New England Revolution Preparing For "Tough" Road Stretch

The Revs will play three road games in eight days.

Photo courtesy of J. Alexander Dolan

The New England Revolution is preparing for one of its toughest weeks of the season as they’ll play three road games in eight days.

The Revs will face Sporting KC on Saturday before heading to the nation’s capital to play DC United on Wednesday. They finish the week with a trip to Stade Saputo, home of CF Montreal.

“We knew going into this stretch we would have to be road warriors,” head coach Caleb Porter said. “We have three more road games in a row, and it’s probably going to be the toughest week of the year in that regard. A lot of road trips, not much preparation, probably going to need some rotation.”

The Revs have been good on the road this year, maintaining a record of 3-2-2. They’ve collected three points at Toronto FC, Charlotte FC, and Atlanta FC, and one at Orlando City and Nashville SC.

While their next opponents are below them in the standings, Porter expects three challenging games.

“We never look at the table to determine what the game is going to be like, because that will tell you, in MLS, absolutely nothing,” Porter said.

The Revs enter the week with some confidence, as they’re unbeaten in six, having taken 14 of a possible 18 points. They’ve also collected five shutouts in their last six games.

“We’ve gone into every game, no matter how it looks so far this year, with the mindset of winning, and that starts with a good base,” Matt Polster said. “We’ve been really good defensively as of late and I think that gives confidence to the guys up top that we can stay in games, and with the talent we have, that we will find a way to score.”

While the games will come quickly, the Revs are focusing on one at a time.

Porter said he will speak to his coaching staff after each game to determine if they need to shift the game plan or rotate the lineup.

“In theory, we could play every guy in all three games,” Porter said. “You can do that. Our heaviest [training] day is Wednesday. We get close to, with the Tuesday and Wednesday loads, a game load, and that’s why we train that way. We get like three-quarters of a game load on Wednesday typically, so about 75 minutes of a game. So, we could play the same group all three games.

“That’s not a problem, but there are certain guys who are more at-risk just with where they’re at in their fitness and where they’re at with regards to their previous injury history, for instance. You have to be smart in those type of decisions, and we will, like always. It’s nothing new, it’s just the first time we’ve really had to manage, other than the Open Cup, more games in a compacted window.”

While the Revs are 7th in the standings in points per game, they’re currently 11th since they’ve played fewer games. This week, they have an opportunity to solidify their spot in the Eastern Conference.

“We have games in hand, but those don’t mean anything,” Polster said. “You have to win those points, and we know that as a team, we have to go on the next three road games, which is not going to be easy, to find ways to win and to find ways to grind games out.

“I think we have that kind of mentality. We’ve shown that in the last six or so games that we’ll grind games out even if they are not pretty.”