The New England Revolution had a rough start to the 2026 MLS season with a 4-1 loss to Nashville SC, and things went sideways in the match rather quickly.
Sam Surridge scored two goals in 15 minutes, and the Revolution attack struggled to get going. In the first half, they failed to get a shot on target. From the front to the back, New England was playing poorly.
“We didn’t plan to start on the back foot or to give them the ball or to defend," Mitrovic said when asked by The Blazing Musket why the team struggled at the beginning of the match. "Obviously, the game always has certain moments or certain tendencies when one team has more of the control than the other. They started on the front foot, and as I said, I felt that we didn’t confront them enough. When you play against a good team that was so on the front foot, [it] made it easier for them. Even though the first goal was a little bit lucky maybe, because it was deflection-deflection. But listen, when you’re backing up, that’s what you get.”
Similar to the head coach, winger Griffin Yow believed that a lack of fight led to the poor start.
“To be honest, not just from the start, but as a whole throughout the game, I thought we could have brought a little bit more of that fire, that fight," Yow said. "I felt like they were winning a lot of the duels, winning a lot of the second balls. When you have a game like that, it’s always going to be really difficult to win. On a positive note, in the attacking third, I thought we did create some chances [where] we did well, but we kind of of lacked that grit, if you know what I mean.”
In the second half, New England showed some signs of life as Leo Campana scored in the 47th minute. Unfortunately, Nashville responded rather quickly with Warren Madrigal scoring in the 49th minute.
Throughout the match, New England only had four shots, with Campana's goal being the lone shot on target. Yow believed that the Revolution needed to be more patient in the final third, which was hard to do considering it gave up the lead so quickly.
“I think we needed to have more possession in their final third and kind of pin them back like they were doing to us and just move the ball around in their attacking third, get them tired a little bit," Yow said. "Because we did have spurts, we did have moments, and we did have times when we did break their press and we did build up. There were just times we needed to be a little bit more patient and, like I said, make them run and wait for the chance to open itself up. But I think at the same time, when you’re down like that, I know that it can be difficult. You feel like you want to fight back, you want to get back into the game as soon a possible with the very next action. That was our fault that we had that mentality. That’s the feeling that I had. But on a positive note, again, I think it’s really good that we were able to create some chances, we were able to break their press, and it shows the qualities that we’re capable of having.”
The poor performance is disappointing, but it is worth noting that New England was without Mamadou Fofana and Brayan Ceballos. The Revolution backline should improve with Fofana likely to return against the New York Red Bulls.
But the attack also needs to step up. In particular, Dor Turgeman had a rough performance out on the wing. He struggled to get on the ball and defend out wide.
Luca Langoni – who replaced Turgeman in the 61st minute – was able to do more out on the flank. He amassed more touches than Turgeman in a shorter period of time (17) and registered three progressive carries while the Israeli registered none.
Looking ahead to Matchday 2, Mitrovic should consider replacing Turgeman with Langoni. The Argentine is a natural winger and, albeit in limited minutes, looked better than Turgeman in Matchday 1. This likely means that Turgeman could be reduced to a bench role considering Campana was able to score a goal.
A poor start to a game can cause a gameplan to be thrown out the window. The same can be said for a poor start to the season. Hopefully, New England will rectify the mistakes it made and secure its first three points of the 2026 season.
