New England Revolution 1 - Minnesota United 1: 3 Thoughts

The Revs secured a point but Bruce Arena dominates the headlines

Photo By © J. Alexander Dolan

The New England Revolution made a rare trip to Minnesota on Saturday and will be returning home with just one point.

The match was New England’s first at Allianz Field and second against Minnesota United. The Revolution are now 3-1-1 against the Loons.

Richie Williams trotted out a similar starting XI to what Revs fans have seen in recent matches. DeJuan Jones earned his first start since missing two games due to injury. Matt Polster also returned to the starting XI after the birth of his son Rocky.

Giacomo Vrioni was once again the lone striker flanked by Tomas Chancalay and Nacho Gil on the wings. Dave Romney and Omar Gonzalez remained the center back pairing.

But what do you need to know about the match? Here are three thoughts.

1 - Bruce Out

Minutes after the final whistle, the New England Revolution released a statement from Bruce Arena informing that the head coach and sporting director had resigned.

“After much soul searching, I have decided to resign my position as Head Coach and Sporting Director of the New England Revolution. To begin, I would like to thank Robert Kraft and Jonathan Kraft for providing me with this opportunity over 4 years ago.  In my time with the Revolution, we have had much success and it truly has been a direct reflection of all the support the organization has provided me.  In particular, I also want to thank all the players, coaches and staff at the Revolution as everyone has provided outstanding service and done a terrific job to help elevate the club to where it is today.

“I also want to thank everyone in the soccer community at large for their tremendous support during the past 6 weeks.  The investigation has been a hard and difficult process, for me and my family, but hearing from so many who have been part of my career truly has been gratifying and has helped make this decision easier. Finally, I know that I have made some mistakes and moving forward, I plan to spend some time reflecting on this situation and taking corrective steps to address what has transpired.  And while this has not been an easy decision, I am confident that it is in the best interest of both the New England Revolution organization and my family that we part ways at this time.”

It is interesting that Arena admits some level of wrongdoing. In a statement from MLS, the league stated that certain allegations were confirmed and that if Arena wanted to coach or seek employment in the league in the future, he would have to submit a petition to the commissioner.

Losing a legendary coach like Arena is a major impact. He can attract players and has a lot of pull in MLS.

Filling his shoes will be a major challenge and the quest to get New England an MLS Cup got a whole lot harder.

At least for the rest of 2023, Richie Williams and Curt Onalfo will be replacing Arena with Williams serving as interim head coach and Onalfo serving as interim sporting director according to a statement put out by the Revs.

But the Arena era is over and New England will now begin its search for the MLS legend’s permanent replacement.

2 - Another collapse

For the second straight match, New England entered stoppage time with the lead and on the final attack of the match gave up a goal to leave the match with a draw.

Compared to Christian Makoun deciding to try and chip the goalkeeper from afar instead of dribbling to the corner, the Revs couldn’t clear their own third and Dayne St. Clair assisted on Franco Fragapane’s game-tying goal.

With Williams serving as interim head coach for the rest of the season, he will need to better prepare his side to close out games. The last two performances have been dreadful and could cost the team crucial points come the end of the season.

Now that Arena is no longer returning, the pressure will be on Williams. The Revolution seemed like a team that could make a run in the postseason but those expectations take a hit without the legendary head coach

New England needs to be better at closing out games. If the Revs continue to struggle they could tumble down the standings and their season could come to a premature end.

3 - Brotherly love

While it might have been hard to focus on the match with the Arena news, a game was played and it featured some superb play from the Gil’s. Nacho and Carles combined for the first goal of the match.

Nacho whipped a ball into the box and it found a darting Carles who slammed it home. It was the captain’s eighth goal of the season and Nacho’s second assist in as many matches.

The younger Gil has been impressive since returning from injury. He brings energy and pace to the wing which has been missing since Dylan Borrero’s season-ending injury.

It almost seems like the brothers have a sixth sense and are able to find each other on the field at all times. That connection was on display against Minnesota and helped New England secure three points.

Next up for the Revs is a match on the road against Colorado next weekend but fans will be consumed by the fact that the Arena era in New England has come to an end.