A product of the Red Star Belgrade Academy, Marko Mitrovic understands the value of giving young players a chance to prove themselves. As the head coach of the New England Revolution, Mitrovic can put this concept into practice.
In Wednesday's U.S. Open Cup game against Orlando City SC, all but three starters were 22 or younger. While the Revs lost 4-3, they held three different leads, ultimately succumbing to a stoppage-time goal.
"I felt that those young guys deserved more," Mitrovic said. "I think in general they had a very good game tonight. It's just small details that I believe will help them to grow as players, and to taste and learn at the senior level."
The midweek affair featured several milestones, with four Revolution II players making their first team debuts: Gabriel Dahlin, Javaun Mussenden, Shuma Sasaki, and Schinieder Mimy.
Malcolm Fry and Marcos Zambrano collected their first senior goals, while Dahlin and Eric Klein had their first senior assists.
It wasn't a perfect performance, but the young Revolution held their own against the likes of Martin Ojeda and Griffin Dorsey.
"I think that if we want players to play, we have to give them that opportunity," Mitrovic said. "We can always hesitate. I think every player makes mistakes on the field, but when a young player makes a mistake, we always connect that with their age. I don’t think that’s fair. A lot of times, we have a young player and they didn’t have a good game, then look to another player with the most experience but he still doesn't have a good game. I’m very happy when we have opportunities to give young guys that chance to play."
While several players lacked significant first team minutes, Mitrovic provided them with confidence by encouraging them to play their style.
Fry, a Homegrown who has excelled with the second team, ended the night with 58 touches, one successful dribble, and two chances created.
“Marko talked to the group a lot about just playing with freedom tonight, not playing with fear, not playing with any weight on those shoulders," Fry said. "When a coach tells you that, it's the best thing of all time. Before the game, he was just telling me, ‘Go at the guy, go at the guy, go at the guy.’ There's nothing
better as a player to get that reassurance from a coach."
Mitrovic offered plenty of praise after the final whistle, noting it was "probably one of the best performances that Malcolm had." He said that Zambrano "had a very good game" and that Klein had "a mature performance."
The Revs were dissapointed not to advance is the oldest domestic soccer tournament, but the minutes given to young players could prove to be invaluable.
"Trust me, even if we won the game, we wouldn’t change our approach because it’s so important for their development to play in these kinds of games and get that experience," Mitrovic said.
