Home Stretch Is An Opportunity For 2025 Revolution To Make A Statement
Yusuf: “I think it’s an opportunity to make a statement, if we start in a good way in front of the fans. A win will be good.”
The New England Revolution are looking for three points on Saturday after collecting a scoreless draw on the road against Nashville SC on opening weekend.
The Revs only managed four draws in 2024, none of which occurred on the road. They had five shutouts—two of which were away from home—with the first one coming in game six.
With this in mind, Saturday’s result was positive, especially since the Revolution’s starting lineup featured six players who arrived during the off-season.
But the Revs weren’t completely satisfied.
“I said it after the game, but I love that our guys weren’t satisfied with a draw,” head coach Caleb Porter said. “We have high standards, and we want to take the field expecting to win and not hoping to win.
“I think they understand on the road that a draw, we’ll take it. But I love that they were not satisfied, and that says everything about the group that we have, the standards we have, and the expectations that we’re creating.”
The Revolution will now play the next three of four games at Gillette Stadium. These games are important, especially since the Revolution were 5-8-4 at home last year.
“In this league, you have to take care of business in your home games,” Porter said. “We need to build a fortress here. We’re playing one of the best teams in the league [Columbus Crew], so it’s an opportunity for us to really make a statement of the caliber of team that we have and make a statement that this is a new season and a new team.”
Alhassan Yusuf echoed Porter’s thoughts, saying, “I think [the point in Nashville is] a good point, if we win at home [this Saturday].”
Like Porter, Yusuf views this weekend’s game as a chance to show that the 2025 season will be different.
“I think it’s an opportunity to make a statement, if we start in a good way in front of the fans,” Yusuf said. “A win will be good.”
Porter spoke highly of Revs fans, saying, “They’re the soul of the club. They bring purpose and meaning to our play, and we can’t wait to, this year, create a fortress where no one comes in getting points off us.”
Saturday’s game will be a real test, as the Crew are just two years removed from winning the MLS Cup. In 2024, they finished second in the Eastern Conference and lifted the Leagues Cup trophy. The Crew started 2025 positively, defeating the Chicago Fire 4-2.
Last year, the Crew defeated the Revs 5-1 and 4-0. The Revs are hoping that a new year brings a new result, especially with 14 additions made during the off-season.
“The fans can expect to have a group of guys that are going to leave it all on the pitch,” Porter said. “You’re going to see 11 guys who are going to roll their sleeves up to work and fight for them. There were times last year that didn’t happen, and that was very disappointing. Obviously, we got embarrassed by Columbus last year, so this is a chance to show just how different a team we have.”
While the Nashville result was positive from a defensive standpoint, the Revs only managed two shots on goal.
Porter noted that the team, who has only been together for five weeks, “prioritized the defending last week” and that they will “prioritize the balance and the attack this week.”
“We have to continue to work just on our ability to break lines,” Porter said. “We have a very good front five, but we need to find them a bit more. I thought, at times, early in the game especially, we had good control and possession, but we weren’t in between the lines enough and we weren’t getting at their back four enough – working the space behind and in front of their back four to create chances.”
The Revs had a good chance against Nashville in the 36th minute when they moved the ball from side-to-side before Ignatius Ganago slid a pass to Leo Campana. The shot was ultimately blocked.
While the Revs wanted more, a draw on the road is a good starting point for a team that lost their 2024 opener 3-1.
“We weren’t able to go and grind on the road a lot last year, and we had very few draws frankly,” Porter said. “For me, if you can’t find a goal, then you have to grind out a draw on the road and we did that.
“I think it shows our mentality is a lot stronger, it shows our commitment is a lot better, and it shows we have a hungry team. But we understand against Columbus that we need to put a bit more pressure on them, make them defend, and kind of test their back three a little bit more.”
I can’t say I expect to win, but I really would be impressed if we do. I really would like to see our attack working, at least better than last week.
Columbus will be a stiff test. Yuiell, Feingold (if he starts), and Fofana will have their hands full against Rossi in a different way. A win would be huge, even if it is only the second week of the season.