Usseglio: Revs Outclassed By Crew

A tale of two clubs

Photo Courtesy of New England Revolution

October 12^th is a special day in Columbus, Ohio. The Columbus City Council officially declared it a local holiday in 2019, known as “Saved the Crew Day”. The holiday commemorates the day in 2018 when the Columbus Crew were saved as the team was in the process of being relocated to Austin, Texas by then-owner Anthony Precourt.

The Haslam and Edwards families stepped in with an offer to purchase the Crew and keep the team in Columbus. The fans in Columbus and across MLS made their voices heard, and their grassroots efforts in combination with the sale of the team kept one of the MLS original clubs where it belonged.

Fast forward from October 12, 2018, to this past Saturday, which was the sixth anniversary of “Saved the Crew Day”. The Columbus Crew have won 2 MLS Cups over that period, built a beautiful new stadium in downtown Columbus, and are playing sublime soccer under the direction of head coach Wilfried Nancy. Were it not for the juggernaut that is Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, the Crew would surely be the class of MLS.

The New England Revolution, on the other hand, came into Saturday night in second to last place in the Eastern Conference. Still without an MLS Cup, without a soccer-specific stadium, and playing a brand of soccer that has left much to be desired.

The two teams could not be further apart, and the difference in class was apparent from the opening whistle.

The Revolution were objectively terrible in the first half. Very similar to the last game against D.C. United, the Revs found themselves down 2-0 almost from the jump. This time it took 15 minutes to fall behind by 2 goals, the first of which was scored by former Rev DeJuan Jones. It was a beautiful goal by Jones, who reminded the Revolution fans why we miss him so much. If only the Revs could have players like him.

At this point in the season, with the playoffs out of reach, the Revolution players should be playing for their pride and futures. To show coach Caleb Porter that they want to be here, or to showcase their skills to other teams in the hopes of signing somewhere else next season. Given how this year has gone, maybe some of the players would prefer to be elsewhere in 2025.

At the very least, you would expect the players to play for the badge and the fans. But the effort, especially in the first half, was clearly lacking. Team broadcaster Charlie Davies commented, too many times to count, how players were walking around on the field without any sense of urgency.

Davies also commented that the team lacked an identity, and I agree. I honestly don’t know what the Revs are supposed to be, which is a crazy thing to be saying after the penultimate game of the season. New England get broken down so easily in the midfield and defense (never mind whatever they are trying to do in the attacking end to generate goal-scoring opportunities).

It did not look like the Revs were a cohesive team on Saturday night. There were 11 individuals on the field, but not a unified team. It has felt like that a lot this season.

Now, please take all of this with a grain of salt, as I am simply a fan. I love the game, and like to learn about tactics, but I am not an expert. Not by a long shot.

So maybe, when coach Caleb Porter mentions in press conferences that the team has progressed and is playing better now than at the beginning of the season, he might be right. I personally do not see it. I don’t know how you can say the Revs are playing better.

For one half, against the Dynamo in Houston, we saw the Revs at a level that was different. Maybe that is what Porter is referring to but that was the outlier, not the norm. That is not what we have seen from the team this season.

What we have seen is mediocrity.

The Revs lost the game against the Crew 4-0. They lost the two-game set against the Crew this season by an aggregate of 9-1. This was the 20^th loss of the MLS regular season. The Revs have a goal differential of -33 on the year.

Staggering.

It would be one thing if the Revs simply could not score. If the defense was solid and they were hanging in games. But that has not been the case - they can’t defend either. Everyone seems to be at a loss for words, as demonstrated by Dave Romney in his post-game press conference.