"Competitive" New England Revolution Looking To Improve In The Final Third
“We feel like, if we improve in the final third, that’s probably the final piece to us going from a good team to a great team and from a team that’s hovering around the playoff line to a contender."
New England Revolution head coach Caleb Porter likes that his team has been competitive during the first half of the season.
The Revs will be midway through their schedule after they welcome Nashville SC on Wednesday night. The team, which played 10 of their first 16 games on the road, is two points below the playoff line with games in hand on every team above them.
“I think we’ve been very competitive this year in every single game,” Porter said. “We’ve played a lot of the best teams in the East, and we’ve never been overmatched in any game. We’ve been in every single game, and that is a real positive.”
The Revs have the second-best defense in the league, having only allowed 15 goals. They’ve only had one multi-goal loss this year.
“We’re definitely a team that’s competitive every game, and we’re definitely a team that has been extremely good defensively,” Porter said. “I think those two things have been very consistent – our mentality and being stingy defensively.”
The Revolution can improve offensively as they are in the bottom third of the league with 19 goals scored.
There has been some growth in this area as the Revs have only been shut out three times in their last 13 outings after failing to score in their first three games.
“We feel like, if we improve in the final third, that’s probably the final piece to us going from a good team to a great team and from a team that’s hovering around the playoff line to a contender,” Porter said.
Absences have played a factor. Leo Campana (nine appearances, eight starts), Luca Langoni (nine appearances, five starts), and Tomas Chancalay (nine appearances, four starts) have all missed extended time.
Ignatius Ganago will miss a minimum of six matches after being put on the short-term Injured List on June 13, 2025.
“We’ve had some different pieces in the two striker positions, so I think that has affected a little bit of the chemistry recently,” Porter said.
The positive news is that the Revs will welcome back Campana and Langoni this week.
Alhassan Yusuf noted that this will be a “boost” to a team that has “been doing really well defensively.”
“[Campana and Langoni] will be available for the match, both of them,” Porter said. “But yes, we do have to ease them back in. Luca has been out quite a long time, and Campana’s loads haven’t been all that high, so they’re both limited minutes for this game.
“But it’ll be great because they’ll be able to come off the bench and help us.”