Usseglio: The Revolution Don’t Deserve to Make Playoffs

The good, the bad, and the ugly

Photo By J. Alexander Dolan

After a couple of admittedly negative articles, my goal heading into the New England Revolution’s game against CF Montréal was to focus on the positives. My hope for the team to make the playoffs was gone, but what bright spots could indicate promise for next season?

The Revs started the game well. They got my hopes up, playing a good first half against a Montréal side that, on paper, was a much weaker team. I’ll come back to this point later.

The Revolution were able to move the ball, snap around passes, apply pressure, and create chances in front of goal. Bobby Wood scored a banger, turning back the clock and continuing his good run of form. He was a good target man and helped the Revs transition into the attack numerous times on Wednesday night. Esmir Bajraktarević also showed out in the first half, looking dangerous in the attack and scoring a nice goal to put the Revs up 2-0.

When the referee whistled for halftime, I was feeling good. It felt like a breath of fresh air after watching the last couple of games against Orlando City and St. Louis CITY.

The players came out to start the second half, and watching on TV I noticed they looked happy. Carles Gil was smiling and the team seemed like they had a weight lifted off their shoulders. There were so many times the past couple of games where the players looked frustrated, with their heads down and bad body language. I genuinely thought they seemed happy to be out there and so I assumed they would keep up the pressure and close out the game. That turned out to be a bad assumption.

Did the team get complacent? Were they feeling too good about being up 2-0? Or they thought the game was in the bag against a less talented Montréal squad?

I am not sure. I am not sure the reason for the collapse, but boy did the Revs collapse. They did not play well in the second half. They let Montréal claw back into the game. An amazing free-kick goal by Tom Pearce just outside of the box, thanks to a silly foul, made the score 2-1.

The Revs looked frazzled.

They played a nervous brand of soccer from that point on. You could almost see on the players’ faces the thought that must have been going through their heads: oh no, here we go again.

The game went off the rails, and the Revs frantically tried to hold on to their 2-1 lead. Despite being on the ropes and not playing as well as they did in the first half, the Revs had their chances. There was a sequence where Esmir had a close range shot on goal that was saved by Montréal’s keeper and then two follow up shots from Carles were cleared off the line by Montréal’s defenders.

The Revs failed to convert and find a third goal. Montréal took advantage and scored the equalizer on a nice shot from the top of the box by Nathan Saliba. Saliba curled his shot into the top left corner, impossible for Revs keeper Aljaž Ivačič to save. While it was a beautiful shot, Saliba had way too much time and space. He was able to turn and get off the shot without too much trouble from a Revolution defender.

When the goal went in, you could feel the air being sucked out of the building. It was a very deflating and familiar feeling. At this point I was no longer hopeful. I was no longer looking for the positive.

Here was a team, to my point earlier, that on paper is much more talented than CF Montréal. I have thought that so many times this season. That the Revs roster is talented. They have good players, better quality players than the team they were playing that night.

But on the field, you couldn’t see it. It didn’t come together. They have almost never looked like the better team in any of their games this season. Why?

Why does this group of talented players struggle to put together good performances? Is it the tactics? The game model? The mentality of the players, as Caleb Porter suggested in their post-game press conference? I don’t know.

But something is clearly wrong with the team. Whether that is because the tactics aren’t good enough, the players haven’t bought into the game model, they don’t have a winning mentality, the team isn’t as talented as I thought, everyone is kind of fed up after what has happened within the team the past couple of years, or something else.

Something is clearly wrong.

The Revolution ended up tying the game 2-2. Their season is all but over and the prospect of making the playoffs at this point is laughable. As Charlie Davies commented in the 98.5 Sports Hub post-game show with Brad Feldman, the Revolution do not deserve to make the playoffs. Not with how they have played this season.

Which begs the question, what exactly is going to change so that the same story doesn’t unfold next season?

We need to understand what the problem is. Head coach Caleb Porter clearly thinks the problem is not his tactics, game model, or coaching. The issue in his mind is the players’ mentality. So if the Revs are able to make significant roster changes, maybe next season will play out differently than this season.

But I am not sure I agree. And if the players mentality is in fact not the problem, the Revolution could be in for another rough season.

I do want to focus on a couple of positive things, which was my intention when I sat down to watch the game on Wednesday night. Bobby Wood played a great game with his goal and hold-up play.

Alhassan Yusuf looks like the real deal. He was excellent on the ball, quick to tackle, and tracked back to support the Revs defenders. Esmir looked dangerous, especially in the first half. If he had converted his chance in the second half the game could have gone differently. Peyton Miller had some bright, dynamic moments. He will need to continue working on his delivery, but he looks a very promising player.

Carles Gil was dynamic, making great passes and creating multiple chances throughout the game. Gil assisted on Bajraktarevic’s goal, bringing his career total with the Revolution to 73 across all competitions. This ties the club record set by Steve Ralston, and it seems very likely that Carles will surpass that record by the end of the season.

There are some very talented players on this team. They just need to find a way to win.