In 2026, the New England Revolution will be marked by the intensity with which they play.
“Very, very important. I think it’s one of our core performance anchors," head coach Marko Mitrovic said. "When we speak about intensity, we always connect with run, which is present and it has to be present. But it’s also intensity in way of thinking and making decisions because it goes together. And as I said, it’s one of our core performance anchors. That’s something that is really up to us. It’s very, very in our control. There’s no other way to win if we don’t bring the right intensity into our environment.”
The Revolution got off to a pretty intense start solely based on the scoreline. New England defeated USL League One expansion side Sarasota Paradise. Six different players found the back of the net in the 6-0 win, including Dor Turgeman, Leo Campana, Jackson Yueill, and Tanner Beason.
While Sarasota is a USL League One side that New England should be beating, the fact that six different players scored and the MLS side showed its dominance is noteworthy. The last two offseasons, the Revs haven't been as nearly as dominant.
“A lot of it was intent, be intentional in how we do things," Yueill said. "And the intensity. Do things as best and as fast we can. We know that we’re still one week into it and there will be mistakes, there will be missed passes. But it’s about our reactions after those, trying to do the right things that we’ve been working on and talking about this week to defensively be well and offensively try to break them down. So, intent and then intensity behind that.”
It is hard to take a lot from preseason games. They are easy to overreact to, especially since we only see highlight packages and not the full match.
From everything we have been hearing and what we have seen, New England is going to play differently in 2026. There seems to be a renewed willingness to fight for the badge and not just win games but aim to dominate and control them.
But this is just one preseason game versus a third division squad. Mitrovic and the Revs will need to prove that they consistently level opponents, especially when the games start to matter.
