Porter Talks About Lineup Continuity
The Revs have yet to replicate a starting lineup through ten regular-season games.
The New England Revolution have yet to replicate a starting lineup through ten regular-season games, which isn’t how head coach Caleb Porter typically operates.
The Revs had a congested schedule to start 2024 because they balanced the Concacaf Champions Cup (CCC) with league play. That stretch—which included eight games in 26 days—required some lineup shuffling.
The rotating continued after the Revs were knocked out of CCC as Porter looked to navigate injuries and form.
“That's always what I want, is continuity in a lineup,” Porter said. “Start of the year, we're playing every three days, so we had to rotate. Then from there, we had some injuries, which meant again, we had to rotate with different guys in. So, it has not been ideal. That's not the way that I normally like to do it, but that's been a necessity.
“Then there's been some performances that have meant in some positions that we needed to give other guys a look, because when you're not winning, you're not performing, you get injuries, you have to rotate, it’s very difficult to find any rhythm and continuity.”
“So, I said it a couple of weeks ago: We were, in our team development, ending the storming kind of phase, and now it’s time to start to norm. You can only do that if you stay healthy and keep performing.”
The Revs have used three goalkeepers this year with Henrich Ravas starting eight games and Earl Edwards Jr. starting one. Newcomer Aljaz Ivacic was in the net for the Revs’ 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire.
The Revolution have also used several center back combinations. The pairings of Dave Romney and Jonathan Mensah, Henry Kessler and Mensah, and Kessler and Andrew Farrell have each been used once. Romney and Kessler partnered five times while Kessler worked with Xavier Arreaga for the last two games.
At center mid, Carles Gil has started ten games, Matt Polster nine, Ian Harkes five, Mark-Anthony Kaye four, and Noel Buck three.
Porter’s next opportunity to name a starting lineup will be this Saturday when the Revs travel to face the New York Red Bulls.