Caleb Porter Sees Improvement In Second Preseason Game
Although the Revs lost 2-0 to FC Cincinatti on Thursday, Porter saw "marked improvement.”
New England Revolution head coach Caleb Porter is happy with what he saw during Thursday’s preseason game, despite losing 2-0 to FC Cincinatti.
The result came eight days after the Revs lost 3-0 to the New York Red Bulls and four days after a 60-minute intrasquad scrimmage.
Porter stated after the Cincinnati game that he’s seen improvement in how the team is performing.
“As far as the play, really good,” Porter said. “Really good. I actually thought in both of the 60-minute games that we had the better of it in both of those games, and that’s really what I’m looking for, you know?”
Thursday’s unstreamed game was played in four 30-minute periods. The starting lineup featured Henrich Ravas, DeJuan Jones, Dave Romney, Andrew Farrell, Nick Lima, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Matt Polster, Tomas Chancalay, Carles Gil, Esmir Bajraktarevic, and Bobby Wood.
After a scoreless first stanza, Aaron Boupendza found the back of the net twice in quick succession during the second one.
Porter noted that these goals came via mistakes that can be addressed.
“Some mistakes that led to us getting punished, but the mistakes we made today are easy to clean up,” Porter said. “It’s just individual mistakes, you know?
“We got caught on the ball once. Obviously, for me, that’s not going to happen again, but we’ve got to clean that up, for sure. Then a high line, a ball in behind our line where we’re just kind of not dropping quick enough.”
The Revolution players are still getting used to a new coach and a new system. This will take time, but Porter is already seeing positive signs.
“When I look at just execution, I look at our press, I thought we disrupted them,” Porter stated. “Most every time they looked to play out, we disrupted their buildup. I can’t think of a time where they broke our press. Really the chances that they had were a little bit more transition, but they didn’t have many. They didn’t have many chances other than the two that we kind of gave them, where we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit.”
The Revs were without some players on Thursday as Giacomo Vrioni and Henry Kessler didn’t play. Porter said that “makes a difference, for sure, in chemistry.”
The team is also still working on their fitness. Between the intrasquad and Cincinnati scrimmages, Porter said that “everybody’s gotten two 60s” which is important because they’re “going to need everybody to be ready for these first two games of the year.”
The Revs will now take a four-day break, which is necessary because of the prolonged stay in Florida.
“It’s important, because we’re down here in Florida for four weeks,” Porter said. “We’re now 18 days in and it’s important that they get a little bit of a reset, a little bit of a break to see the family, recharge, and mentally be ready to push again in these next couple weeks to prepare for our first two games of the year, which are both on the road.”
The concluding weeks of preseason–which includes games against Orlando City SC (Feb. 10), the Philadelphia Union (Feb. 14), and Cincinnati (Feb. 15)—will be crucial in assessing where the team is at.
The Revs will play CA Independiente in Round One of the Concacaf Champions League on Feb. 21 and D.C. United in week one of the MLS Regular Season on Feb. 24.
“We’re going to try to get 90 [minutes], or as close to 90 as possible in those games,” Porter said. “The Orlando game, maybe we’re not quite ready for that 90 – maybe it’s 80 – but we’re going to try to get as close to 90 as possible with one group. Then the next two, we’re going to basically approach it like it’s a real game.
“For me, those last two games where we play Philly and we play Cincy, for me, I’m looking for a result in those two games. I’m not looking for a result right now, I’m looking for execution, because sometimes you can try to get a result and manufacture a goal a certain way or play in a different way to get the result.
“You know, when the season starts, that’s what it’s about, but I’m looking for us to play in the way that we want to play in terms of our game model, and that takes time to execute, because it is different. But what I saw last game to this game was a marked improvement.”
Still pressing, I see.