On Monday, The Blazing Musket got the opportunity to stop by one of Revolution II’s first training sessions of the 2026 season.
While the number of participants was lighter due to the first team traveling to Florida for preseason training, introductory testing, and international duty, Monday gave first-year head coach Pablo Moreira his first chance to coach up his squad ahead of the new season.
Following Monday’s session, we got a chance to talk with Moreira about his journey to Revolution II and his expectations for the season.
While this is Moreira’s first head coaching gig, he’s no stranger to coaching as he’s held a variety of positions at the collegiate and professional level. Experience that Moreira believes will benefit him with Revs II.
“I think it’s a multitude of things," he told The Blazing Musket. "Upon that journey, I've had a couple of different roles at each spot. From Portland, fast forward to here, I’ve done every single role, which helped me see it from all these different angles.”
Speaking of experience, Moreira called his spell as interim head coach for the first team “a crash course”.
“I don’t think at that time of year, there wasn't a lot going on, so for me, it was more just understanding where we were and what changes I could make in that month's time to propel the club and the players forward," he said. "It was just one of those environments where you have to grow with it. I think it helped me be able to come up with different solutions.”
Both Moreira and first team head coach Marko Mitrović are new to their respective roles, but the chemistry between the pair is already growing.
“One of my first conversations with him, we sat down in his office for over 45 minutes and just talked the game and how we viewed things, and learned from each other," Moreira said. "Luckily, we view the game very similarly, and I think that is why we're in head positions. Ultimately, we want to make it a seamless transition from the second to the first team to help this club… I haven’t worked with him on the field just yet, but I feel like he’s a great individual who wants to incorporate everyone into the mix. I think that’s a great way to lead and gives everyone conviction behind what they’re doing.”
In terms of how Revolution II will look under Moreira, the keyword is "aggressive".
“Super aggressive. I think when we have the ball, we’re going to be super aggressive," he said. Defensively, when we don’t have the ball, we’ll be equally aggressive. I want to attack with and without the ball. I think that’s going to be a characteristic of a New England Revolution II player. One that’s brave, one that has confidence, and wants to be the aggressor.”.
Whether it’s been with players like Esmir Bajraktarević, Peyton Miller, or others at the first and second team levels, the New England Revolution Academy has garnered praise for its ability to develop young players into elite prospects.
“I think it starts from the top," he said. "I think Curt (Onalfo) and Rob (Becerra) have a great history in terms of the Academy with the Galaxy, and they’ve brought that here. I think it’s no coincidence, and now we are one of the top successful Academies. It’s great to see this type of high-level talent and gets me excited to try and develop them and get them to the first team.”
While developing first-team talent is the ultimate goal of Revolution II, Moreira is confident he can achieve that goal while excelling with results.
“I’m a big believer in the theory that you can do both," he said. "I think that if you really hone in on the individual doing the right things each and every day, I think that goes hand in hand with winning. Ultimately, if we are creating the right environment and the right platform for these players to operate under, and we run that at a high level, it should be seamless when moving up.”
With an immense amount of talent spread throughout this Revolution II side, playing time and rotation are big questions entering 2026. Moreira expects players to compete to earn spots in the starting XI.
“When I view our roster, I view a lot of good players," he said. "For me, training matters, and I want to create a competitive environment. We’re going to try and utilize everyone we can to get them experience to hop up to the first team.”
There is still plenty of work to do ahead of the start of the 2026 season, but it's evident that the first-year head coach is on the right path for a successful debut season.
Jayden Da is preparing to take the field for the first time after a difficult year in 2025. After signing with New England, Da looked poised for a strong debut season. That was until an unfortunate ACL injury put him on the shelf for the season.
“At the time, I had never been injured in my whole life, so I really didn’t know what it was," Da said. "So, three months, six months in, put your head down and work, and that’s all I’ve known my whole life.”
While unable to be on the field, Da still made it a priority to be a part of the squad by frequently sitting pitchside during games.
In addition to our chats with Da and Moreira, The Blazing Musket learned that 2026 will see a change for Revolution II as the club is set to play home games at an alternative venue.
No official word, but sources close to Caleb Pongratz indicate the club will play home games in the state of Rhode Island. Full details on the alternative site and the 2026 schedule will be released soon.
