Caleb Porter Excited to Give Opportunities to Players in U.S. Open Cup
“Disappointed to not advance, but happy with the future of the young guys in this club.”
New England Revolution head coach Caleb Porter is disappointed not to advance in the U.S. Open Cup, though he likes that some new faces had an opportunity to play.
The Revolution used a rotated roster and bench for Tuesday’s U.S. Open Cup game against the Chicago Fire. Four teenagers started, and four players made their first-team debuts.
The starting lineup also featured experienced players who haven’t gotten many minutes recently, including Alex Bono, Wyatt Omsberg, and Andrew Farrell.
“It was a tricky game to manage because we played [last] Saturday, the game’s Tuesday, it’s two days after the game Saturday,” Porter explained.
“We had a number of guys that played in the first Open Cup game, Will Sands, Luca Langoni, out with injuries, Luis Diaz, Maxi Urruti, and [Tomas] Chancalay all a little nicked up. That made it very tricky, because we couldn’t play some of the stronger guys that we played in the first round.
“There was no way we were going to risk with three games next week, all on the road, guys like [Ignatius] Ganago or Carles Gil. Especially on this turf, it wouldn’t make sense. We used it as an opportunity to try to advance with younger guys.”
Langoni notably got injured at Rhode Island FC’s Centreville Bank Stadium, which features a turf playing surface.
On Tuesday, the Revs outshot their opponent three to zero during the first 45 minutes. Cristiano Oliveria had a shot that went wide, and Brandon Bye's header was saved.
Despite failing to record a shot, the Fire led 1-0 at halftime after Eric Klein deflected Jonathan Bamba’s cross into the back of the net.
“I thought they did well,” Porter said. “They came out, ran hard. We were up for it. I thought we disrupted them really well. First half, I don’t think they had a shot the whole first half. I thought that we were very unlucky to be down a goal.”
The Revs came out of the locker room looking for a goal. Oliveria had a good opportunity, but his shot rang off the crossbar.
Fire substitutes Brian Gutierrez and Philip Zinckernagel helped create goals in the 69th and 79th minutes to put the game out of reach, though Gevork Diarbian forced a late own goal to prevent a shutout.
Porter noted that he’s “disappointed to not advance, but happy with the future of the young guys in this club.”
Three players who were highlighted were Oliveira, Allan Oyirwoth, and Klein.
“I thought those three guys were excellent,” Porter said. “Fans should be disappointed that we don’t advance, just like I am, but they should be very excited about these young players that they got the opportunity in these two matches to play and to make steps forward.
“That’s worth the weight in gold, to use those two games to develop young guys for the future is invaluable. So those three players are players for the future. They have bright futures with this club.”
The Revs will now shift their attention to league play. A busy week awaits them, as they play three road games in eight days.
“We’re doing pretty well in the league,” Porter said. “We have 14 points out of the last 18. So, the [San Jose game] was disappointing for us to not take the three [points], but we’re on a very good run right now and we can’t lose sight of that.”