After a difficult start to the season, the New England Revolution are looking to get back to basics to reverse their fortunes.
The Revs have stumbled out of the gate with just one point from four matches and fell 2-0 at home Sunday to shorthanded expansion side FC Cincinnati. In the aftermath of the result, head coach Brad Friedel called a closed-door meeting with his staff and players to discuss work rate or lack thereof.
He described that type of get-together as "never nice."
After the loss on Sunday, defender Antonio Delamea didn't think the club's energy was up to par.
"Today, what we gave out there wasn’t even 50 percent," Delamea said, per the Revs' official site.
Friedel spoke Delamea about the comments on Tuesday, adding: "What Tony meant by that was that the players knew exactly what they needed to do and didn't go out an implement what was asked of them. It was plain as day."
The second-year head coach also defended his team, saying a lot has changed since he took over ahead of the 2018 season.
"From day one, there have been a lot of changes," Friedel said. "The change of mentality, no doubt. It's a much more stringent training program than they're used to, it takes time to adapt and get the players together."
Friedel added all of the club's new players since he took over on top of the switch in mentality, highlighted by Carles Gil. You can listen to Friedel's full comments below.
The Revs welcome Minnesota United to Gillette Stadium on Saturday (2 pm ET | MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in US, DAZN in Canada) as they look to earn their first victory of the season. Minnesota have started the year strong, with two road victories in three matches as they await their home debut in April.
