Revolution Looking for Revenge Against Columbus Crew
“I mean, they embarrassed us last year, frankly."
The New England Revolution are preparing for their 2025 home opener but the nightmares from 2024 are still on their mind.
There is no need to remind fans of how poor the Revolution performed in 2024 but there is one result worth mentioning. In the two matches that New England and Columbus played against one another last year, the Crew outscored the Revolution 9-1.
Considering how poorly New England performed, head coach Caleb Porter is itching to show how much the club has changed in a year.
“I mean, they embarrassed us last year, frankly,” Porter said. “So, I think it’s a great chance for us to show how much different a team we have this year, how far we’ve come, and that we’re a lot more competitive.”
The Revolution started 2025 in a better fashion. While they were unable to beat Nashville SC, they did record a clean sheet. Considering New England lost to D.C. United to start last season, a point is a point.
No matter the result on Saturday, the Revolution are a much different team. Carles Gil and Brandon Bye were the only starters last week who were with the club to start 2024.
Jackson Yueill is one of the new faces on the Revolution roster. The midfielder looked good in the middle of the pitch next to Alhassan Yusuf. The MLS veteran tallied 65 touches while completing 54 of 59 passes.
Playing on a team with the potential for success is sure to be refreshing for Yueill. After a disappointing 2024 season with the San Jose Earthquakes, the midfielder knows what it is like to want to prove doubters wrong.
“From my experience last year, and I think the Revs as well, we want some payback,” he said. “We want to show the league that we are good players and a good organization, so that is something that really intrigued me here. Something Caleb [Porter] kind of mentioned to me early on and throughout preseason is we want to prove that we can be a really, really strong team in this league. So, it was last weekend and at home every time we play, but especially against this team [Columbus], that we want to try to prove a point that we are here to compete this year. It is a very talented team and we respect the opponent, but we are coming out to win and give some of the stuff that happened last year to us back to the rest of the league and put our front foot forward.”
Another part of the new look Revs is a revamped back line. Mamadou Fofana and Brayan Ceballos had a good start to their MLS careers but will face another test on Saturday.
Jacen Russell-Rowe and Diego Rossi are powering the Crew attack while Darlington Nagbe runs the midfield.
“Of course with Columbus, they’re a very good attacking team, so we know we’re going to have to be mindful of their attacking players and their attacking style of play,” Porter said. “They’re very aggressive, both sides of the ball. They look to create chances with their press and with their control of the game. Obviously, they’re very good in the final third, as well, in how they pin you back, get crosses in, and attack you in the little half spaces. We’re going to have to be mindful of that, but at the same time, we need to threaten them. We need to make them defend as well. We need to put pressure on them. The matchup is something we’ve talked about with the players. They have a very good understanding of what we need to do in stopping them, but also what we need to do to threaten them and hurt them.”
With such a high-powered attack, goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic will need to be on top of his game. But the goalkeeper’s teammates are confident in his shot-stopping abilities.
““I think Aljaž is a great goalkeeper,” Ceballos said. “Since I arrived here, he’s been a great teammate. He has helped me a lot. We have a lot of confidence in him. The communication with him has been important. He’s confident in us and we’re confident in him. We back him the same way he backs us. We have that communication and sense of unity, and it makes things much easier.”
Saturday’s match has the possibility to be a cliche “statement game” for New England. A win against one of MLS’ top teams would show just how far the Revolution have come since 2024. A loss on the other hand? That would show that more work needs to be done before New England is declared a contender.
Even if we do end up with a draw or a loss, I hope it includes scoring a freaking goal. I need my confidence for any offensive abilities to grow under Porter ball. He says they need to also challenge the defense but how many of those Yueill passes were sideways or back to the defenders or GK
Porters style of play is a tough sell. The guys haven't been together that long hope the offense can put something together.