Tag Archives: Revs

The Revs Face Their Biggest Challenge of the Year

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In case you haven’t been paying attention, the Revs are the hottest team in MLS, currently on an 11 game unbeaten streak. This Saturday they face the biggest challenge they’ve had in years. They will go up against league leading LAFC at home. The Revs currently sit in a playoff position in seventh place, but a win with some help could boost them up to fourth, third, or even second place in the East. As mentioned, LAFC are the best team in MLS, but the Revs are the hottest team. Since the hiring of Bruce arena, the Revs haven’t lost a single game. Saturday’s game will be the first big challenge of Arenas tenure. It’s also the biggest game of the year, and here’s why.

Make a statement 

People have been talking throughout this streak that the Revs have a chance to make a push for the playoffs. But the fact of the matter is, with the exception of Gustavo Bou, this is the same team that went 2-8-2 to start the season. A win against a powerhouse like LAFC will prove to people that this team has what it takes to be contenders in the MLS Cup playoffs. The strongest team the Revs have faced on this streak is DC United, who they didn’t even beat. Although Bruce Arena has won four games on the road, something no other head coach had done since 2014, he still has more to prove.

A Familiar face

Jul 22, 2017; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Revolution midfielder Lee Nguyen (24) celebrates his goal against the Los Angeles Galaxy during the first half at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

On Saturday, the Revs will also be visited by a friendly face in Lee Nguyen. Lee, on paper, will always be regarded as a Revs legend. However, the way he exited the team has left a taint on his reputation. Half of fans will tell you he’s one of the best, some fans will tell you they hate him. One thing’s for sure: When the whistle blows on Saturday it will be all business. If you’re wondering if he’ll get cheered or booed on Saturday, think back to Wes Welcker’s return. It will be a healthy mix of both.

What This Game Means

If the Revs lose, the longest unbeaten streak they’ve had since 2005 will come to an end. But if they win, they will cement themselves as a real Cup contender. A loss could see the Revs fall out of a playoff position if Toronto is able to beat the Redbulls. However, a win could mathematically put the Revs into second place in the East. What would it take for this to happen? Montreal would have to lose to Colorado. Atlanta would have to lose to the LA Galaxy, and NYCFC lose to Real Salt Lake. Then DC United would have to lose to Philadelphia.

On top of all of this, the Revs would have to erase a 14 goal differential to take second place. And to take third, a 10 goal differential. A win, combined with loses from both New York teams and Montreal, would put the Revs in fourth. This will be the most important game of the Revs season up until this point, so get yourself out to Gillette Stadium at 7:30 on Saturday to witness it in person.

The Revs Transfer Swoops

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Bolstering the Revs attack

As we close in on the summer transfer window opening, something has emerged in Revs land that doesn’t emerge too often. Transfer rumors. Not just one, not two, but three rumors in one day. Newly appointed Sporting Director and head coach Bruce Arena has said the team will only sign one or two players this window, but he is looking to be active come this off season. One of the targets that has reportedly already signed a four year DP contract, is 29 year old Gustavo Bou. Bou, currently plays for Mexican side Club Tijuana, where he has scored 12 goals and 10 assists in 27 appearances this season.

There’s been a debate about who should be the Revs primary striker up top for months now. The debate manly consists of Teal Bunbury, who has five goals in 21 games including open cup play, versus Juan Fernando Caicedo, who has four goals in 15 games for the season. The Revs have lacked a pure goal scorer up top for years now. Gustavo Bou, could be the answer to our problems. While Bou is no Lionel Messi, he would definitely make our attack a lot more dangerous if he does join the Revs when the window opens on July 9th .

Locking down the back line

Another target is former FC Barcelona center back Thomas Vermaelen. Vermaelen, has been out of contract since July 1st when Barcelona did not extend his contract. The 33 year old has been with such clubs as AS Roma, Arsenal, and Ajax, and has played along with players like Lionel Messi as well. Adding a guy like Vermaelen would only bolster the Revs back line more. There’s only one problem: His history with injuries. Since April of 2016 until now, Thomas has had 15 injuries that caused him to miss at least one game. At his age, coming to play for New England, on turf, my not be a good combination.

Help on the flanks

The final transfer rumor that has come out is US International, and former Bruce Arena call up, Fabian Johnson. The left back, currently plays in Germany for BMG, but has recently been linked to a move to MLS. The 31 year old, could make a move to the New England Revolution or FC Cincinnati this summer.

The Revs have been looking for a quality left back for years now, and the departure of Chris Tierney has made their search even harder. Some thought the search was over when the Revs acquired Edgar Castillo this off season. But Castillo quickly fell off the deep end with Revs supporters. Most prefer Michigan State rookie DeJuan Jones to play the position, even though he is a natural right Winger. Jones has stepped up and played any position New England have needed to play him at this year, but he is far from a natural left back. Fabian would be able to come in and really make a change on the left side defensive, and offensive wise. If the Revs are able to acquire two of these three players, they might be able to make a run at the playoffs.

Robert Kraft NEEDS to Sell the Revs

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Revs overview

Robert Kraft is the worst owner in soccer history. If you’re a Revs fan reading this article, you’ll mostly agree with everything I have to say. If you’re a Patriots fan, you might be wondering who the Revs even are. In case you didn’t know, the Revs are Robert Kraft’s other team. Although they really shouldn’t be. Kraft has owned the New England Revolution since 1996, but has done almost nothing to help them out since then. Robert Kraft spends almost no money on his team, settles for mediocrity, and has almost no involvement with the team. You might be thinking, why would he care about them? Well just like every other sports team, the Revs have their own passionate supporters who are dying to see the day their team can lift the MLS Cup. Unfortunately, unless Kraft severely changes his business mentality that won’t happen under Robert Kraft.

Via Google

Soccer is more than a business

Robert Kraft looks at the Revs as a business. At the end of the day, if he makes a profit From ticket sales and concessions he’s content with that. Essentially the way he runs the Revs would be equivalent to him being OK with the Patriots finishing out of the playoffs every single year as long as he makes a profit. This is not the way you want to run a team, especially not a soccer team. He never invests in soccer, ever. We’ve been looking for our own stadium since 2006. Playing at Gillette Stadium does not work for the Revs. There’s no public transportation to get there, and they sell maybe 20,000 tickets on average per game. This leaves almost 50,000 empty seats, making the atmosphere almost nonexistent.

Making Strides?

One of the better things to come out of the Revs camp recently is the rumor that Kraft has pledged to spend up to $400 million on a new stadium. As mentioned earlier, a stadium is the number 1 priority for the Revs right now. They’ve been looking since 2006 and haven’t been able to close a deal on a site. A few years ago they came very close to sealing a deal at Bayside, but it ultimately failed. So when it came out that Kraft was willing to spend 400 million on a stadium, people got excited. Although we’ve heard this story before, but it goes nowhere. Will this be the time that the rumor comes true? We’ll have to wait and see.

Struggle

This season, the Revs are on pace to finish last in the league. The same GM who has gotten them to the playoffs 3 times in the last 9 years has not been fired yet. It’s up to Robert Kraft to make a move. He either needs to sell the Revs to someone who will get us a stadium, invest in the team, has ambitions of winning the MLS Cup. Or, Robert Kraft needs to step up and put his wallet where is mouth is. A $35 million training facility is nice, but without a stadium, or quality players, it’s nothing. It is a stepping stone towards greatness, but there are hundreds of other stones left to go

New England Revolution home stand preview

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The New England Revolution are about to begin their only three game home stand for the 2019 season. Over the next three games they welcome Atlanta FC, New York Red Bulls and the Montreal Impact.

Obviously the Revolution haven’t started the season the way they expected. When you look at the moves they made in the offseason, sitting 10th in the Eastern Conference, with just one win in their opening six games, is disappointing. The side will be hoping to kick start their season over the next three games and gain some momentum to push for a playoff spot.

I’m sure the Revs will be looking to address their lack of offensive production. They are 4th overall In the MLS for touches inside the opponents 18 yards box, but have only registered 11 shots on target, which is 2nd fewest in the league. Add to that the pressure starting to mount on head coach Brad Friedel, and these games are crucial to the Revolutions season.

Revolution v Atlanta Fc

Both teams have started the 2019 season in poor form, creating pressure on both teams head coaches. The defending champions Atlanta Fc haven’t recorded a win in their first 4 games, but have had a busy schedule to start. They have had to balance both MLS games and CONCACAF Champions League games, but now that the Champions league has ended they may begin to improve.

One negative heading into this match is the loss of Centre back and Captain Michael Mancienne. He was given a 1-match suspension after picking up a 2nd yellow card during their home loss to Columbus Crew. Luckily for the Revs, Antonio Delamea will fill the gap competently as he started the season as Manciennes defensive partner. The revs will need their defense to be on its game against Atlanta, who have last seasons record breaking goalscorer Josef Martinez. He has only one goal in his first four games, and will want to find the net to kick start his season.

  • Photo Credit: MercedesBenzStadium.com
    https://mercedesbenzstadium.com/atlanta-united-vs-philadelphia-union-3/#gallery1-14
Revolution v New York Red Bulls

The next team visiting Gillette Stadium on the stand is the New York Red Bulls. New York have had a very similar start to the season as the Revs, but also have a congested schedule to start the season with CONCACAF Champions League matches. But before they visit the Revs they have an away game at Sporting Kansas City to navigate, a game that could pose a significant challenge for them considering their last regular season home game they put seven past Montreal in a big win.

Assuming things go to plan for the Revs, and at worst they grab a draw from the Atlanta game, this game could help lift the Revs four points clear of New York. Depending on how the New York v Sporting KC game goes. A boost for the Revs in this game should be the return of Captain Mancienne to bolster the defense.

  • Anibaba rises over Wright-Phillips to win a header last season
    Photo Credit; Red Bulls News Network
Revolution v Montreal Impact

The third game of the home stand is against the Montreal Impact. The Impact are coming off back to back 0-0 draws, which followed a 7-1 thrashing at the hands of Sporting Kansas City. They also have two pretty tough fixtures before arriving in New England. They play top of the eastern conference Columbus at home, then the Philadelphia Union away, a side also performing well to start the season.

Theres a very real chance that the game versus Montreal could see New England jump them on the ladder with a win, depending on how their other results go.

  • Sporting Kansas City attacking the Montreal Impacts goal in their 7-1 win.
    Photo Credit: Diane Scavuzzo

It’s hard to predict how these games will go. But if the New England Revolution are to have any chance of making the playoffs this year they need to take at least five points from the next nine. I honestly believe they can get the win over Atlanta and Montreal, but the New York game I can see being a draw. Anything less than 5 points could see the Revs well behind the playoff positions. Although it’s early in the season, if they can’t find form with three games at home in a row, it’ll be hard to find it throughout the rest of the season.

Jamie Brown

[Interview] DeJuan Jones Officially Signs with the Revs

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After a long preseason, the Revs have finally signed DeJuan Jones. Jones spent the last four years at Michigan State playing forward. The Revs took him 11th overall in the SuperDraft. Jones is coming off a great year at Michigan State. In 2018 he had 5 goals and 5 assists in 23 starts. Although Jones did get drafted as a forward, he has recently begun a transition to play more as a right back. This came up due to the recent injury Andrew Farrell sustained in preseason. As Jones said, “I am not exclusively a right back. With the injury to Farrel in preseason the team needed depth at the right back position.”

Jones grew up in Lansing, Michigan, just minutes away from where he would eventually play in college. He’s been playing soccer since the young age of 5 years old. Jones to this day still considers his parents his biggest mentors. As a winger/forward, Jones likes to try and adopt a lot of different players styles, but mostly models his type of play after Raheem Sterling. Jones had never played Right back before the draft. Despite this, he says he’s always had a defensive mindset. “I have always taken pride in my defending even as an attacking player. Just getting a better understanding of positioning and decision making has been a good learning experience.”

While Jones noted that most of his minutes in the preseason were in attacking wide positions and not at right back, with the injury to Farrell, right back seems like the most probable position to see him on the field as there is a lot of depth at the forward position. But don’t let this take away your opinion of his attacking abilities. Jones came out of the MLS combine with the fastest 30 meter dash and shuttle run times. When on the attack, Jones will always be a threat with his speed.

Grading the Revs offseason so far

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As I’ve already mentioned, this offseason was one of, if not the most important offseason in Revs history. And it has also been one of the best offseasons for the team as well. Coming into the offseason, the team needed help defesivley and offensively, and they got both. They needed a goal scoring striker, a number 10 to replace Lee Nguyen, and a winger to replace Kelyn Rowe. It seems as if they have filled all of those roles in 2019. But how good did the team do in each category?

Goal Scorer: B-

The revs were desperately missing an attack last year. They never really had a solid goal scorer they could rely on. They acquired Juan Caicedo to play striker, who will hopefully step up and be the Revs new goalscorer. Caicedo is big, and will definitely have a big presence in the box this year, but his track record is the difference between his B- and a B+. So far Juan seems to be having himself a decent preseason with the team, only time will tell if he continues his form in the regular season

Play maker: B+

To replace Lee Nguyen, and his number 10 role with the team, the Revs have brought in Spanish playmaker Carles Gil as a DP player. As it stands, Gil is lining up to be the new number 10 for the Revs, unless they end up bringing in another attacker, in which case Gil will likely move to right wing position. Revs were also linked with Spanish player Bojan Krkic.

With Gil New England is set to have a decent attacking midfield as he posses a lot of skills the team has lacked in recent years. So why a B+? Gil is, for the most part, an unknown player to most. He certainly won’t be a reason to go to games alone. He is a skillful player who did very little with his short time in the premier league. After a few loans and his team getting relegated, he moved to the second division in Spain, which is still a high level, but not a guaranteed difference maker. Gil will have a lot of hype to live up to with the Revs.

Right Wing: C-

As of now, there isn’t a guaranteed spot for any player at right wing. The position is up for grabs, hence the low rating for it. The position could fall to as many as 5 players: Diego Fagundez, Justin Rennicks, Tajon Buchanan, Juan Agudelo or Dejuan Jones. While any 5 of those players could play the position, they will be fighting for minutes. Of the 5, Justin Rennicks would probably be the most suited for the spot as it is his most natural position, and has the most experience playing it. As mentioned earlier, the team could also sign a new player to take the spot or move Gil there. If this were to happen the grade could go up, but for now they get a C-.

Left Back: A-

Is Edgar Castillo the best left back in the world? Not even close. Is he one of the best left backs in MLS? Yes. If Castillo can stay healthy at the nimble age of 33 in 2019, the Revs will be solid at the left back position. This is a spot they have really struggled to fill the past few seasons. Castillo has been rated as the top 5 left backs in MLS the last few years for Colorado, if he can continue that form, our left back problems could be over. The only problem remaining at left back is their depth. The only other left back under contract with the team is Gabriel Somi. But Somi has been very vocal about wanting to leave due to lack of playing time. However, with the European transfer window closed, he most likely won’t be moved until the summer.

Center back: D+

Revs made no change to their Centerbacks beside trading former club captain Claude Dielna. The team currently only has 3 center backs under contract. This isn’t good if one of them gets injured. The team has however recently been linked with two American center backs who currently play for QPR in England. The two wouldn’t be starters, but they would be low-risk options for depth. If a player were to be unavailable for whatever reason, one of the two could fill in. Currently, their starting center backs will most likely be Michael Mancienne and Antonio Delamea or Jalil Anibaba. This isn’t the worst pairing, but it’s the same groupings that helped the Revs conceded 55 goals last season.

Overall: B+

Coming into the offseason, the Revs had 5 major needs to improve the team, and so far they have acquired 3 of the 5, and 4 if you count the Justin Rennicks signing. With the European transfer window coming to a close, the Revs have a lot of potential to snag up some players in Europe in the next few weeks including another max salary player as club president Brian Bilello hinted at. The Revs have definitely had one of the best if not THE best offseason in their 23 year history. Now, they have to prove it on the field

What’s Next For The Revs?

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The MLS offseason is in full swing, and its time for the New England Revolution to get going. They will start what is arguably the most important offseason in their recent history. After missing the playoffs for three years in a row, the team has a lot do to compete in 2019. So what exactly do they need to do?

Playmaker

The Revs haven’t had any real and consistent playmakers ever since they traded Lee Nguyen. The lack of one has really played a big role in their downfall. Nguyen, who occupied the teams #10 role in 2017, was replaced by a few players with no real results. First, it was Diego Fagundez who started in the number 10 role, but throughout the year Kelyn Rowe occupied it, as well as Guillermo Hauché; none of whom were ever a consistent starter or consistent producers. The Revs need someone who can make plays, create, and score goals. Now with Rowe and Hauche gone, the team has the assets to get a new playmaker, but will they?

Center back

For the past 2 years, the biggest defensive need for New England has been leftback. Last year Gabriel Somi was supposed to be the answer, but that move flopped. This year they have gone out and gotten Edgar Castillo. While his age might be unappetizing, he’s a proven MLS leftback that can help this team if he stays healthy. Now that the Revs have wrapped up the left back position, center back becomes their defensive priority. Their backline may have been the most inconsistent back line in MLS last year. Every week brought a new pairing. The Revs need a new center back to play with Michael Mancienne to solidify the backline. 

Goal Scorer

The Revs have struggled to find a pure goal scorer arguably since the days of Taylor Twellman. Kei Kamara was the last decent goal scorer they could rely on, and he was viewed as a bust. The Revs have lacked a pure goal scorer they can rely on to score 15 goals a year for a while. In fact, the last person to score more than 15 in one season was Lee Nguyen in 2014 when he scored 18.

The Revs have already gone out and signed Columbian Juan Caicedo. While the signing has been generally viewed as good, Caicedo has never had a season with more than 15 goals. The Revs are also rumored to be signing forward Justin Rennicks to a Homegrown deal. However, there still is no guarantee he will be producing as much as the Revs need from a striker. 

Club president Brian Bilello has said the team plans on signing some high salary players, and possibly a few Designated players. Although the past has shown us the Revs’ spending doesn’t always lead to quality. It will be interesting to see how the Revs utilize the rest of the offseason and see who comes in.