New England Revolution Depth Faces Tough Test After Leo Campana Injury

You know often times the subs are the ones that unlock the game.

Photo By J. Alexander Dolan

Leo Campana’s injury will force the New England Revolution to rely on depth to secure three points in upcoming matches.

Campana was substituted off the pitch in the first half of New England’s nil-nil draw with the San Jose Earthquakes. Revolution head coach Caleb porter confirmed postgame that it was a hamstring injury, the same injury that forced the striker to miss part of the beginning of the season.

Outside of Carles Gil, Campana has been arguably the best attacking player. He is the only player besides Gil to have scored multiple goals.

Luis Diaz came on to replace the striker and put in a quality shift. Instead of trying to attack defenders in one-v-one scenarios, Diaz opted to try and use his speed to break lines and create chances.

In 58 minutes played, Diaz had 24 touches (three inside the opponent’s box) and won seven duels along with creating one chance. Especially for a player unsuspectedly thrown into the match in the first half, it is hard to fault Diaz for his performance.

While Campana’s future status remains unknown, New England’s depth is likely to be tested. With Tomas Chancalay playing less than 10 minutes, he still seems like he has some time before he is back starting again and Luca Langoni is a week into his 2-4 weeks on the sideline with an injury.

This means that Maxi Urruti and Diaz will need to step up in their absence, as they likely will enter the starting XI and Ignatius Ganago will have to be a more prolific goalscorer.

Porter mentioned after the match that losing so many players has hurt New England’s attacking ability.

“So, with Leo [Campana] out, Tomas [Chancalay] and Maxi [Urruti] not being able to play major minutes, and Luca Langoni not being available at all, for sure that hurt our attack today,” he said. “When we’re at full strength, we’ve shown in games that we’ve basically got Leo [Campana] and [Ignatius] Ganago to start, or whoever we end up starting, and then we’ve got juice with Tomás [Chancalay] and Maxi [Urruti] and Luca [Langoni]. You know often times the subs are the ones that unlock the game. So, we didn’t have that today.”

Diaz is the perfect super sub thanks to his speed and Urruti is more suited to coming off the bench at his age. They were not expected to start a lot of matches but injuries have and now will continue to see them earn selections in the starting XI.

While New England is currently on a six-game unbeaten streak, it is still 11th in the Eastern Conference. The Revs might be a point away from the play-in positions with a game in hand but a slump could see the club return to the doldrums of the Eastern Conference standings.