So if you are to believe the pundit politburo of the powers that be covering MLS, the New England Revolution absolutely crushed the summer transfer window.
While that doesn't get you any points in the standings as the Revs head out West to Carson, CA's Dignity Health Sports Park to face the LA Galaxy tonight (930pm EDT, Apple TV), it is certainly something worth hanging your hat on.
Now who am I to deny the minds over at Backheeled and noted UConn fan Matt Doyle what I think should be a cold hard fact. Yes, the Revs did very, very well this summer. And the most impressive part of what the Revs did, was accomplishing this feat without technically directly addressing perhaps the biggest issue on their roster...
Striker.
Seth Macomber
Now, don't get me wrong, there was a very good argument that New England desperately needed another major asset at winger, especially with Luca Langoni out, and that was the more crucial need during this window. I thought the Revs needed a utility defender and Cody Baker could be that guy and Tylon Smith and Joshua Wynder could rack up a bunch of minutes for Revs II this fall before making the jump as the backup center back duo for the spring/sprint season.
There's a lot to like from the smaller moves, but the Revs sorting out the top of the formation is what's largely carrying their top marks from the summer window.
While Daniel Gazdag can absolutely do a job up top, I don't view him as a true striker and far more as an attacking midfielder type. Yes, Wilson Harris is a true striker and I for one am very excited to see what he and Gazdag can do late in games...But I don't view either as a permanent solution to the Revs' production up top. More of a supplement to what the Revs are kind of already doing. Which is fine.
We've already seen the addition of Jack Harrison as a DP-level winger have a pretty strong impact with a three-assist game against DC a few weeks ago...funnily enough all three going to the most surprising hat-trick since Zach F Schilawski in Alhassan Yusuf. This is where the Revs not directly addressing starting striker is perfectly reasonable, because New England is already making up for that lack of production literally everywhere.
Combine those triple-scoresheet appearances above with Carles Gil's MotM performance with 1G/2A last week and Luca Langoni's three-assist performance against Cincinnati much earlier this year, and that is four different players that have a trio of individual goal contributions in a single game this year that I can recall off the top of my head. And not a single one is a striker.
Not to be forgotten is the now departed Brayan Ceballos' brace from that same game against Cincy and at least one Dor Turgeman game with a goal and an assist, and not since the Shield winning team lead byled/Buksa/Buchanan along with Gil have we see a team in New England with this many threats from seemingly everywhere.
Sam Lattof
Not to be completely unfair to Turgeman, who has 6G/4A in 1800 minutes this year and has scored in two straight games and four of his last seven. His underlying numbers have been much improved since August, probably helps with Harrison's service into the box, and there are a lot of things he has been doing well as far as positioning and work rate all year. The finishing at tim,r has left a lot to be desired at times but that tight-angle shot against Columbus...that's what we're looking for right there.
But the key to this Revs team is not just the attacking front four being capable of multi-goal contributions...it's that New England is getting them from basically the entire formation. Now the contributions from the holding midfield group are massively buoyed by Yusuf and his impressive stint as an off striker in DC, but given what else Brooklyn Raines does, his 1G/1A this year is more than enough.
Will Sands and Mamadou Fofana have each recorded a goal and two assists, Matt Polster just scored at right back, and Ilay Feingold in 700 minutes has a goal and an assist as well. And I am very much on the record in saying the Revs' most important position group is fullback, where Feingold missed four months and Peyton Miller (4G/4A on the year) has been playing at winger a lot.
Back to the common theme of the Revs 2026 season...the rebuilding and mostly incredibly young team that gets sporadic production from its striker position and literally doesn't care. Because they have the best playmaker in the league, a new DP winger, a holding mid who apparently now is a second striker, a new potential super sub/spot starter with over 100 career MLS goal contributions, and might finally have its fullback duo back and actually playing at fullback.
So back to the first question, I guess...can a team win the transfer window without directly solving its biggest problem? Yes, absolutely, New England just did that. Because at worst the Revs got better at one major position (winger) that's going to allow them to use their fullbacks more dangerously and signed a tremendous league veteran to back up a former MVP.
You know that Moneyball scene where Brad Billy Beane Pitt is trying to recreate Johnny Damon in the aggregate? That's basically what Chris Tierney and the front office did this summer. Fixing striker this window probably wasn't a realistic option, so let's fix basically everything around it and continue to just get goals from everywhere.
Sam Lattof
The Revs have gotten such great contributions from guys like Polster and Sands that if and when this team is fully healthy, that bench is going to be loaded. One of either Turgeman or Campana will be a regular substitute option, and one of Langoni or Miller if they opt to keep Peyton higher up the field. If the only question the Revs have going into November is what's going on at striker...it's the same question we've been asking all year. And it hasn't mattered all that much as far as the standings are concerned.
What is important in the standings is getting three points out West before a very important midweek game against NYCFC. Because Riqui Puig is not walking through that door, and boy do the Galaxy need him in the worst way.
Joining us this week is Josh Guesman of Corner of the Galaxy podcast and website to discuss all things mostly not going well for the currently 13th-best offense and 13th-place Galaxy in the West. Be sure to head over to their site for all of their game coverage.
1) So how was the LA Galaxy transfer window?
Brought in six players. Kyogo, Lozano, Taylor, Roberto, Calegari and Ruiz. The Galaxy also shipped out 6 players. An extremely busy window with all but Calegari apparently available.
2) I feel like it's rare to see the Galaxy below the playoff line, but that might be 2024 and/or 2005 MLS Cup bias... what's been going wrong that has LAG three points adrift of the play-in game (with an extra game played to boot!)?
The Galaxy are inconsistent at best, and poor at worse. They can command possession but their transition defense and final third defense lead them astray. However, that defense is also about 15 goals better than it was last year. Without a true no.9 since Klauss went down with an injury, the appearance of Kyogo might be a sign of life. And the oft repeated line: this team needs Riqui Puig. Creativity in the midfield is lacking and there’s hope that more defensive midfielders can somehow link Marco Reus with Lozano and Paintsil. They need to score more goals.
3) Galaxy couldn't take advantage of a red card against San Diego to earn a draw last week, then went down a man and dropped points in Montreal the week before...were there any positives to take away from those games knowing the ejections made things weird? Or are those two games a microcosm of the frustrations of the 2026 season?
The Galaxy have no played 4 straight games that were effected by a red card. 3 of those were their doing. The red card against SD eventually led to a Lozano goal and a controversial Kyogo goal that was called back. The positives are that the Galaxy could be on the verge of getting all their new pieces to work? They’re going to need to if they think they can save Greg Vanney’s job. He’s on the hot seat.
