There's a sense of composure every time New England Revolution head coach Marko Mitrovic speaks.
The Revs have only won once since the World Cup break, going 1-2-2. But the results don't tell the full story, particularly against CF Montreal and Toronto FC.
Leading 2-0 at halftime and finishing the night with 4.13 expected goals compared to Montreal's .77, the Revolution were forced to share points because the opponent finished well.
The Revs held 71% possession against Toronto on Saturday and produced 2.22 expected goals, far more than the home side's .24. Toronto ultimately won 2-1, their first victory since April, via an own goal and a golazo.
"Sometimes things go well for certain teams, and then they take the shots from 25-30 yards out and score beautiful goals," Mitrovic said. "Sometimes you have those situations where you just cannot put the ball in the net. I don’t think we did anything wrong. I would say, what is very encouraging, is that we are [getting] there.
"I was told after the game that we had 25 shots in the game, and I think they had a few clearances on the goal line, where both [of our shots] didn’t want to go inside of the net. It’s very difficult to tell the players, ‘You have to put the ball in the net’, because that’s what they wanted. They had the right intention, and sometimes things go your way, sometimes not.”
The Revs have proven in recent weeks that they can move the ball from back to front, find seams against defensive teams, and create goal-scoring opportunities.
But the final product hasn't always been there. The most recent outing against Toronto is proof.
Solid build-up nearly led to Jack Harrison's first goal for the Revolution, but his strike hit the woodwork.
Harrison later found an onrushing Matt Polster, who played a picturesque pass that couldn't be pushed over the line.
Another service from Harrison almost led to a goal.
Harrison did get his first Revs assist late in the game, helping Wilson Harris get his first-ever MLS goal.
The tally wasn't enough, as the Revs dropped to 1-5-2 on the road this season.
But soccer has natural highs and lows.
When the Revs set a new record for best home start in club history (6-0-0), Mitrovic emphasized that they will "keep working day-by-day and making the best version of ourselves on that day."
The head coach has a similar mindset now that his team has only collected five of a possible 15 points.
"Since day one, when we were talking about the team breaking records [at home] or winning, we just don’t move that way," Mitrovic said. "We have the next game, and everything behind us is our experience and are things that we have to use to make ourselves better.
"This is a marathon and we have to get to the end line in the best possible way. Those are situations where I really don’t count those stats, like when we have whatever number of wins in some period of time or losses. We just have to keep going forward, because I really think the team is performing very good and finding its identity. We just have to push luck on our side, because in certain moments, we are missing a little bit to get better results.”
While there's work to do, there's also faith in the process.
"We're going to keep doing what we're doing," Matt Turner said. "I think it's working. I think we're getting into good positions on the field, but in the end, the only thing that matters when the final whistle goes is the final score.
"We have a lot of disappointed and frustrated guys in our locker room. We're looking at ourselves and we're trying to get better every week on the training ground. We work so hard. The next three points that we get, it's going to feel mighty, mighty good."
