Pinzone: Herdman 2, Porter 0

For the second time this season, Toronto FC lost the statistical battle against the Revs and took all three points anyway

Photo By J. Alexander Dolan

After establishing that he “always makes decisions based on what I feel is the right decision for that game” — something that would be such an obvious statement from a coach it’s a wonder he said it — New England Revolution head coach Caleb Porter went on to proclaim that last night’s loss to Toronto FC was one of the best performances of the season. Based on the eight stats used by Better Team Tracker Porter was correct, this was the team’s best away performance of the season.

Statistically.

The best away performance of the year was a very short hill to be climbed but climb it they did last night. Of the eight stats making up the Revs’ Attacking and Entertainment Ranking, they came out ahead in seven only losing out to Toronto in shots on target. In their three previous pointless and disastrous away games they had a W-T-L record in AER of 2-3-19.

Porter went on to mention possession and pass completion percentage as evidence of the Revs strong performance. He himself stated that “possession for possession’s sake doesn’t mean anything” and then proceeded to mention that they had really good possession numbers, kept possession better, and that their pass completion percentage was really high. Better Team Tracker does not track possession or pass completion percentage for the same reason Porter mentioned, they by themselves don’t mean anything. They do not imply attacking intent, chance creation, or control of the game. The Revs may have had more of the ball but Toronto had control of much of the game.

That was by design.

John Herdman, TFC’s coach, sets his team up to spend most of the game conceding the ball and nearly two-thirds of the field to the opponent. They set out to control the game without the ball, picking and choosing what territory to control, and were selective with their pressing.

This approach sometimes works quite well for Toronto, they have 13 points from 9 games and sit 5th in the Eastern Conference. They also lead MLS with 5 shutouts. This approach isn’t always effective, of course, TFC had dropped three games in a row and conceded 10 goals in those three games before the Revs came to town.

Herdman has stuck with this approach and one formation through nine games and has positioned his team into a playoff spot after a disastrous 2023 season before his arrival this year. Contrast that to Porter, he’s played three different formations, flip-flopped on not wanting to be direct, to then wanting to be direct, to not wanting to be too direct but not too passive either…and you wonder why the players can’t figure out what he wants from them. Throw in the short-term vs long-term vision no one understands, bus analogies, questioning his goalkeeper, publicly announcing one of his DPs doesn’t fit in his 4-2-3-1 system and has a confidence problem, and there’s a seemingly endless number of things to be concerned about.

Personally, Herdman’s approach is along the lines of other coaches like Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho and I’m glad the Revs didn’t go for a coach with a similar style. But what we have instead hasn’t proven to be working either.

On the stat sheet, yes, the Revs look like they should be doing better than they are. But we have eyes that watch games, we do not just read stats after the game.

And the Revs continue to fail the eye test.

Caleb Porter Comments On Making Four Changes To XI

They were not pressed as much as last night as they were in New York, D.C., or Atlanta and we know how poorly this team deals with that. Herdman knew the Revs would have more possession and he wasn’t concerned. And why?

Because his eyes see what we see, a team that is allergic to counter-attacking and does — very much does — have possession for possession’s sake quite often.

The stats say the Revs should be doing better, what we’re watching does not.

I may not like Herdman’s style of play but what it is can be seen clearly, it has been stuck by even through a rough spell and it has taken last year’s worst team into 5th place through 9 games. None of that can be said about Porter and the Revs. They’re in last place, nothing is clear, and the only thing that doesn’t change from week to week is the poor results.

Even Herdman’s vehicle related analogy is better than Porter’s. Porter is talking about a bus, Herdman talks about Ferraris. Which one would you rather drive?