New England Revolution 1 - Charlotte FC 0: 3 Thoughts
3 thoughts we promise
The New England Revolution returned to MLS play on Saturday as they faced Charlotte FC at Gillette Stadium in search of their first MLS win of the season.
Caleb Porter made minimal changes from his most recent starting XI, mainly focused on the back line. Henrich Ravas got the start in net while Jonathan Mensah, Henry Kessler, and Nick Lima made up the back four.
Ian Harkes and Matt Polster served as the defensive midfielders while Carles Gil was in his usual No. 10 role. Tomas Chancalay and Nacho Gil were on the wings with Giacomo Vrioni at striker.
But what do you need to know about the Revolution’s first win in MLS this season? Here are three thoughts.
1 - Consistent Inconsistency
Ravas had the chance to turn over a new leaf as he reentered the starting XI after returning from international duty with Slovakia.
At the start of the match it looked like this was the case as the goalkeeper made an impressive save but Ravas’ performance quickly soured. The 26-year-old nearly gifted a goal as Patrick Agyemang took the ball off his feet as the goalkeeper was searching for a pass up the field.
With a wide-open net a goal seemed certain but the 23-year-old somehow missed the net. The result was more of an exception as nine times out of 10 the opponent puts the ball in the back of the net.
New England doesn’t appear to have a clear No. 1 goalkeeper and that is not great considering they acquired Ravas in the offseason. If the situation doesn’t improve, the Revs will have struck out on two straight goalkeeper acquisitions.
2 - Putting The Team On His Back
New England’s captain essentially willed the Revs to their first MLS win of 2024.
It looked like the midfielder was about to enter a downward spiral as he picked up a yellow card for dissent but Gil quickly turned things around as he scored the first goal of the match as Kristijan Kahina was caught in no man’s land after making a save on Nacho Gil. New England’s captain calmly curled the ball into the net in first-half stoppage time.
While Gil is nearing a suspension for yellow-card accumulation as he has three yellows so far this season (five equals a suspension), the captain once again showed how talented he is.
In the blink of an eye he was able to turn the game around and give New England life. It might seem like an easy goal but just look at what Agyemang did.
So after some difficult performances, Gil looked better against Charlotte. If the Revs want to continue winning games, they will continue to need impressive performances from their No. 10.
3 - Chanca Concerns
After a blistering start to the season in Concacaf Champions Cup play, Chancalay is ice cold in MLS play.
The 25-year-old has scored all four of his goals this season in CCC. In MLS he has lacked the finishing touch required and on Saturday he stymied New England’s attack at times.
With the Revolution likely out of CCC play with Club America having a four-goal lead on aggregate, Chancalay’s performances in the tournament effectively mean nothing. He needs to start performing in MLS.
The expectations are also higher for Chancalay. After signing a designated player deal with New England, the Argentine needs to be scoring or creating chances on the regular. In recent games that simply hasn’t been the case.
But the Revolution secured their first win of 2024 which is really all that mattered. If they continued to drop points, New England would be digging itself an absurdly large hole.
In the long journey of an MLS season, the Revolution took a positive first step. Still, if they want to leave the bottom of the Eastern Conference and be competitive, they need to take many more.
We’re lucky to get the win. Charlotte was just absolutely the worst team on the field.
Nice to win one but if we keep giving the ball away in our defensive third it will be a challenge to win more. We were fortunate that Charlotte could not find the net on those giveaways. I would appreciate it if the soccer gods would quit it with the rain.