New England Revolution
The Revolution lost 1-0 to Toronto FC on Saturday night and are 1-6-1 on the road and 0-4 on the road within the 2024 MLS regular season.
And although New England head coach Caleb Porter claimed afterward, “We were the better team,” the sport ended on a disappointing note that has develop into all too familiar. Although the Revolution's passing game was much improved in comparison with last week's loss to New York City FC – the visitors were the protagonists for much of the evening – it was Toronto striker Prince Owosu from close range within the 66th minute who did the trick finally separated the 2 teams.
New England stays in last place within the Eastern Conference. The defeat officially confirms that 2024 is the worst begin to the season in eight games within the club's history (with just 4 points).
Here are just a few takeaways from the revolution's recent defeat:
Lineup changes led to a faster tempo at times.
At the tip of his Thursday press conference, Porter concluded by alluding to lineup changes in the sport against Toronto, after what he called a “step in the wrong direction” within the 2-0 loss at Yankee Stadium to New York City FC every week earlier.
“I think there will certainly be some different decisions,” Porter said of latest faces within the starting lineup. “Part of it will depend on the team and what we need as a team. Part of that will depend on how we can find goals individually.”
Porter continued, adding an interesting criticism of the variety of the team he inherited.
“I think we had that too [many] Guys on their own side and not on the team’s side, if that makes sense,” he explained. “Guys playing gunslingers, which a little bit, sometimes late last year, is what they did. It was a small street ball and everyone could do whatever they wanted individually. That didn't work out at the end of the year last year. I see some of that still happening where guys have to learn to play together and not just as individuals.”
The veteran MLS coach appears to have recognized a holdover from the Bruce Arena era. In its heyday, Arena's team defaulted to an expansive variety of play that, with all three designated player spots occupied by attacking players, often relied on individual talent to attain goals.
One of the byproducts of the older style was a transient pace that usually lacked consistency. This stays the usual from time to time, with players like Carles Gil and Tomas Chancalay dribbling or holding the ball for prolonged periods and maneuvering to search out either an open pass (in Gil's case) or an open shot (more Chancalay's style).
Porter's lineup changes on Saturday partly reflected his try and deviate from that style. Chancalay was substituted in favor of 19-year-old academy graduate Esmir Bajraktarevic. Other changes include the return of fellow midfielder Noel Buck for Ian Harkes, center back Andrew Farrell for Dave Romney and left back Ryan Spaulding for the injured DeJuan Jones.
For a time, New England's pace improved. The team appeared to take a more collective approach to playmaking, with more one- and two-touch passes.
The problem stays the team's inability to convert probabilities into goals. Striker Giacomo Vrioni once more missed several great probabilities to attain, and Nacho Gil's attempt from a Henry Kessler header was blocked within the goal area by Toronto center back Nicksoen Gomis.
“We just have to finish,” Porter noted. “When we’re done, the game is there for us.”
Once again, sales played a giant role.
As with most of Porter's attempts to implement a possession-based system, mistimed turnovers were all the time a source of opposition goals.
This was the case again on Saturday. In the 66th minute, the sequence began with Toronto intercepting a forward pass from Mark-Anthony Kaye (who got here on for Buck as a result of an injury in the primary half). This in itself was less of an issue, even after Toronto was in a position to find Owosu with the following long ball down the left side. New England had easily defended similar approaches all night.
The problem arose after Owosu passed to Toronto midfielder Matty Longstaff and the England midfielder sent a speculative cross in front of the New England goal. Spaulding tried to cut the ball away, but his right-footed swing only partially connected, sending the ball bouncing to Toronto winger Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty. He immediately headed the ball back over the goal where Owosu pounced on it and scored with a deft finish.
Other turnovers occurred throughout the sport, none as noticeable as Spaulding's failed clearance attempt. When adapting to a faster passing pace, mistakes are inevitable. But for a team that also struggled to attain, turnovers proved particularly costly.
Henrich Ravas began shaky, but recovered and played a good game.
Revolution's first-year goalkeeper Henrich Ravas had a very nervous start early in the sport. The 26-year-old turned the ball over several times with mistakes in his own half (and was lucky to flee without conceding a goal).
Still, he managed to avoid early disaster and made several good saves by the tip of the evening.
The highlight got here within the seventy fifth minute when he saved a penalty attempt by Italian international Federico Bernardeschi. It kept New England in the sport, as a 2-0 deficit would have been an unimaginable gap for the goal-shy Revolution to shut.
Noel Buck looked good but was eliminated before half-time.
The Arlington native was almost conspicuously absent from New England's 2024 starting lineup after developing into one of the crucial hyped MLS academy players of 2022-2023.
The 19-year-old, who made his first MLS start since March 3 on Saturday, looked good. He accomplished a remarkable 24 of 25 pass attempts, including several in the ultimate third. Buck looked confident in possession and pushed forward to attach midfield and attack.
But within the midst of a few of his best minutes of the season, he was suddenly forced off with an injury within the forty fourth minute. Porter didn't provide an update on his injuries within the postgame, but added that he believed Buck was “playing well” before he needed to be withdrawn.
Lionel Messi involves town at a crossroads.
After a terrible begin to the season, things could get even worse for New England next weekend when Inter Miami travels to Gillette Stadium.
A record-breaking Revolution crowd is anticipated to be in attendance, as is the legendary Lionel Messi.
Whether or not the 36-year-old superstar actually plays on the pitch stays to be seen, but his mere presence means there will probably be lots more eyes on the Revolution than usual.
It will probably be an enormous opportunity for Porter's team to make a press release on the most important stage possible in a daily season game. There's also the likelihood that Messi, Luis Suárez and the remaining of the previous Barcelona squad add more pain to New England's already historically poor begin to the season.
image credit : www.boston.com