Revolution II Looking to Turn Page Following "Unacceptable" Loss
Hear what Richie Williams, Alex Monis, and Olger Escobar had to say following the 5-3 loss to Crown Legacy.
Sunday’s clash against Crown Legacy was disastrous for Richie Williams and New England Revolution II. After severe weather in the area prolonged kickoff for over an hour, the visitors unleashed on the Revs II net and scored five times to secure a 5-0 lead heading into halftime.
Despite a valiant effort that saw Alex Monis secure a brace and Tiago Suarez find his first goal with the club, Revs II fell short of the comeback as Crown Legacy walked away with a 5-3 victory.
Following the gut-wrenching loss, Richie Williams, Alex Monis, and Olger Escobar spoke to the media.
It was a rough outing for Revs II with Williams calling it “unacceptable”.
“The first half, they weren’t ready to play,” Williams said. “I don’t know if it had to do with the rain delay or not…Again, the other team was much more aggressive and wanted it a lot more than we did in the first half. we talk about consistency and how you can manage a game and play for 90 minutes, and we didn’t show up in the first half and it was really disappointing. You see in the second half, its a completely different game. We’re the better team in the second half, created all sorts of opportunities, score three goals. Actually, potentially could have scored a fourth and a fifth.”.
WIlliams went on to highlight how his young players need to use the loss as fuel their development.
“They’re young players,” he said. “Their inexperienced players. Not all of them are even pros yet, but we talk about consistency and how you can manage a game and play for 90 minutes, and we didn’t show up in the first half and it was really disappointing…It’s all about consistency, about the ability to want to win, and again, if these players want to move into the next level, which is the goal for all of them, to play at the highest level whatever that may be, they have to self-reflect and have a learning experience from this.”
While a lot didn’t go Revolution II’s way, their ability to generate on set pieces was one highlight. All three of Revs II’s goals in the loss came from the corner kicks. Williams called his squad's effort on set pieces “great”.
“First of all, we’re creating the set pieces by being aggressive and getting into the attacking half of the field,” the head coach said. “Being able to execute those set pieces is another thing. It was good that they executed and hopefully, we’ll continue to do well with them.”
Despite notching two of the three goals, Alex Monis was quick to brush it off and focus on how the squad will bounce back following the tough loss.
“To be honest, it doesn’t really mean anything,” Monis said. “I’m always happy to score but when we lose games, especially in that fashion, I’m not really proud of it."
While he was excited to return to the team after spending time with the Guatemala senior national team, Olger Escobar was also quick to turn his attention to being ready for Revs II’s next match. But while talking with Monis and Escobar, I asked both about their recent excursions with their respective international teams.
“I think going into the national team camp definitely gave me a lot of confidence…Coming back into the team, these guys do a good job making sure I’m up to speed,” Monis said.
In terms of his experience with the Guatemala senior national team, Escobar said he believed it was good for him and his future with Revs II.
“Getting the experience to play at that level is really good for me and it helps me down here,” the Guatemalan forward said.
Turning to the positives, Sunday’s loss saw two highlights with the return of Marcos Dias and the debut of Academy prospect Joshua Partal. Williams was quick to praise the return of Marcos Dias and the Academy debutant.
“Marcos is a very good player…He’s been a big loss, so it’s nice to get him back for 15 - 20 minutes, and he obviously contributed… Josh has been good in training, and he's a good young player,” the head coach said. “It was good to be able to get him minutes."
Revolution II will look to turn the page when they hit the road on June 30th to face FC Cincinnati 2 at 6:00 PM ET.