New England Revolution 1 - Atlanta United 4: 3 Thoughts
Tea throwers vs tea lovers
The New England Revolution returned to MLS play on Saturday as they faced Atlanta United down in Georgia and the match didn’t go well for New England.
Caleb Porter kept a good chunk of the roster from Wednesday in the starting XI as Dave Romney, DeJuan Jones, Nick Lima, Ian Harkes, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Matt Polster, Tomas Chancalay and Henrich Ravas remained as starters after playing against LD Alajuelense. Henry Kessler, Carles Gil, and Giacomo Vrioni returned to the starting XI after not featuring against the Costa Rican club.
Entering Saturday’s match, New England had a 4-4-4 record against Atlanta as they are unbeaten in the last six matches against the Eastern Conference foe.
But what do you need to know about the Revolution’s third straight loss in MLS? Here are three thoughts.
1 - Ravas Regrets
New England’s new goalkeeper has had a rough start to his Revolution career. He has made multiple mistakes including failing to claim a ball against D.C. United, general miscommunications, and losing his cool led to Atlanta taking the lead in the first half.
Just before stoppage time, some chaos in the box led to Ravas darting out of goal and diving for a ball. The goalkeeper makes contact with Georgios Giakoumakis and the whistle is blown for a penalty.
Now the issue isn’t that Atlanta received a penalty shot (and ended up converting). The issue is that Ravas lost his composure and instead of letting the play develop, he took a risk and tried to gain possession. The risk didn’t pay off and put the Revolution on the back foot.
Even if a penalty wasn’t given, Atlanta still would have scored as there was a wide-open net and they ended up getting a shot off after the whistle. Once again, Ravas seems to lack the authority that a goalkeeper needs.
Things didn’t get easier for Ravas as he had to deal with another penalty shot (taken by Giakoumakis) and an additional two goals from the Greek striker. It’s hard to explicitly blame the goalkeeper for these goals, but it is never good for a goalkeeper’s stat line and mental state to allow so many goals.
Revs fans shouldn’t give up all hope on the goalkeeper but he needs to be better. If Ravas fails to step up, this could be the second straight goalkeeper whiff for the club.
2 - Terrible Turnovers
If there is one thing that New England needs to improve on, it is decision-making. The Revolution gave away the ball on numerous occasions and Atlanta was gifted some supreme scoring chances.
The issue is that these mistakes were coming from some of New England’s best players. Carles Gil particularly didn’t look his best with Chancalay also making some poor choices.
As a whole, the attack just lacked the finishing ability that an MLS side needs. It is one thing to beat clubs from Panama and Costa Rica in continental play, but if you can’t win your league games; fans will be left upset.
Porter’s players need to be better in the final third or else the Revolution will continue to struggle scoring in MLS play.
3 - Replacement Refs
Once again replacement refs ruined a Revolution game. It won’t surprise anyone who has been paying attention to the league. These replacement officials have been poor and MLS/PRO needs to simply pay the refs.
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Now this isn’t making an excuse. The Revolution were likely going to lose even if a penalty wasn’t given. The stoppage time penalty would have ended up in a goal even if no call was made.
However.
The handball call on Lima was absurd. He had his arms tucked and there was nothing that he could have done better.
Even on the play that saw Atlanta get its first goal. The official made a mistake in not letting the play develop and blowing the whistle early.
That wasn’t the only call that the official made. A Vrioni mishit appeared to hit an Atlanta defender in the hand/arm area and Revolution players immediately pleaded for a call to be made.
Based on the standard that was set on the Lima call, this appeared to be a slam dunk handball but the Revolution’s shouts for a penalty were left unheard. Even after going to VAR, the official believed that a handball hadn’t occurred.
While New England is likely to advance to the next round of the Concacaf Champions Cup, their outlook in MLS continues to look bleaker with every passing MLS matchday.
League life doesn’t get better for New England as while the club will return home after heading down to Costa Rica, the Revolution have a date with the 2023 Supporters’ Shield winning FC Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon.
I expected Vroni to have a career game to make up for his yellow cards. He was next to invisible most of the match. 21 touches all game, 2 shots. GG had 39 touches, 8 shots for Atlanta. We need a 9 very badly and I don't now that waiting for the summer window makes sense. Transfer window closes on April 23. I hope there is action before then.
Many calls could have been mad with players being pushed down from behind that were not called. we need the refs back these guys are bad. We need another striker now not later. Vrioni is performing under to much and Wood you are not going to get much from him with knee problems.