After last week's horrible performance at Chivas USA, all eyes are on the Revolution tonight as they welcome to Gillette Stadium the team that beat them 2-0 last week in Carson, Calif.
Because of the club's poor overall showing, Revs fans are focused on the possible return of all-star Shalrie Joseph to midfield, who is battling a quad injury. Head coach Steve Nicol labeled Joseph's return as a 50-50 tossup.
"We're going to have a look," said Nicol after the club's final training session yesterday inside Gillette Stadium. "He's almost there; he's not 100 percent. The question is does he play and risk possible more injury? That's the decision - whether playing him is going to make it worse.
"It's only a strain, but it doesn't make any sense to me to take a risk and put him out for four, five, six weeks."
Joseph desperately wants to play, especially after last week's midfield troubles with him out of the lineup.
"I'm hurting, but I want to play," said Joseph. "I feel good enough to play, but it's not up to me. I wish it was up to me."
There's a reason why Joseph doesn't make that call. "To be honest, the problem with Shalrie is he always wants to play no matter what's wrong with him," said Nicol. "We really have to take things out of his hands because, if we ask him if he's OK, he'll say it and go out and play. So we cannot just go by that. We'll talk to the medical guys and then we'll decide."
Another possible return could come from Taylor Twellman. The U.S. national team forward flew back from Venezuela last night after Team USA was eliminated from the Copa America. Nicol was planning on speaking to Twellman last night to see how he was feeling after he didn't play in Thursday's 1-0 loss to Columbia, but did in the other two U.S. matches.
Definitely out is defensive midfielder Jeff Larentowicz, who is still suffering blurred vision from a blow he took to his eye against Toronto two weeks ago. So rookie Gary Flood is a good bet to retain his spot in midfield, possibly with Joseph.
If the big Grenadian can't go, then Nicol has a major decision to make. Last week's second try to move Michael Parkhurst up into midfield did not work, and James Riley has had problems at center back while Parkhurst was away. So expect Parkhurst - who was also named a Best XI All-Star along with Joseph and keeper Matt Reis - to be back where he belongs, anchoring the Revs three-man back.
If Twellman doesn't start, a rejuvenated Pat Noonan will partner with rookie Adam Cristman up front. The two have combined for four goals and two assists in the four matches they've played together - but the Revs have won just one of their last five.
"I hope everybody's ready to play (tonight)," said Noonan. "The last month of the season has not been good to us. After getting just one win in four home games, I think it's now pretty much a must-win situation - for confidence, for everything.
"We need to win, and we need to get some comfort level within the Eastern Conference. It's a tough conference right now, and if you can get a little lead, you can maybe run away from the pack."
Defensively, the focus tonight will be on Chivas striker Maykel Galindo, who burned the Revs - now sitting in second place a point behind DC United - with his speed and power on the ball, and iced the win with a spectacular 20-yard strike - giving him seven goals on the year.
"Anything better than last week is going to be better," said Nicol. "I don't think we can play again the way we played last week; I certainly hope not. I guess the only thing I can tell you is we're going to be better."