FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Since a scoreless draw with the Seattle Sounders on July 8, the New England Revolution are 1-5-7, tied for the second-fewest points in Major League Soccer across that span. Conversely, heading into the World Cup break, the Revs were 6-6-4, tied for seventh-most points in the league.
So what changed?
A road-heavy second half of the season could be one reason, but the Revs mainly point to a 3-2 home loss to the LA Galaxy on July 15. Playing with 10 men due to a first-half red card to Cristian Penilla, head coach Brad Friedel’s side went up 2-1 just before halftime only to collapse defensively and allow two stoppage-time goals.
From there, the bottom fell out on New England’s 2018 season, leaving them in eighth place in the Eastern Conference at present and likely to miss the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs for the third straight year.
“We’ve done a lot of reflecting as a team and individuals of looking at our own game and looking at film and watching different teams we played,” striker Teal Bunbury said. “I’m not sure there was clear-cut game or moment or resolution we could discuss, but we definitely do talk about and go back to that LA game, of being stunned in the last couple minutes of added time.”
Added right back and captain Andrew Farrell: “That affected a lot of guys. But in this profession you can’t have one game that affects the whole season. A lot of guys had it linger longer than we wanted it to and that turned into this season.”
Speaking after New England’s 1-1 home draw with the Portland Timbers on Sept. 2, Friedel pointed to that Galaxy game as individual errors taking their toll. Through the summer stretch and early fall, Friedel repeatedly said his team was often in games, but three points seldom came.
It’s a message that still rings true ahead of the Revs’ visit to Atlanta United on Saturday afternoon (3:30 pm ET | Univision, Twitter – Full TV and streaming info), a trip that produced a lopsided 7-0 defeat last year after two early red cards. Anything but three points will virtually guarantee mathematical elimination from postseason play. As it stands, FiveThirtyEight.com gives the team a 2 percent chance of reaching the playoffs.
“The boys have to be focused on the work that we’re doing,” Friedel said. “If we do that going down to Atlanta, we’ll find ourselves in a very good position.”
Through it all, Friedel has revamped a sizable chunk of New England’s roster: 11 of the 26 players are new.
Some, like winger Penilla, midfielder Luis Caicedo and center back Michael Mancienne have shown bright moments, while others have struggled to find footing. Midfielders Cristhian Machado, Guillermo Hauche and Wilfried Zahibo have fallen out of favor or had little impact.
Meanwhile, Designated Player and center back Claude Dielna, as well as offseason left back signing Gabriel Somi, haven't made an 18-man gameday roster in two months. Friedel declined to give a direct answer for their exclusion.
Even longtime holdover Diego Fagundez has dropped off as of late, not completing a full 90 minutes since Aug. 26 and going without a goal or assist in seven matches.
Friedel says his staff has been brought in to build a project for the future and a clear picture has surfaced of who’s in those long-term plans.
“We have nearly a full season with the players, so we know which players we’re going to want to be here and which ones we won’t,” Friedel said. “But that’s not a slight on the player. Not every player is going to be able to play with every staff. There will be changes, of course. However, we do have a good enough squad to get into the playoffs.”
Mancienne, who has a guaranteed contract for 2019 and a relatively fresh outlook with only six MLS games under his belt, remains confident that times will improve at Gillette Stadium.
A veteran of the English and German leagues and their promotion and relegation battles, Mancienne been through tough times. He said the most important thing is that the Revs, collectively and individually, fight for each other.
If all that’s done, Mancienne believes the individual mistakes will dissipate and Friedel’s project will start producing results.
“I don’t look at the team and think, ‘wow, they’re going to absolutely batter us’ or anything like that,” Mancienne said. “It’s just how you turn up on the day, the character that you come with, the will, the determination, the drive. It’s more a mental thing of turning up on the day, and if you do that and everyone is at it 110 percent, I don’t think there are many teams that will beat us.”
