New England Revolution 1 - LD Alajuelense 1: 3 CCC Leg 2 Thoughts
Survive and advance
The New England Revolution headed down to Costa Rica to face LD Ajajuelense in the second leg of the Round of 16 in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
After a dominant win at home in the first leg, only a complete disaster would have sent New England home.
While the workhorse duo of Tomas Chancalay and Matt Polster remained in the starting XI, it appeared that Porter took the match as an opportunity to rest players such as DeJuan Jones and Dave Romney who started the match on the bench.
The back line was made up of Ryan Spaulding and Henry Kessler who replaced Jones and Romney while also featuring Jonathan Mensah and Andrew Farrell. Polster was joined in the midfield by Ian Harkes and Noel Buck, while Esmir Bajraktarevic and Nacho Gil featured on the wings.
After playing out on the wing against Atlanta, Chancalay returned to playing as a false nine with Giacomo Vrioni on the bench.
Unlike Vrioni, Carles Gil did not make the trip to Costa Rica but Revs fans need not fret. According to Jeff Lemieux, this was simply a matter of resting the former MVP.
But what do you need to know about New England’s match against LD Alajuelense on Thursday? Here are three thoughts.
1 - Survive And Advance
New England was able to advance but it was by the skin of its teeth. The performance doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence that they will be able to advance past Club America.
Similar to the 2022 rendition of the tournament, the Revolution seem destined for an exit in the Quarterfinals. Beating CF America would be a pretty decent sized upset.
But you can’t beat a team if you don’t advance so New England deserves credit for the effort in the first leg and being able to hold on to the large lead built at home.
Still, there are some concerns about what the team will be able to do when it returns to MLS or faces stiffer competition such as America. Those results could leave fans feeling worse for wear and skeptical if the Revolution could be lifting any hardware in 2024.
2 - Vrioni Does His Job
For the first time in his Revolution career, Vrioni scored on the road. The goal must have felt like the weight of the world coming off his shoulders after his start to 2024.
Revolution fans will be hoping that this is the start of something for the striker. New England needs the 25-year-old to start scoring on a more consistent basis.
If the Revs have a striker that can perform well consistently, well then they finally cracked the code. Fans can have hope that the team can contend in league play and that the striker can live up to the designated player tag.
But Vrioni has a long road to proving that. He needs to start scoring in league play and being a more consistent player overall.
Time will tell, but Thursday night was a step in the right direction for the striker.
3 - No Attack
With no Carles Gil and Jones, New England’s attack was lacking. They struggled to get the ball up the field and even when they did, the Revs finishing ability was lacking. They might have scored a goal, but for large portions of the match; the attack was non-existent.
It is hard to blame Porter for resting some players when given such a large lead but New England’s attack was absent for most of the evening. Gil needs some support or else teams will simply key on him and watch New England flounder.
So while Vrioni’s goal was promising. The Revs need to perform better as a team when it comes to the attack. They return to Gillette Stadium on Sunday to face the defending Supporters’ Shield winning FC Cincinnati.
I can’t imagine all the flying and back to back games they have endured. Revs have the pieces and a good coach, most importantly. I am expecting Vrioni to improve, Ravas as well, which are the 2 biggest question marks right? Please bring in more talent tho!! So thin at sriker.
I think this assessment was somewhat harsh. They did what they had to do and did it without some key players. A 1-1 draw was actually better than I expected.