New England Revolution head coach Marko Mitrovic has offered a consistent message to Jack Harrison since his arrival: Play freely.
The Designated Player was lively in his 36 minutes in Saturday's 2-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo, winning all eight of his ground duels and completing two crosses. His ability to beat players on the dribble – he went 4/4 – will certainly be an asset.
“I think something that we were missing in the first half of the season was more of those [dribbling] actions, and when we are on the ball one-on-one, that we have the ability to break the opponent," Mitrovic said. "We have great runners in behind, but also sometimes when you [are facing a team that's] sitting in a low block, or in [one at] that moment, we have to expose ourselves one-on-one."
Mitrovic noted that Peyton Miller has shown a brashness on the ball, especially after the World Cup break. There's hope that other players can do the same.
"We're trying to expose those guys when they're in those [one-on-one] moments, and they have to trust that they can do those things," Mitrovic said. "We just encourage them to go for it. We're going to live with the outcome, because that's the way you can change the game for us."
For Harrison, it comes naturally.
His dribbling success in Europe was 41% in 2025/26, 36% in 2024/25, and 40% in 2023/24. These are positive numbers considering that Lionel Messi's rate in Major League Soccer this year is 48% while Carles Gil's is 46%, according to SofaScore.
"I feel like the way I like to play, I like to go at guys dribbling, it’s something I’ve always had since I was young," Harrison said. "Trying to get that out on the pitch and trying to enhance that a little bit under Marko within his system and within the structure to help improve the team, that’s what I’m going to try to do."
It will take time for Harrison to build full fitness and understand the Revs' style of play, but early reviews are positive.
"We are happy that Jack joined the team and made his debut today," Mitrovic said. "Jack has only had one week with the team. It’s very difficult for someone who came and had a few training sessions with the team to have high expectations in the first game.
"We have to remind ourselves that this [is] almost like a preseason for Jack, even though he’s in very good shape and I am very happy with the shape he came in and joined us on the first day.
"I actually think that he had some very good actions today. You can see that he’s clean on the ball, he’s sharp, but he’s still learning our team and his teammates. We have to give him time to adapt to everything, and then set – I cannot say higher expectations, but I think the expectations will grow game after game with him growing with the team.”
