Much like other members of the Black & Gold, winger Justin Meram is trying to put last Saturday's result in the past.
As Gregg Berhalter alluded to early in the week, that wasn't such an easy thing to do for the Crew. However, as the week has progressed, Meram and his teammates have sharpened their focus and are only thinking about the three-goal victory they need on Sunday to advance.
“[Tuesday], it was a weird session" said Meram. "It was one of those where some things just weren’t working. We were trying things, trying some different options, just trying to figure out what is going to lead us to a comfortable victory. Today [Wednesday] was sharp, today was a great practice.”
So what have the Black & Gold done in order to turn that page? It's not easy to completely erase a result of that nature, but the Crew is thinking about how it can improve.
“We are going to look at Saturday, look at what we did wrong and try to move on with it," said Meram. "It's do or die, I feel like we have nothing to lose now. We are going to go out there and give it everything we’ve got. Hopefully, we don’t come up short, we all believe in it.”
Sunday's match presents an interesting conundrum for the Crew. The side has won on the road by three before -- including once this year, at D.C. United -- but the aggregate scenario creates a different twist where the opposition knows exactly what it needs to do as well. Given that, both teams have different tactical options to consider.
“If we get a goal or it is still tied at half, we're just going to have to push more numbers forward and try to get some goals," said Meram. "We are going to play our game. We've been successful all year. There were some bad plays, some direct free kicks for them, they had two goals out of it off the bat, so we need to eliminate that. Maybe we can be on the other side of those free kicks.”
While the Crew intends to play its game, the question becomes, will New England do the same? The Revolution also like to play ball-control, similar to the Crew. But with a two-goal lead in hand, will they sit back a little more than normal?
“I don’t see them doing that, but if they do, more power to us," said Meram. "I think they are going to come out and play the same way, though. They are at home. But when we played them at their place, it has been sort of a battle too, so I’m excited.”
While the first leg was a result that the Crew is trying to forget as quickly as possible, for Meram, one element was worth holding onto: his first career MLS Cup Playoffs goal, which came in his first postseason contest. The winger was quick to say, however, that he'd trade it for a victory.
"It was my first playoff game in four years, I was excited to be a part of it and play what was an exciting game, regardless of the outcome. But yeah, if I score and we lose, what good does that really do? I just want to win and move on. Obviously, we have had a great year and I think that we can do something special.”
