Catanese: New Year Brings Old Expectations For Revolution
The New England Revolution and Caleb Porter are running out of time to capitalize on their 2021 Shield success both on and off the field.
Tomorrow the New England Revolution will unveil new head coach Caleb Porter at an introductory press conference. Hopefully said presser goes better than the last time the Revs had major news and there will be no references to my favorite childhood deli meat.
Quite frankly I don’t think Brian Bilello or Curt Onalfo should be up on stage with Porter tomorrow after presiding over the last two-plus years of Revs soccer in which the Revs have had two one-and-done playoff appearances, a second-half collapse that began with the Bruce Arena saga, and a rebrand that has had as much marketing weight put behind it as the Crayon Flag had.
The reality is that the main higher-ups at the Revs front office have gotten this club to new and what should be far more exciting heights. 2022 might have been a disappointment on the field but it featured three high-profile player sales and a flurry of young and exciting new players. I have more faith in Tomas Chancalay and Dylan Borrero at Gillette Stadium than Mac Jones and Bailey Zappe so the Revs have something going there at least from the disaster that was 2023.
Whether or not the Krafts noticed what went on last year on the soccer field as they faced their worst throwball season of the millennium is a moot point right now. They trust Bilello and Onalfo to continue the Revs rise into what might be an MLS-selling powerhouse at least, and that’s fine. So long as that intent is matched by what Porter can accomplish on the field with what should be one of the top rosters in the East before any major offseason reinforcements.
Porter is chasing a unique bit of MLS history, being one of just six coaches to win multiple MLS titles and just the third person other than Arena and Sigi Schmid to win with different clubs. He could become the first person to win MLS Cup with a third unique team as well as claim the Revs first playoff crown ever which would rank him among the league’s greatest coaches if he’s not already in that conversation.
I don’t know if Porter is a good hire or not, because the best coaching decision the Revs could have made was solving the previous staff’s issues last offseason before it bubbled over into whatever happened over the summer. Once the Revs players made it known in two different player’s meetings with the club they weren’t satisfied with the responses from leadership according to The Athletic, that should have been the end of more tenures than just Bruce Arena’s.
I certainly think that the Revs should have been interviewing far more candidates than just known MLS quantities. Even if Porter is a “safe” hire, it’s certainly not a bad one and a decision a new front office could just have easily determined was the best course so it’s hard to criticize the hire itself. Overall, I think Porter’s history of quickly getting his teams into MLS Cup finals is worth perhaps the knock on any long term success in following up those titles. I don’t think Portland or Columbus is unhappy with their respective MLS/Campeones Cups and I think any one of those trophies are something most Revs fans would sign up for at this point of the Carles Gil era.
TBM Roundtable: Grading Caleb Porter Hire
With the New England Revolution officially announcing Caleb Porter as the new head coach, the staff of The Blazing Musket gives their grades of the hire.The Blazing Musket is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Good news for Gil, Porter says he’s reached out to his captain and the armband is safe, a logical and solid first step for the new head coach. Whether or not Porter’s style can mesh and adjust to the current roster remains to be seen but I don’t think there needs to be any significant or drastic changes to what the Revs do on the field.
This isn’t an untalented roster and when healthy I think boasts one of the most dynamic and potentially dangerous attacks in the East or the entire league. Getting said attack up and running and finding the balance with the defense is something New England won’t have a lot of time to do with their CONCACAF fixtures just seven weeks away.
The Revs do not have time to waste on their new campaign, if there are any glaring issues the team needs to identify it quickly and address it as soon as possible in the offseason window if possible. If Giacomo Vrioni isn’t the guy up top, he needs to be gone by the summer even if that means a transfer for nickels on the dollar. If DeJuan Jones gets sold in the next few weeks, then a permanent replacement needs to be signed if Nick Lima isn’t capable of being the everyday starter. And goalkeeper…I will merely make an offering at the Church of Hitchcock and just assume that’s going to work out.
The Revolution have a ticking clock. Carles Gil isn’t getting any younger and there’s going to be calls and offers on the table sooner rather than later for their young stars in Chancalay, Borrero and Noel Buck among others.
As frustrating as it is for the Revs to constantly be in a situation where they’re rotating in new, young players — I really like this direction for the team — even if it makes being consistent in league play harder. The Revs are in four major competitions this year - MLS, CONCACAF Champions League/Cup, Not SuperLiga 3.0 Leagues Cup, and the U.S. Open Cup, and as an aside, after the debacle that was the MLS NEXT Pro playing in the USOC debacle, I think we had better see a lot more first teamers in that tournament than we’re used too in a rare and actual serious bid for the Open Cup.
Porter has a history of winning trophies and then departing. Maybe he is the long-term answer for the Revs but right now I’ll settle for what he could clearly bring in the short term and however far Porterball and Carles Gil can take this team in the immediate season or two. New England has old business to take care off, unfinished expectations that it has failed to meet since winning the Shield - and Porter at the very least does not seem wrong for the job. I can accept that, for now.
I will never say the Revs must win a trophy this year because we all know how hard it is to win a final — perhaps too well — but I don’t think it’s unfair for the Revs to expect to be IN a final this year. Literally making any singular final of the four major competitions they’re in this year, five if you count a Shield run - could arguably make the year a success combined with a the potential for another major sale or two.
Well that or you know finally announcing that stadium they’ve been looking for since they bailed on East Hartford nearly thirty years ago…Connecticut hasn’t forgotten.
It should have perhaps been the last hurrah for several members of the New England Revolution front office, but they have hitched their wagon to the potential that Caleb Porter can bring to a very talented roster. I hope that trust in Porter’s abilities is matched in the team’s ambition and investment on the field as well.
There were a lot of positive steps built by Bruce Arena before it collapsed last year, hopefully tomorrow is the signal of an urgent new beginning and not a continuation of a lunch meat jingle.
I totally agree that some front office changes should have been made. Sad to say, those losers are still in charge. It took Arena, with all his clout and the weight of the bottoming out of the Friedel era to finally push Burns out - looks like Bilello has his job for life.
Next winter is for “the long term.” LFG all the way to any final!!