Catanese: Top Three Goals for Revs Interim Pablo Moreira
With four games left in 2025, there's a very short but very important list of goals the Revs need to start on before the offseason.
The New England Revolution have parted ways with head coach Caleb Porter, and having been practically eliminated from the playoffs for what seems like months, the preseason for 2026 officially begins now.
While there are a lot of things the Revs have to tackle top-to-bottom as an organization between now and next spring, there are some short-term tasks that need to be addressed.
What the Revs can accomplish, or at least learn, in the next four weeks is crucially important because it might dictate everything from clinching Jim Curtin’s signature to major offseason moves that will dictate other transfer business going forward.
Pablo Moreira has a pretty important job in front of him and really the weight and/or pressure of results should be off his shoulders. These remaining games are about gaining experience for next year and learning what one new signing can and can’t do.
But first, and perhaps most important to the man in charge, is a month-long live resume test.
THE JOB INTERVIEW
Regardless of the next four results, Moreira is, to an extent, potentially coaching for his next job. It’s very likely that it’s with wherever Caleb Porter ends up, considering the longtime assistant has been with Porter since his days at Akron, but if he is well liked by the players and the organization, it’s entirely possible he’s still around next season.
I would also assume at this point that if there’s a first-team head coaching job open, there is likely an opening for Revs 2 as well next year if he’s willing to move laterally/take a slight demotion to stay with the team if he wants. I mentioned this to the lads on the Foxboro Fortress podcast episode and the idea of Moreira at Revs 2 was met with high praise. Take a listen to it, it’s good times, Cecil and I almost derailed the whole thing and turned the episode into a BC/UConn throwball rant.
As of now, all options are still on the table aside from Porter not being here next year.
It would be a refreshing change of pace despite the futility of the assignment to see Moreira be as creative as possible the next four games. Aggressive substitutions, different starting formations, an actual game plan that counter-attacks.
New England will have its full complement of top-line attackers (hopefully) and each game is an opportunity to do something different. Different striker partnerships, different two winger/lone striker combinations, and planned substitutions even at half time to maximize potential options.
The results at this point do not matter, but the potential attacking potency we might learn in the next four games absolutely does. I want to see anything that resembles creativity and aggressiveness from the players over the next month. Not exactly a high bar but we have two other crucial elements to talk about.
THE DOR TURGEMAN EXPERIMENT
We’re going to set aside the timing of the Revs new striker actually making his debut being more or less after being eliminated from the playoffs and instead focus on the real task at hand.
The Revs will now have three true strikers on the roster for the first time in what feels like forever. Trying to figure out how best to utilize both Turgeman and Leo Campana essentially starts this Saturday, and building on that partnership will continue into the offseason.
In my opinion, the biggest factor in sacking Porter has been his inflexibility to move off his possession-based system and generate attacking chances. Yes, the Revs finishing has been bad at times, Campana, Chancalay, and Ganago all missed time due to injuries, but the quality of the chances the Revs has also been consistently poor. Turgeman’s skill set could answer a lot of questions going into next year.
Can Turgeman operate as a lone #9 target man type? How well can he combine with a partner striker/wingers/Carles Gil? Is there a possibility of Turgeman operating out wide (see target winger Bunbury, Teal)? What does he look like helping in the build-up compared to in open field on a counter or pushing the back line in possession?
Now Ignatius Ganago is likely not going to be on the team next year, but if he clicks with Turgeman very quickly, perhaps that’s the partnership for the Revs going forward. That would spark two corresponding moves - fully transferring in Ganago and likely trading Campana. If Turgeman is effective out wide, that means one of Langoni or Chancalay probably moves on.
These are tremendously important questions for the Revs to answer now and not in the early weeks of 2026. The Revs have important questions to answer at the top of their roster and Turgeman’s abilities and teamwork probably is involved in all of the potential solutions.
Now for the second important goal for the final four games…
PLAY THE KIDS
Yes, New England has done a great job with academy players Peyton Miller and Esmir Bajraktarevic in recent years. But aside from hitting home runs on players who were always MLS caliber, the development of other top academy/Revs 2 players hasn’t been there.
Jack Panayotou missed a lot of time with Hartford due to injury, but played 262 minutes in MLS last year. Same number Olger Escobar has with Montreal this year so far. Something also tells me Noel Buck could have gotten a whole lot more than 90 minutes this year, that’s the game time he has with the Quakes in 2025.
This year Allan Oyirwoth has 107 minutes in two MLS games (1 start) plus two other U.S. Open Cup starts though he was hindered by a lack of international roster spots. Sharod George played four minutes and Eric Klein got a single minute cameo earlier in the year. Open Cup hero Cristiano Oliveira got a one-game call-up after his game-winner against Rhode Island and hasn’t featured since. Much of the same for Liam Butts and Marcos Dias who have both played very well for Revs 2 this year.
It’s a pitiful minutes total for a first team’s developmental group that has lacked options up front this year AND waived it’s two supplemental roster veterans in Maxi Urruti and Luis Diaz earlier in the season. There’s no reason to not give players like Damario McIntosh and Malcolm Fry 10-15 minutes a game the rest of the way if they’re available. Unless they really want to push for the top seed in the MLS Next Pro playoffs, which at this point would be understandable considering the position Revs 1 is in.
Caleb Porter didn’t do the Revs a lot of long-term favors, but he wasn’t hired for that, and the front office didn’t exactly help loaning out or trading useful options. This lack of balance has to be addressed when the next coaching staff comes in, and also why I back Jim Curtin for the top job because his work with the Union in that regard was top notch.
Good list. I do miss Teal Bunbury, if for no other reason than I like saying, "Bunbury".