Nicol: Desire could be as good as Phelan, Videira

It’s not every day that a MLS coach travels halfway around the world to find more competition for the likes of Pat Phelan and Mike Videira:

With the offseason departures of veterans Steve Ralston and Jeff Larentowicz, the Revs will be relying more heavily on the development of younger players like Pat Phelan and Mike Videira, both of whom are likely to see increased playing time this season. It’s essentially a given that 2009 MVP finalist Shalrie Joseph has locked down one of the central midfield roles, and Nicol envisions Desire, Phelan and Videira in a battle for the second spot.

Please let him be an undiscovered Essien.  Please let him be an undiscovered Essien.  Please let him be an undiscovered Essien.

My favorite quote from Stevie: “He likes to keep the ball and pass the ball,” Nicol said.

Which is it?  Does he like to keep the ball, or does he like to pass it?  And what midfielder doesn’t want to either keep the ball or pass the ball.  It’s brilliant.  It’s the kind of quote that he can use to describe just about every midfielder on the face of the Earth without telling us anything.

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Revs Links: February 23rd, 2010

Couple of quick kicks today:

• Atiba Harris and Marvin Chavez scored on either side of halftime as the Revs dropped their preseason opener to FC Dallas by a score of 2-0 in a game played in Orlando, FL on Tuesday.

• The Saturday, June 26th match against the Shi Chicago Fire has been moved to Sunday, June 27th at 6:00 PM.

Revs Sign Midfielder No One Has Ever Heard Of

Welcome to Foxboro(ugh), Niouky Desire…

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution announced today that Senegalese central midfielder Niouky Desire has signed a contract with Major League Soccer to play for the Revolution. He will occupy one of the team’s eight international roster spots. Per MLS and club policy, terms of the deal were not released. He will join the team pending receipt of his U.S. P-1 Visa.

Desire, 23, has played Dakar-based Port Autonome for the past four seasons. Before joining Port Autonome, he featured for ASC Diaraf, another club based in Dakar, for four seasons.

“We’re pleased that we were able to bring Niouky to the Revolution,” Revolution Vice President of Player Personnel Michael Burns said. “He’s a traditional center midfielder who is comfortable in different formations, and he will give us depth in the middle of the field.”

I want to like this signing, I really do.  But bringing a guy no one has ever heard of, and then saying he’ll add depth to the midfield sounds like a Stephane Assengue-style “we found this guy nobody knows about in Africa and we think he’s decent, and we only have to pay him $48,000/year” move.

God, I hope I’m wrong.  But I would feel a lot better if Burnsie or Nicol came out and said something like, “Niouky will be a big part of the team this year and we have high hopes for his future with the club.”

Revs Hand Reinaldo Navia a Three Day Trial

According to numerous sources, including the team’s official blog, the Revs will fly in 31-year old free agent Chilean forward Reinaldo Navia into town next week for a three day trial.  A bronze medalist from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Navia is a veteran of the Mexican League, who has played sparingly the last several seasons.  In fact, FC Dallas tried to sign him two years ago, but were unsuccessful.

In this video, he certainly looks the part:

Reis Goes Under the Knife… yes, again.

As if Steve Nicol didn’t have enough to worry about:

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis underwent successful surgery on his left knee on Thursday afternoon. The procedure, quadriceps tendon debridement, was performed by Dr. Thomas Gill at Massachusetts General Hospital earlier today.

Reis, 34, underwent rotator cuff surgery on his left shoulder on Dec. 1, and has been rehabilitating since then. While Reis’ expected rehabilitation time for his knee is 8-12 weeks, he is expected to be sidelined for approximately the next 12-16 weeks in total while he continues to rehabilitate his shoulder.

So, how are ya feelin’ about a 34-year old goalkeeper with a bad shoulder and a bad knee?

2010 Schedule Revealed

Initial reactions to the 2010 Revolution Schedule:

• Only three National TV appearances?  There are 56 nationally televised games this year (25 on ESPN, 31 on FSC), so that means 112 total appearances.  The average MLS team will get seven nationally televised games.  Wonder if someone out there is as concerned as many Revs fans appear to be about the 2010 edition.
• One one home game that’s not scheduled for a Saturday night?  Gotta think that’s a gift from the league for a club that’s shedding fans.  Doubt it will last, though.
• The Revs better get out of the gates relatively fast, because their September schedule is brutal.

Alston Called up to USMNT

Congratulations are in order for Revolution defender Kevin Alston, who was called up to the USMNT Training Camp in preparation for their February 24th friendly with El Salvador.  Kid’s gonna be a star, and I’d sure like to see him earn his first cap in the near future.

Revs Sign Castro, Shuttleworth, Schilawski

Let me get this straight…

The Revolution had a chance to rid themselves of Mauricio Castro, and they passed it up?  Ummm… why?  Did they think it would be to tough to pass up the one assist every five games of playing time that he currently provides?

I mean, “bravo” to the Revs for getting Shuttleworth and Schilawski signed, but what does Castro bring to the table that Kenny Mansally doesn’t at a fraction of the cost?

Also worth noting that Edgaras Jankauskas is in camp with the club, so it looks like a safe bet that if he’s not officially resigned, he will be shortly.

Revs Hire Stephen Myles as Assistant Coach

Not much of a professional men’s soccer coaching resume, but it seems like a reasonable hire.  It’s just a complete bonus that he’s a dead ringer for Steve Nicol.

“We’re pleased to add Stevie to our staff,” Revolution head coach Steve Nicol said. “He’s someone who will fit in well with us in the way he goes about his job, the experience that he has and the knowledge that he’ll bring to our staff. He also has a great understanding of the U.S. soccer system, which will help us in developing our player programs.”

Myles, 48, comes to the Revolution from the David Beckham Academy in Los Angeles, where he has been the assistant director of competition since 2005. He has also spent the last two seasons coaching the LA Galaxy’s Under-16 team in the club’s youth development academy. Myles’ other previous coaching experience in the U.S. includes stints as the director of coaching with the Santa Anita Soccer Club, assistant coach with the San Jose Cyberrays (WUSA) and director of coaching for the Tulsa Thunder youth program.