Caleb Porter Reflects on Revs II, USL, MLS NEXT Pro

“The Revs II games, that level is nowhere near MLS level. So, when guys go and do well there, it doesn’t mean a whole lot to be honest with you."

Photo By J. Alexander Dolan

If you attend a New England Revolution training session, you are likely to see a few Revs II players training with the first team. While this doesn’t occur every single-day, it does provide younger players the opportunity to play with MLS-caliber players.

“We have a vertically integrated club,” head coach Caleb Porter said. “It’s important that we have a very good connection with Revs II, and that Revs II has a very good connection with the Academy, and that it’s not just a flow chart on a piece of paper, but we actually follow it and we have a connection. We, kind of, rub elbows a little bit with the second team, at times, and create a synergy there. We had a little bit of a scrimmage yesterday with them, and that’s great because you can kind of see where their top guys are at in comparison to some of our guys that have been coming off the bench.”

Revs II has been performing well to start the season. The second team is fourth in the Eastern Conference and plenty of players’ performances have stood out.

But Porter highlighted that observers should expect caution. Whether it be MLS NEXT Pro or players in the USL, the head coach said that the gap from the caliber of players in MLS is a large one.

“That kind of lets us know where those Revs II guys are really at, because it can be deceiving. [MLS NEXT Pro] a very different level,” Porter said. “The Revs II games, that level is nowhere near MLS level. So, when guys go and do well there, it doesn’t mean a whole lot to be honest with you. But if they are dominating at that level, then they have a shot. I know a lot of times fans we’ll see guys score goals at the USL level or score goals with Revs II. It doesn’t mean a lot. What it means is those guys are doing well there and maybe they have a shot to jump up. So, for us, it’s really important for us to measure where they’re at in training and eventually giving guys a shot in Open Cup games. Obviously, we have a game coming up and we’ll give a few of these guys a bit of a run, because we’re planning to rotate and play more of a younger group in that tournament.”