Revs Backline Continues to Excel

"When Aljaž [Ivačič] or the center backs were called upon to make plays, they did.”

Photo Courtesy of New England Revolution

The New England Revolution secured the club’s second win of the 2025 Major League Soccer season and once again the backline deserves the credit.

While a goal had to be scored in order for New England to win, the attack once again failed to score a goal in the run of play. Carles Gil earned a penalty kick that he slotted home moments later for the only goal of the match.

The Revolution did technically allow two goals but both were waved off and due to an offsides call. While the first one was more of an error by Atlanta, the second was potentially a moment of soccer intelligence as noted by the MLS Season Pass commentators.

Jamie Watson noted how in the 46th minute, Peyton Miller’s positioning kept Emmanuel Latte Lath, offsides, negating what would have been a game-tying goal.

Overall, it was a quality performance for Miller. He struggled to contain Brooks Lennon at times but managed to be a threat going forward. He enjoyed being able to play higher up the pitch though his finishing can still use some work.

Miller ended up getting subbed off in the 59th minute. Caleb Porter admitted that after the match, the left back was tired and needed to be subbed off.

“[Miller] is a great player, really talented with huge upside,” he said after the match. “In this system that we’re playing, as a wingback, he can be even more aggressive. I thought him and Ilay [Feingold] had an excellent game overall. We did feel like Peyton faded a little bit and got tired. [Atlanta] started throwing [Brooks] Lennon at him 1-v-1 a lot, so I thought Will Sands did a good job when he came into the game to kind of lock it down defensively. Peyton was extremely dangerous, and he’ll continue to get better. I still think in the final third he can get his final ball right, his crosses. Then obviously, in the defensive third he has to continue to work 1-v-1 to be able to shut guys down.”

The system that Porter was referring to was Porter deploying a 3-5-2 that featured Ilay Feingold and Miller playing higher up the field as wing backs. For a team that has seen success in the past when its outside backs are able to get forward, it was a welcome change that proved successful.

While it can be easy to forget that he is starting MLS games, Miller is just 17 years old. He still has a long way to go in terms of reaching his potential and will still make the occasional mistake.

“Yeah, 17, playing at this level, I think he [Miller] is far beyond his years,” Matt Polster said. “But I think there’s still a lot of growth to be had and that’s normal at 17. I mean, I don’t think I was anywhere near this level at 17, so for him to perform, to be starting for this team, to put in good performances like he has, it’s a great thing to see and a great thing for him. His ceiling is very high, so he still has a lot to improve, but he can do that. I think he has that capability, I think he has that mentality, and it is something he wants. He wants to play at a higher level. He will continue to grow as long as he keeps pushing himself.”

Focusing on the center back trio, the group did a quality job limiting the chances of what can be a lethal Atlanta attack. Tanner Beason, Mamadou Fofana, and Brayan Ceballos did a good job of limiting chances and getting in front of shots.

“I’m really happy with the defending,” Porter said. “The bottom line is we got a clean sheet. It was a team effort. We pressed them really well in the first half. We were able to match their 4-2-3-1. We put our players in 1-v-1s all over the pitch and in duels, and I thought they did an excellent job of that. When Aljaž [Ivačič] or the center backs were called upon to make plays, they did.”

While it was possible that this was an Atlanta-specific tactical change, it does seem like a three-man backline could be staying. Postgame, Porter indicated that this was a change he has been thinking about for some time but didn’t commit to staying locked in to this style of play.

“This is something that I’ve had in my mind for several weeks,” he said. “I felt like it was what was going to push us over the top. It doesn’t mean we won’t play a 4-2-3-1, which becomes a 3-4-3 in the build and a 4-4-2 defensively. It doesn’t mean we won’t do that sometimes as well, because we’ve been good at that formation. But we just felt like this was something that was going to push us over the top. We felt like it was going to give us actually more attack, and I felt it did. We got more chances today. We should’ve scored more than one goal.”