CHESTER, Penn. – The New England Revolution knew they were going to have to fight hard against the Philadelphia Union on the road if they were going to get a positive result, given the names on the injury report. And for the first portion of the game, they did exactly that – making key blocks, stringing together promising attacking sequences, generally putting on a solid display within the means of the available players, and offering hope for how the game would play out.
But if Wednesday night’s game was a boxing match, then the Revs were coming into the ring already a bit bloodied, and the Union surely recognized that one well-timed blow could have the potential to lay their opponents out. That blow came in the 29th minute, a Tai Baribo goal off a well-executed Philadelphia set piece, and although the Revolution did manage to stagger back to their feet, there unfortunately proved to be no coming back from that pivotal first uppercut.
“Another tough game,” head coach Caleb Porter said after the match. “I thought we, first 20 to 25 minutes, we were comfy; they weren’t breaking us down, defensively we looked compact. We knew it would be a game where we would have to absorb a little bit, we were okay with that. You know, with Philly, they’re not a team that likes to carry games with the ball a ton, it’s more of a transitional team. So things, I thought, looked good in the first 20, 25 minutes.
“And then we give up the set-piece goal. And I thought from there – and I told the guys this – that our mentality dipped. And that led to the next two goals happening. Yes, we have a lot of 2’s and some 3’s playing right now, in the depth chart. But I still expect better individual and collective performances, and I think we fell short in the mentality again after we conceded … Second half we go 3-1, which was good, and then 30 seconds later we lose concentration, it goes 4-1. So, it’s another game where we started well and then we concede based on lack of focus on details, and then our mentality dips, and we fall apart a little bit.”
Midfielder Ian Harkes was the one that provided that brief glimmer of hope for the team, a long-range effort that marked his third score for the Revs and first of the season. But Philadelphia’s instant response took the wind right back out of their sails, and defender Xavier Arreaga said after the game that the whole team needed to work harder on keeping their mentality strong through difficult situations.
“I think this is one of the things that the team needs to work on more,” he said. “We have to know that there will be games where we’re going to [concede] the first goal, and the mentality will have to be tough to try to throw off that moment and try to find a way to get the victory. Obviously, this is one of the things that, including me, we need to work on so much.”
With New England’s injury situation being what it is, Porter recognized that it could be easy to make excuses for this defeat, but said that ultimately they needed to expect and respond better to hardships.
“In this league you get injuries, in this league you have to rotate, you have three games in a week, it’s nothing new,” he said. “We have to be better – our depth needs to be better, and our mentality needs to be stronger.”
While the injury situation may have helped to open the opportunity, Homegrown defender Peyton Miller made his well-deserved MLS debut against the Union, and while the match might have drawn substantial attention for the high-profile introduction of Philadelphia midfielder Cavan Sullivan, Porter said that he was proud of the performances he saw from Miller and the other young Revs on the field.
“The main positive for me is, four Homegrown players played,” Porter said. “Peyton Miller gets his debut, and Malcolm Fry gets another run. I thought those two guys looked good, very young players. So that’s kind of the one silver lining on the day.”
Expanding on Peyton Miller, Porter said, “It’s been a long time coming. It’s too bad that he hasn’t been healthy all year, because he would have played a lot more. He’s got a bright future. You can see he’s quick, he’s technical, he’s brave. He’s only 16 years old, he’s got a bright future. And he’s going to continue to get minutes, because we need the 2’s to play well, and I think we’re, in some cases, not getting good enough performances from our number-2’s. That for sure gives us something to think about for the future, because we need to have better cover.”
Miller’s next opportunity for minutes, and the Revs’ next opportunity to get points on the board, will come at them fast in the form of FC Dallas at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night. Porter said that this last game before Leagues Cup commences would be crucial, adding that his hopes were still very high for where this team can go in the latter stages of the MLS season.
“What I’m looking for is a result by any means possible on Saturday,” he said. “And then when we start back up [in MLS] against Montreal, our last 11 games, I expect us to be, because of the break, almost fully healthy and with a few signings. So, I still feel very good about our chances. Certainly, Saturday would go a long way though, setting up the Leagues Cup and the break, if we can grind a result out. But I feel very good about our chances, we’ve got games in hand and we should be healthy in those last 11 games to make a real push.”
