New England Revolution Will Remain Aggressive on the Road
"I don’t think we are all of a sudden now going to get conservative, just because we’re on the road and the fans in the stands are different.”
The New England Revolution showed signs of improvement against the New York Red Bulls. Now that the Revs are headed on the road, they will look to impose the same style of play against their opponents.
New England got back to doing what it does best. It utilized speedy and dynamic players on the wing to create goal-scoring opportunities.
Ignatius Ganago and Luca Langoni showed off their skill and performed well in one-v-one scenarios. Peyton Miller and Ilay Feingold also performed well and were to create chances for the Revolution instead of instantly reverting to crossing the ball into the box and hoping for the best.
Beyond the eye test, the heat map from the match shows how New England was on the wing.
But that was against the Red Bulls, New England will now face a major test on the road against FC Cincinnati on the weekend. From the front of the attack all the way to the man between the sticks, Cincy has talent that will put the Revolution to the test.
While Lucho Acosta was traded, Evander is the new man in the middle and Luca Orellano is also a talented attacker. In the midfield, Obinna Nwobodo patrols the pitch while Miles Robinson and Roman Celentano stand out in defense.
“Yeah, [they're] a good team. A similar structure to what Red Bull played, kind of a 3-4-3, 3-5-2,” head coach Caleb Porter said. “So, [they're] a really good team. They’re starting to hit their form. Obviously, they are in Champions [Cup], so at first they were maybe starting a little slow in the season, trying to manage both competitions, but they’re starting to find their form. I have a lot of respect for Pat Noonan and the job he’s done. Obviously, I know him well. I coached him at I.U. [Indiana University]. He has his team playing really well right now, so it won’t be easy, but we do have confidence and we just beat a very good team. There are some things that we can do in this game that are similar to the last game. For sure, we’ll make adjustments and change some things, but it’s nice to have at least a similar shape to deal with going into this game.”
One of those things that Porter hopes will carry over from the NYRB win is the aggression that was on display from Revolution players.
“I think we need to be aggressive,” Porter said. “We were aggressive last game. That doesn’t mean we were reckless. We had balance within the way we wanted to play, and the way we wanted to attack, and the way we wanted to get numbers forward. So, balance is always important, but I think we had the balance right. In this last game, we risked a little more. We had more numbers forward, especially in wide spots. We had better purpose to our attacking play. We were good in our transitions, [and] even in set-piece attacking. I don’t think we are all of a sudden now going to get conservative, just because we’re on the road and the fans in the stands are different.”
While the Revolution showed signs of improvement against New York, New England needs to prove that wasn’t an anomaly. A poor performance against Cincy will pile pressure back on a team and organization that is searching for momentum and points.