New England Revolution Will Look Much Different After Leagues Cup
New England Revolution Will Look Much Different After Leagues Cup
"There will be some guys that played major roles in the last four games that won't dress."
The New England Revolution have been dealing with injuries but after Leagues Cup, the Revolution are nearly at full strength.
Notwithstanding Tomas Chancalay’s season-long injury, the Revs had everyone available at training. Giacomo Vrioni and Jack Panayotou were the only players to not be full participants. Players such as Carles Gil, Noel Buck, Nacho Gil, and Dylan Borrero were pleasant sights to see on the training pitch Tuesday.
New England’s head coach Caleb Porter hopes that the players returning from injury will be able to play some sort of role in this weekend’s match against CF Montreal.
“We had everybody back healthy today, except Giacomo [Vrioni],” Porter said. “Again, I caution people, it's going to take time for them to be able to play major minutes, but hopefully, most of the guys that were available today will be able to factor in this game in Montreal [on Saturday, August 24] in some way shape or form, probably off the bench, until they build up enough minutes to be able to start.”
But with these injuries come tough choices. The Revolution head coach stated that players who got significant minutes will not even dress come the weekend due to players returning from injury and acquisitions arriving during the transfer window.
“We've got some tough decisions on the weekend in terms of not only who starts, but who comes off the bench,” Porter said. “Most of the guys that are back healthy won’t be available to start, but I'm hoping they are all available off the bench. Then, obviously next week as we move on and get more training time, there will be some tough decisions for starting. It's great. It's a good problem to have, when you have tough decisions. There will be some guys that played major roles in the last four games that won't dress. That's just where it's at on numbers and the quality that we have coming back into the team.”
Jack Panayotou is one player who received a heavy dose of minutes while New England was dealing with injuries. Since July 7, Panayotou made five starts, tallying a goal and an assist. The 20-year-old was finding his form and playing some great soccer during this stretch.
Veterans such as Bobby Wood and Tommy McNamara also received a run out of starts while Ema Boateng played a role off the bench as he recovered from an injury of his own.
Panayotou — along with many others — could now find it hard to get any minutes never mind starts. The 20-year-old was one of the last players off the field at training on Tuesday as The Blazing Musket observed him having a lengthy conversation with Porter. What the conversation was about remains between the two parties as they were some distance away.
But the Revolution will no doubt look different when they take the field in Montreal. Familiar faces will make their return while some new ones make their debuts. Ripple effects will be felt throughout the roster but New England will be in a much better place than it was even a few weeks ago.