Revolution Notebook: Dallas Reflection, Competition at Center Back, and Player Availability

Some storylines from Tuesday's training session.

Photo Courtesy of J. Alexander Dolan

The Blazing Musket attended the New England Revolution’s training session on Tuesday, Jul. 22, 2024. Here are some notes from the trip.

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Reflecting on the Dallas Game

Tying FC Dallas 1-1 wasn’t the result that the Revs wanted, but head coach Caleb Porter was still proud of his team's fight, especially in light of the absences.

Despite missing their three Designated Players and U-22 player, the Revs appeared set to collect a 1-0 win over Dallas, who also had players missing. That changed when Paul Arriola scored a late penalty.

“Obviously, with the group we had, they fought hard, really hard,” Porter said. “I thought we had the better of the game, just have to close the game out.

“We should take [away] a lot of positives. This is probably our first time where we’ve had a heavily rotated group that performed well. That was good to see, because in other times where we rotated heavily, and where we obviously chose to rotate heavily, we didn’t perform very well. So, it was great to see some of the guys step up and show the mentality that we need.

“Obviously, we have to close the game out, but a lot of that had to do with subs too. We’re very thin, but I was proud of the performance.”

Porter later noted that several players put in good shifts.

“I was really proud of the group,” Porter said. “Again, [we’re] very thin, there’s not many ones playing, and those guys put in a very good shift. That gives me a lot to think about for the future, because some of those guys, how hard they played and how much they gave, that is what I have been asking for all season long.

“We have to rotate. We play guys because of injuries and different depth pieces, so that was great to see. As we get healthier and healthier, now when we, in a three [games] in seven [days] week, have to rotate, we should have more confidence now.”

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Competition at Center Back

One of the storylines this season has been who starts at center back.

Dave Romney and Henry Kessler were the preferred pairing to start the year, though Jonathan Mensah and Andrew Farrell got some time.

Xavier Arreaga became a fixture in the starting lineup after he signed on Apr. 23. Romney and Kessler have both played alongside the former Seattle defender.

Porter was asked about the competition on Tuesday.

“The performances have been up and down, and I think everyone sees that,” Porter said. “So, it’s up to them. I would like one of them to grab the position, but I don’t think either one has.

“We will continue to ride the hot hand or give other guys opportunities. I think both have shown they can get the job done some games, and both have shown that they can be inconsistent. It’s important that one of them or both of them become more consistent. Right now, I think it will come down to kind of how I feel each week.

“I did think Kessler had a good game, but then obviously he had the penalty at the end. So, a bit unlucky for him, but it was a good game out of him. I’m not going to let that taint the performance he had.”

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Player Availability

The Revs have been dealing with a host of absences for the past several weeks and it doesn’t appear that will change much for Leagues Cup.

On Jul. 19, Sam Minton asked for an update regarding injuries. Porter said, “What I can tell you is we will have everybody back by Montreal [on August 24].”

On Tuesday, we asked Porter if he plans to rotate some players for the tournament.

Porter responded, “If we could rotate, we would maybe think about rotating. But the way we’re playing right now, in the last four games, we’re playing the guys we have healthy, so there’s not much of a choice.

“If we were in a different situation, then obviously this tournament becomes much more of a priority. I have to be honest. We’re going to, obviously like every game, we’re going to try to win every game we play. We never try to lose. But we also understand how important the last 11 games are for a push for the [MLS] playoffs and what we can’t do is get anymore guys injured.

“So, we will be playing probably a very similar group that we played last game. We’re not getting any more guys back and we’re not deep enough to really rotate anymore.”

When asked specifically about the availability of Giacomo Vrioni and Carles Gil, Porter said, “They won’t be available…definitely not in this first game [vs. Mazatlán FC].”