Looks like Pierce, Cancela, Llamosa and possible others will miss the game =
against the
Metrostars. I still think we can win the East, but not this game. I'm guess=
ing a 4-0
loss. Any other predictions?

From Boston Herald:
Injuries take toll on Revolution: Cancela and Pierce swell ranks of team's =
walking
wounded
By Gus Martins
Saturday, April 24, 2004

FOXBORO - The Revolution will likely travel by luxury coach to New York for=

tomorrow's game against the MetroStars, but the team doesn't have a wealth =
of
options for the starting lineup.

     It's unlikely the Revs will have the services of defender Rusty Pierce=
(quadricep
contusion) or midfielder Jose Cancela (calf contusion). Neither player prac=
ticed for the
majority of the week.

     With Shalrie Joseph wearing a face mask to protect his broken nose and=
Carlos
Llamosa out for the season, it's clear injuries are already taking a heavy =
toll on a team
that has staggered to an 0-2 start.

     Steve Nicol will have to mix and match a starting lineup that could se=
e Joseph
move to central defense, Joe-Max Moore move to midfield and Brian Kamler ge=
t his
first start of the season, possibly in the defense.

     Kamler, who played most of his Revolution minutes in the midfield, sai=
d he is
ready to contribute in any role Nicol deems necessary.

     ``This is the first day they have even thrown me back there,'' he said=
of working
with the fullbacks. ``Maybe it's a numbers thing. I'm not reading too much =
into that.
I've played back there before. The thing throughout my career is I've been =
able to play
just about anywhere as far as on the right side, the left side, the middle,=
or the
outside. Wherever he sees fit.''

     Kamler, who became the team's de facto left midfielder after being acq=
uired by the
Revs in a six-player deal in May 2002, said he sees himself as being most e=
ffective in
the midfield.

     ``I think I've developed more into a left midfielder or anywhere on th=
e left side,''
he said. ``But, really, I'm just happy to be playing a game at my age (32) =
for a living.''

     After playing his first three MLS seasons at D.C. United under coach B=
ruce Arena,
Kamler said he learned the value of versatility.

     ``I've played a lot there (defender) for Bruce (Arena),'' he said. ``B=
ruce is the one
who taught me how to play it. I don't know if he was foreseeing the future =
for me. But,
really, he's the one who understands how it works to play in the midfield o=
r in the
back. For me, it's really helped my career.''

     Cancela, an attacking midfielder, had a walking brace on his left foot=
yesterday,
confirming he is a longshot to play against the MetroStars.

     ``I took a solid hit to my calf,'' he said. ``It's pretty sore. But I =
think that I should
be able to begin training again next week. I don't know if it happened in l=
ast week's
game or in training. But it's a pretty good whack and it's pretty significa=
nt. It's very
painful when I run. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to train on Monday or Tue=
sday. This
past Monday and Tuesday, I tried to train, but it just wasn't possible. The=
pain was too
intense.''

     Kamler, who missed several weeks of preseason activity because of Achi=
lles
bursitis, said the team is determined to avoid an 0-3 start to the season. =


     ``I think we just have to take one game at a time,'' he said. ``Every =
game is an
urgent game. One through 30.''



From Boston Globe:
Injuries a central concern

Revolution hope defenders return

By Frank Dell'Apa, Globe Staff  |  April 24, 2004

FOXBOROUGH -- During the preseason, Revolution coach Steve Nicol alternated=
three
central defenders in starting roles. By this week, though, the team was pra=
cticing
without any of those players -- Daouda Kante (knee bruise), Carlos Llamosa =
(left
anterior collateral ligament), and Rusty Pierce (calf bruise).

Kante returned to training yesterday, though, and Pierce could be available=
for
tomorrow's game against the MetroStars at Giants Stadium.

But the Revolution had to scrimmage Thursday with three tryout players, plu=
s
midfielders Shalrie Joseph (recovering from a broken nose) and Brian Kamler=
, in
central defense. The jury-rigged lineup symbolized the team's vulnerability=
and 0-2
start. Midfielder Jose Cancela viewed training yesterday with a removable c=
ast on his
left foot, a precautionary measure to protect a calf bruise.

"We are still hoping they will all be available," Nicol said. "Rusty has ha=
d his fair share
of injuries, but when he tells you he is ready, he is ready. Potentially, w=
e will have
everybody to choose from."

That does not include Llamosa, though no determination has been made whethe=
r he
will undergo surgery to treat an injury that occurred March 27. Since then,=
the
Revolution central defense has been falling like dominoes, surrendering thr=
ee goals
each to Los Angeles and San Jose. Nicol appears intent on adding Trinidad &=
Tobago
defender Avery John, who played for him with the Boston Bulldogs four years=
ago, but
the signing is apparently being stalled by bureaucracy.

"It depends on a couple of inquiries," Nicol said of the John acquisition. =
"He is a good,
tough defender and we know what to expect from him. We brought him in to ma=
ke
sure he is the same as he was then."

Joe-Max Moore will likely move into Cancela's midfield spot, advancing near=
the
strikers. Joseph, who is wearing a protective face guard, will likely be in=
a defensive
midfield role. Kamler could start on the left wing, with Pat Noonan joining=
Taylor
Twellman at striker. Moore played only six minutes in the first two games o=
f last
season, because of injuries, a red card, and a suspension, then scored in t=
he 12th
minute of a 2-1 win over Dallas on an artificial turf field in the third ga=
me. Moore has
been healthy this season, but several of his teammates have been injured.

"I have made it clear that I am ready to play anywhere the team needs me," =
Moore
said. "In a 3-5-2, I like to play just behind the two strikers. But we are =
playing a 4-4
-2, and if I am a forward, I prefer to play slightly deeper, that is my ten=
dency.

"I am just happy to be around the ball, and to try to create, to set up opp=
ortunities for
the team. Whoever I am with [in midfield], one of us has to stay [to defend=
], that's the
important thing.

"Right now, it's not a pretty picture. We haven't won a game, but we will f=
igure a way
out of it."

Said Nicol: "Our biggest problem is we haven't been solid as a team. Have t=
here been
defensive mistakes? Yes. But it is not all down to the five guys at the bac=
k. We have to
defend as a team and attack as a team. If we do that, we will be solid. If =
we leave
holes, we will have problems."