday's training session at Gillette Stadium, where there was a small dustup between Clint Dempsey and Avery John. Midfielder Dempsey, who was named the MLS Player of the Month for April, took an elbow from defender John and retaliated with a punch. The two were quickly separated and cooler heads soon prevailed.
   By session's end, there was hardly any evidence of discord on the pitch. Nicol, who's seen his fair share of these, wasn't concerned in the least. On the contrary, he looked at the positive.
   "We do have players with talent, but there's no point in all that if you don't put the work in and you don't get your approach right," explained Nicol. "You saw today with Clint and Avery going at it, and that just tells me that we've got guys who really care about what's going on.
   "It would be very easy for the guys to come out here, on a nice sunny day, and just knock the ball around, have a bit of a giggle," Nicol continued. "But that isn't the case. Guys are coming out here, putting it in and being physical. If we're doing that, then we'll be prepared for the games."
   Complacency is a concern for Nicol these days, as his club is off to its best start in its 10-year history. After five matches, the Revolution are 4-0-1 and the lone unbeaten club in the league. They have a three-point lead in the Eastern Conference over Chicago, which just happens to travel to Gillette tomorrow for a key showdown (7:30 p.m. kickoff).
   "We spoke this morning about not being complacent," said Nicol. "We don't want people getting comfortable and thinking that we just need to turn up and play and it happens. We want to make sure that, both on and off the field, everybody's looking after themselves. To make sure, when they train, they train hard."
   And when there's hard training, physical battles -- and confrontations -- are bound to happen.
   "Clearly, we don't want players falling at each other," said Nicol. "But it's a physical game, and we've got people who care and who want to win -- whether it's on the training field or it's on the field. Sometimes you get this, but the two of them are pretty straightforward guys. They've settled it out and we move on."
   John, who has started the last two games at left back, is no doubt looking over his shoulder, because captain Joe Franchino is nearly recovered from a quad strain.
   "Joey is healthy, we just have to decide if he's got enough training behind him," said Nicol. "Over the last two or three weeks, he hasn't had too many training days."
   If Franchino is deemed fit enough to start, he will probably take John's spot at left back in Nicol's 3-5-2 alignment. Another guy feeling some heat is Marshall Leonard, who has shined at left midfield during the last two weeks. But newcomer Cassio is almost recovered from a bout with turf toe, and Nicol did sign the Brazilian for one purpose -- to play left midfield. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out over the next few weeks.
   After dealing with some injury and illness issues over the first month, it seems the club is well on the way to recovery. After winning 13 out of possible 15 points during April, does that mean even better times are ahead?
   "We're not looking at it that way," said Nicol. "We're just want to go out, make sure we do our best and hopefully those results will continue.
   "The key is people don't turn up here and think, because we're winning games, then that's it," Nicol concluded. "I think this morning you saw it. Nobody's taking anything for granted. Everybody's making sure that things are right."
  Â
Show Posts