With the New England Revolution underperforming through the first third of the season, Head Coach Jay Heaps has taken a fair amount of criticism. Naturally, when a team that some analysts had picked to win the Supporters’ Shield struggles its way to just one win through its first ten matches, speculation will turn to whether some blame lies with the coaching staff.

Heaps has certainly made a few questionable decisions- the decision to start Kelyn Rowe over Scott Caldwell on opening day still stands out, though that was later blamed on a Caldwell illness, and many fans have been frustrated by his reluctance to change the team’s shape from a 4-2-3-1.

On the whole, however, I’ve increasingly come to believe Heaps has done well to keep the Revs afloat during their early-season struggles. That belief was solidified on Saturday, when a lot of credit for the Revs’ second win of the season against Chicago was due to Heaps for a superb all-around coaching performance.

Outside of "intangible" aspects like locker room management, a head coach’s biggest impact on a team’s performance comes in a few key areas, including pre-match team selection, set piece preparation, and in-match substitutions. Heaps nailed all three areas on Saturday, and the result was probably the best performance of the season by the Revs.

Team Selection: Rowe rewards Heaps with strong performance at right back

With left back Chris Tierney and centerback Jose Goncalves injured, the Revs faced a crunch on defense heading into Saturday. Heaps elected to move right back Je-Vaughn Watson into the middle to cover for Goncalves and reserve right back London Woodberry to the left in place of Tierney. In a surprise move, he then started attacking midfielder Kelyn Rowe at right back, in Rowe’s first career start as a defender:

"It was a lot along the lines of how many touches [Rowe would get]," Heaps said, when asked for the reasoning behind moving Rowe to that spot. "We thought, when you watch Chicago when they’re on the road, they drop into this five-back system and it really gives a lot of time for the outside backs to make plays."

It quickly became apparent that Chicago had played right into Heaps’ hands. While playing an attacking midfielder at fullback may normally have left the Revs exposed defensively, Chicago did not play with wingers against the Revs, meaning the Fire had no attacking players lining up directly against Rowe and Woodberry:

This left Rowe little defensive responsibility and acres of space to move forward. Rowe’s heat map shows that in the second half especially, when he and Woodberry had switched sides and Rowe lined up at left back, Rowe spent an absurd amount of time attacking, effectively playing as an extra attacking midfielder:

Heaps’ plan worked: Rowe completed a whopping 88% of his passes against Chicago, and played a part in Lee Nguyen’s opening goal.

On that goal…

Set Piece Preparation: Heaps’ "Duke" play leads to opening goal

The Revs are noted for taking many short corners. On Saturday, their set piece prep finally led to a goal, when a Lee Nguyen short corner was expertly relayed back to him as he darted untracked behind the defense, leaving him plenty of room to launch the ball in:

Heaps, who played college basketball at Duke University under legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski, explained the play had its roots in his basketball background:

"…it’s got a basketball cut in it," said Heaps, who was initially reluctant to reveal the "secret name" for the training ground move before quickly relenting. "We’ve run it a couple times. We just felt against the zone, we’d be able to get something like that."

As the players discussed after the game, the play had been drilled into them in training, with the aim of creating a player overload to over-match the Fire. First, Rowe’s advanced position created a two-on-two situation against the Fire defense; then, Caldwell drifted in to create a three-on-two:

"We wanted to pull out some defenders," said Rowe. "Lee saw that we could take them two on two, and then we knew that Scotty would kind of drift over so it would be three on two, and we like our odds with those players. Credit to Scotty and credit to Lee for the run. That ball into Lee wasn’t easy first time."

The name of Heaps’ play that created the opening goal? Heaps named it after the place it came from: the "Duke."

In Game Subs: Femi’s first career goal seals the match for the Revs

The Revs’ second goal also came from a direct Heaps decision: the move to bring in forward Femi Hollinger-Janzen:

Femi’s substitution into the match may seem like a no-brainer at this point: the third-round pick has been the pleasant surprise of the season for the Revs, and his first career goal was a long time coming. Heaps deserves credit, though, for knowing the right moves to make and bringing on Femi when he can be most effective:

"Well, I thought Femi went in and instantly gave us an energy," Heaps said. "He brought a presence. He’s been very close to that goal a few times and I was real excited to get him in there, and then for him to finish. He just had an energy about him all week and I thought he was going to get a goal tonight, and that’s why we put him in."

Chicago’s defense was exhausted by the time Femi came in- don’t forget, the Fire had just played a midweek game on the road at Vancouver before playing on the road in Foxborough:

"The [Revs] keep the ball very well, which can make it difficult at times because you’re doing a lot of defending. I think maybe we did a little bit too much defending and we got tired and we weren’t as good on the ball as we needed to be because we were tired. I think that affected us on that side of the ball as well." –Chicago defender Michael Harrington

Femi is a gifted athlete and an absolute workhorse in the attack - besides his technical skills, one of his strongest qualities is that he never stops running. Bringing on an energetic player against a tired defense is a recipe for success, and a big part of why Femi has looked so good this year is that he is so well-suited to the supersub role.

Conclusion

Between the team selection giving the Revs a tactical advantage, the set piece leading to the first goal, and the substitutions leading to the second, Heaps’ coaching played a major role in the Revs’ victory over the Fire. The Revs were well-prepared, well-drilled, and well-positioned to defeat an overwhelmed Chicago side.

Whatever criticism Heaps has endured because of the Revs’ slow start, he deserves credit for a superb job against Chicago. That’s why, though he didn’t step on the field, the Revs’ head coach was my Man of the Match.