Caleb Porter Discusses Early Red Card
Porter: "It’s a red card 15 minutes into the game. It ruined the whole game."
The New England Revolution found themselves down a man in the 14th minute after Ryan Spaulding was shown a red card for taking down Mikael Uhre, a play the referee ruled as denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity.
The Union then got a goal from Julian Carranza (38th minute) and two from Daniel Gazdag (47th and 80th minute) to win 3-0.
During his post-game press conference, head coach Caleb Porter discussed how the red card affected the night.
“It’s a red card 15 minutes into the game. It ruined the whole game,” Porter said. “Don’t lose the ball and if you lose the ball, then run with the guy and don’t foul him.
“I still think it’s harsh. They’re both grabbing each other. I’ve seen that play called a yellow many times, but we should never put ourselves in that situation.
“We lose the ball there and we can’t foul 50 yards from goal. Ryan is one of the fastest guys on the team. You have 50 yards to run with the guy. It ruined the game.”
The Revs did have some opportunities.
Matt Polster had a long-range bid that narrowly missed the frame while the game was still 0-0, Giacomo Vrioni had a stinging shot saved after the Union scored their opener, and Dylan Borrero had a close-range attempt blocked after halftime.
On the other side of the field, Aljaz Ivacic had seven saves in his home debut for Revolution.
“I feel for the guys, because we worked so hard this week,” Porter said “We prepared so well. They trained so hard and even after the red, [Henry] Kessler, [Xavier] Arreaga, Aljaz, Polster, [Mark-Anthony] Kaye, Carles [Gil], Dylan, these guys kept battling.
“It’s just an impossible task to go that long down a man. So, the whole game was done, or thrown down the toilet, after 15 minutes, and it was not a smart play. It was not a good play and it cost us.”
The Revs are now 2-9-1 to start 2024 and 1-4-1 at home. They are currently at the bottom of the league.
Of course, the Revs have dealt with obstacles as they balanced the Concacaf Champions Cup and league play at the beginning of the season, which amounted to playing eight games in 26 days. They’ve also had injuries, illnesses, and early red cards in two games.
Porter largely spoke about the recent loss when asked how he reflects on the start of his tenure as Revs’ head coach and what can be done to turn things around.
“We lost tonight because we gave up a red card 15 minutes in. That’s all I’m thinking about right now,” Porter said. “Nothing the team did wrong. We gave up a red card 15 minutes into the game, so what do you want us to do?
“That wasn’t my mistake. That wasn’t anybody else’s mistake. It was one mistake, and the game is – all the prep and all the work, and everything we did – you can’t make those mistakes.
“If we’re going to be a team that’s winning games, we have to be smarter. I get it, we’re on the third left back. I get it, but we still need our twos, our threes to be smarter, be tougher, be cagier, be more ruthless.
“I think we’ve got a good group. Yeah, okay, we lost the game again, but you want to talk big picture, we can talk big picture after every game. We lost the game tonight because we got a red card 15 minutes in. It’s that simple.”
The Revs will now turn their attention to the slate ahead as they look to collect points.
They play five of their next seven games at Gillette Stadium, including next Saturday’s match against New York City FC.
“We’ll put it behind us, because the majority of the group understands that we lost the game because we had a red 15 minutes in,” Porter said. “No one is down in terms of their play. They’re not happy because the whole thing was thrown in the toilet after 15 minutes.
“So, they are going to keep their head up, keep going. The team is on board. You saw how they were fighting, nothing is going to change. We’ll keep going back to work. I’ll continue working 12 hours a day like I always do to prepare the team. The team will continue to train hard.
We are starting to put pieces together. You didn’t get to see it tonight. You didn’t get to see the work we did in training. You didn’t get to see how we would have played even numbers. You didn’t get to see that, and you will next week.”
Even if you think Porter's way of playing can work but only with different players, which I do not, his leadership style is atrocious and his lack of accountability is pathetic.
Why would anyone, players or fans, get behind someone who acts like this?
I have seen many Revs games over the years where they were up a man and failed to capitalize on it. Yes, it stinks being down a man but good teams with good coaches find a way to adapt and don't just collapse. Also, Esmir deserves a lot of the blame for his poor judgement in making that pass. I think he likely did that during to Porter's training - instead of attacking, he played the ball back, just like the team has been doing all year.