The New England Revolution returned to play on Wednesday evening, and things looked slightly different.
The historic Boston Stadium returned to being Gillette Stadium, Matt Polster played outside back, and the grass that was featured during the FIFA World Cup returned to turf.
After an impressive start to the season at home, New England started the second half of the season in rather mediocre fashion. It struggled to create in attack and was only able to secure a point against a struggling Toronto FC. While there was rust to knock off after a long layoff from competitive matches, playing on a new surface also adds some level of an adjustment period.
In the build-up to the match, you could see and hear players adjusting to the surface. Players were throwing balls up in the air to test the surface's bounce while also discussing the change in speed from how the ball operates on grass to turf at training.
After the draw, both head coach Marko Mitrovic and players were reluctant to use the surface as an excuse.
"When you're not sharp, it’s always easy to find the different reasons for why we haven't been as sharp as we wanted to be," Mitrovic said when asked about The Blazing Musket about the turf. "Maybe the turf is one of the reasons, but we have to learn to play on this surface. We cannot change our surface, so we have to find a way to be as sharp as possible on this surface. That's what we have to do."
That sharpness was noticeable as the Revs had chances to score but were unable to put them away. Griffin Yow had arguably the best chance as Dor Turgeman sent a ball across the face of goal to a trailing Yow. The winger had a point-blank opportunity but poked the shot wide.
"It's something that you know you need to have a short memory about," Yow said regarding the missed opportunity. "I think if you dwell on it and let it affect you the rest of the game, it's something that only hurts you and hurts the team. It's just being more clinical and more focused."
But Yow didn't think that the new playing surface had much of an impact on how New England played.
"Of course, it being a different surface, there's always going to be differences," Yow said. "But I think it's something that we need to just be able to adapt to, not use it as a complaint or an excuse because you go and travel and play against all these different teams at different pitches in different stadiums. It's something that we're gonna need to accept as our home. I personally was fine with the pitch. I think it was good turf so I think we'll we'll get used to it with time."
It will be interesting to see how New England plays against Atlanta. If they secure three points, the playing surface will fall into the background among issues and talking points among fans.
But if the Revs start struggling to win at home, the fact that the team switched its playing surface after the World Cup will remain at the front of supporters' minds.
The Revs are expecting a tough battle due to how Atlanta can operate in possession. Compared to how the Five Stripes started the season, the team seems to be on an upward trajectory according to Revolution head coach Marko Mitrovic, with the club returning to MLS play with a 2-2 comeback draw against Charlotte FC.
“[Atlanta] creates a lot of uncertainty for the opponents when they are in possession," Mitrovic said. "They have a different way of how they rotate on the field and they also have a tendency to play and be patient with the ball. Players like [Miguel] Almirón, [Aleksei] Miranchuk. They have very talented midfielders also, players that can move the ball. When they make those rotations, they can understand what the relationship is between them on the field. They put opponents in a very difficult spot with certain overloads that they create on the field."
