Caleb Porter Discusses Competition At Outside Back

Porter: “We have really good depth."

Photo Courtesy of the New England Revolution

New England Revolution head coach Caleb Porter likes his options at outside back.

Brandon Bye, 29, is the incumbent right back, having played all seven of his professional seasons with the Revolution.

He will be pushed by 20-year-old Ilay Feingold, who joins the club this year as a U22 Initiative Player. Feingold was previously with Maccabi Haifa in his native Israel since 2023.

Feingold only recently began working with his new club after completing his paperwork.

“[Feingold has] just been with the group really training for a few training sessions, and he got the one game,” Porter said. “I thought he did well in the game against Tampa, which was good to see.

“Obviously, Brandon is an experienced player. He's been in this league. Ilay knows that. Ilay's 20 years old, but Ilay's got quality.

“We brought [Ilay] here to compete with Brandon. We brought him here to play. But Brandon's not going to give his job away. At the end of the day, I love it. It's going to be a great competition, and they're both going to play a major role.”

Will Sands and Peyton Miller are competing for minutes on the left side.

Sands, 24, has been in the league for three years. Midway through 2024, he was traded from the Columbus Crew to the Revolution. He played six games with the Revs, including four starts.

Miller is a Revs Homegrown who followed the Pro Pathway before making his first-team debut in 2024. The 17-year-old made 10 appearances last year, including eight starts.

“Obviously, Peyton is another player that wasn't here the entire preseason healthy,” Porter said. “He was injured for the first two and a half weeks. He's just been back in for the last maybe two weeks, week and a half. [I] thought he played really well against Tampa. [He] got the assist on the goal. [He’s] super talented.

“Will Sands, little ahead of him as far as experience, but I think that'll be a battle, those two.”

The Revolution have one more preseason game left: Saturday at 12:30 p.m., when they host the Hartford Athletic. Porter said this game could determine who starts at left back.

“I'm really looking at this game Saturday and next week to make maybe even a decision there. We'll see,” Porter said.

A lot can happen during a 34-game season. As it stands, Porter is happy with the players he has on both sides.

“We have really good depth,” Porter said.