Richie Williams Looking to Continue Development in 2025
Hear what the second-year head coach had to say before Sunday's season opener.
2025 sees Richie Williams return to the helm of Revolution II for a second season. His debut campaign was an unfortunate one results wise as the club finished at the bottom of the MLS NEXT Pro table with 22 points on a 4-18-6 record with four shootout victories.
“I don’t think it was struggles,” Williams said reflecting on last season. “We gave a lot of opportunities to a lot of young players that eventually signed with the second team, a lot of Academy players that got professional experience. It’s primarily a developmental team. We want to put players in a professional environment…We can look at results, and you could possibly say that was difficult. Of course, we’d still like to win more games than you lose during that process, but I wouldn’t say it was a difficult or not a successful season because it did help a lot of players develop.”
With 2024 in the past, the conversation looked to the present and future.
It was a pretty eventful offseason for the club. One that saw Academy coaches Brad Knighton and Michael Mizallo ascend to take assistant coaching roles under Richie Williams.
Williams called the pair “two very good coaches”. Additionally, they are familiar faces who Academy players will be familiar with. Williams said it’s really important and credited the duo for getting a better idea and understanding of the Academy prospects.
The conversation then shifted to individual players ahead of the new season.
2024 saw Klein play a variety of positions across the midfield and backline. In 2025, Klein is likely to feature in the midfield.
“His best position is in the middle of the field as a central midfielder and number six, but again, he’s super versatile and he’s got a great attitude, very positive,” Williams said. “He’ll play anywhere on the field you need him. We hope that’s where we are able to use him.”
With Tiago Suarez’s loan to Birmingham, the offseason saw Revs II bring in two quality pieces in Keegan Hughes and Gabe Dahlin. Williams says part of the additions was to ensure depth at the position.
“Well, as you saw last year, we had a bunch of injuries to our center backs and we were really short-handed,” the head coach said. “All those center backs are good quality players and it’s good to have competition for places. Everybody will have opportunities as we saw last year. We expect them all to play at a high level.”
One big question mark heading into the new year was the future of all-time leading goal scorer Marcos Dias, who became a free agent following the 2024 season. Thankfully, Dias returned to Revs II on a one-year deal on November 14th, 2024.
“Marcos is a great guy, great person, great in the locker room,” Williams told The Blazing Musket. “He’s able to help in the attack and score goals for us and help us set up goals. He’s just a great overall soccer player and we’re happy to have him back, and continue his development as a player.”
2025 sees rising star Cristiano Oliveira return on a full-time deal after spending 2024 with the club on an Amateur Agreement deal. Since then, Oliveira has become a regular with Revs II and has begun breaking through on the national level.
“He’s a great kid who wants to learn all the time,” said Williams. “He unfortunately had some injuries last year, but he’s back strong and healthy. We expect him to be along with the rest of the players as a good, young talent we want to develop and help the second team.”
Former Academy prospect Joe Buck who returns following a four-year collegiate career at Georgetown. Williams says that Buck has been a great addition and also commended his leadership skills.
“He’s also shown some good leadership qualities,” said Williams. “Really positive, really good mentality, and he’s a very good, solid central midfielder for us.”
Heading into 2025, Williams is once again not focused on results. He wants to see players developing and competing.
Still the head coach notes that winning is a part of the developmental process for young players.
“At this level, results aren’t the end all, but part of development is competing and knowing how to win games and get results,” Williams said. “We want to win more games and we want to compete better. The competing part should be what it’s about. At the end of the day, it’s always nice to get positive results for our confidence and the environment we’re trying to create.”
*This interview took place prior to New England’s match on Sunday
Ill never forgive him. He torpedoed the entire organization. Bruce leaving left Curt with decision making abilities he didn’t have while Bruce was there. Richie’s drama effectively ruined the remainder of Gil’s time here, pushed good assistants out the door and killed a decade of potential club success in total once were done with the reflexive Porter hiring nonsense.