Having last written about the budding optimism surrounding the New England Revolution’s current state, I now sit here at 36,000 feet on a cross-country flight worried.

About what? Stink and brink. Stink, as in “they stink,”  and brink, as in “a franchise on the brink.”

I’ll freely admit that before going off the grid for my flight’s take-off, I was barraged in the Twitter-sphere about midfielder Shalrie Joseph’s “indefinite leave” from the Revolution to attend to personal matters. (I wish him all the best, and a quick return.)

However, this barrage has spun me into a reactionary state, which I’m sure is bad for my sanity, but turns out to be pretty good for blogging.

The importance of Joseph to the Revolution is no secret, and something I’ve talked about before in “The Steve and Shalrie Show ”, and elsewhere—but that anyone who watches the Revolution with their eyes open can see.

Do the Revs stink? Maybe not. But they’re not great.

The Revs have always found ways to have terrible performances mixed in with their usually Eastern Division strength.  “This too shall pass,” we might think.

Perhaps winning isn’t out of the question. I remember sitting in the 2002 MLS Cup championship with 61,000-plus friends cheering the Revolution, though for much of the season I found the team's hard-working/blue-collar style of soccer difficult to watch.

Watching how coach Steve Nicol deals with the cards he and his team have been dealt—including indefinite absences of two of his best players and two largest salaries, an injured Taylor Twellman and Joseph—will be very interesting.  

There’s always talk of building the “spine” of a team, right up the center of the field.   The Revs' first-choice goal keeper is out injured. Their best center-back, Cory Gibbs, is new to the Revs system. Their star midfielder is, uh, on hiatus. And their star forward is still dizzy, or at least not playing.  

Nicol (in addition to team vice president of player personnel Mike Burns, and company) did what he had to—including the clearly difficult decision to trade Jeff Larentowicz—to shore up that spine. Capable Preston Burpo came in to man the nets in the same trade that brought the team the solid Gibbs.

The Revs have tried every forward they can afford to replace Twellman, and they’d still not hesitate to stick him in the starting 11 immediately if/when he says he’s ready.

Now that Joseph is on leave, the Larentowicz trade suddenly stings, as he controlled the Revolution’s home pitch for most of the game. Meanwhile, Burpo watched a few awkward long-range shots sail into the net.   

All is not lost. My optimistic view from a couple weeks ago still holds in some areas. Sainey Nyassi appears to have matured significantly, and Marko Perović seems to have unique and impressive skills. Indeed, the rookies appear to be MLS caliber.

What I just described though is a group of maturing—or otherwise unproven—players that will need to play out of their skin to make this season something to remember.

Which brings me to this franchise being on the “brink.”

The on-field challenges are one thing, and if anyone will steer them to a good show this year, it’s Nicol. Being “memorable” though, is a bigger challenge.

But who will steer the franchise into relevance? Who will help it become loved? I’ve not seen signs that there is an answer forthcoming. I do believe that people are trying, but the Revolution are from where they need to be.

A six-hour plane ride isn’t enough to come up with the ingredients of a successful MLS franchise. But a common sense top five list of what a team must have, might look something like this:

I’ll likely want to expand on that list after more thought, but even if we consider that five of 20 things that a successful franchise needs, the Revolution are clearly on the brink.

How do they line up? 

So I’ll be on the look out for signs that I’m wrong and that the lackluster attendance, local chatter and momentum is just a temporary phenomenon. Or signs that I’m right, and major changes are coming.  

But aside from that, I’ll fly across the country overreacting, as I fester in bad news for the Revolution, and for one of our greatest ever players that actually does engender fan “love.”

Was my optimism in my last post premature? Yes.

Is my “stink” and “brink” concerns an overreaction? I sure hope so.

Read more MLS news on BleacherReport.com

Source: Click Here