Marko Mitrovic has New England Revolution fans believing again and the same goes for pretty much everyone in the orbit of the club. Will Sands is the perfect example of how someone believing in you can change your journey.
Sands had largely been a bench player or spot starter prior to Mitrovic's arrival in New England. Under Caleb Porter, Peyton Miller was playing left back while Sands could only find increased minutes when the youngster was hurt.
But under Mitrovic, Sands has been the starter from the very first match. The head coach noted that the left back was lacking in self belief but Mitrovic was pleased with Sands' commitment level.
"Since I arrived at the club, since our day one training session, Will [Sands], like every other player, always had [shown] a level of commitment," Mitrovic said after the win. "We also saw potential in Will and had a feeling in the beginning that we had to open him up. He didn't believe in himself enough. But he is very reliable and I think he is very consistent with his performances. I also believe Will has a lot more inside, that we can still open up Will more, and that he can still perform even better. But we are very happy with Will so far."
Sands scored his first goal on Wednesday. It was a gritty effort as a header off a corner brought New England level with Atlanta. Sands also completed 37 of his 40 pass attempts, recorded 57 touches, and had seven defensive contributions.
The message of belief in onselves extends to each player on the team and in turn the collective unit. Sands talked about how Mitrovic has changed the culture in New England.
"I think he tries to bring the best out of us. But I think it’s also a belief in the cohesive group," Sands said postgame regarding Mitrovic. "Even when we come inside [the locker room], and I think we’ve been 1-0 down in the last two games, no one really thinks we’re down and out and no one is holding their head down. I think there is a belief that we will come back and win. And I think the mark of great teams is finding a way to win, so I think we just need to have a performance to kind of back that belief. I think this team has the potential to do great things.”
Sands isn't perfect. He got caught ball watching on the lone goal that New England allowed.
But he bounced back.
New England still believed in him as Mitrovic could have replaced him with Peyton Miller but opted to take off Luca Langoni down a goal. Sands didn't get down on himself and didn't turtle. He still played his game, still took chances, and eventually that paid off in a goal.
While there remained questions about how long Sands would stay in the starting XI, they appear to have been answered. Marko Mitrovic has faith in him and when the Revs are able to play their best XI, Sands appears to be a part of it.
