COLUMBUS, Ohio – It was another tough night for the New England Revolution as they suffered their second defeat of the season at the hands of the Columbus Crew, this time falling 4-0 at Lower.com Field on Saturday evening. With only one game left in 2024 for the Revs, head coach Caleb Porter is already beginning to reflect on what lies ahead for the team in the coming offseason and in 2025.
Before the team can focus too heavily on what’s to come, though, one crucial game remains for New England, as they travel to face Inter Miami CF on Decision Day next weekend. The Herons are two points away from breaking the MLS single-season points record (73) set by the 2021 Revolution, meaning that New England will have the tall task of preventing Lionel Messi and Inter Miami from earning a win to wrap up the regular season if they are to retain that record.
When asked after the game what Saturday night’s loss showed him about his team, Porter said that moves would be needed in the offseason to make sure the roster was as complete as it could be, but added that he had also hoped to see more from the available squad on the night.
“I think we learned we need a bit more depth,” he said. “Obviously, with some guys out, we had other guys step in, the threes [in the depth chart] a little bit in a few spots, key spots. Felt like it looked that way at times. But then also we had some key guys playing today, and I want to see more. I want to see more out of some of those guys. We’ve got guys that are DPs who need to score goals, and that’s the reality. I felt like, again, in the attack, with the way they play, there were opportunities for the front guys to be in situations where they could hurt Columbus, because of how aggressive they play in the attack and how much they leave these 1-v-1’s. But I didn’t think we showed enough quality. And then defensively we need to continue to, for me, get guys who can win 1-v-1’s, because in order to beat a team like Columbus, you’re going to have to be in 1-v-1’s because the way they load your back four, they push five guys up and there’s no way to avoid those 1-v-1’s. And I just didn’t think individually versus their guys that we showed enough today.”
With regards to the points record, Revolution defender Dave Romney may have been plying his trade in Nashville in 2021, but he said he felt as driven as any member of that squad to keep their names in the MLS history book.
“We’ll scout Miami, we’ll see how they play and what tendencies they have,” Romney said. “If there’s stuff we can pull from this game, if it’ll be similar to a Miami game, then we’ll reflect on it from this. Because for myself, even though I wasn’t part of the 2021 team, that’s a huge record [that] you want to defend for the club and the fans and the guys on the team who earned that record. So, I’m going to be, if I’m playing, going to be working as hard as I can to get a result in Miami to preserve that record and keep the points record in New England. So, just seeing if there are any similarities or stuff we can learn from this game and take into Miami. Maybe they play completely different and we won’t use anything. But all focus is on the next game, because even though we’re not in the playoffs, it’s extremely important to me.”
He added that the squad owed it to the fans after a difficult season to protect that title as well as to offer hope for 2025 in the form of a result in Miami.
“Getting a win would obviously be huge; this Miami team is one of the best in MLS history,” Romney said. “And then it’s just the pride of keeping that record in New England. It’s a record that’s something to be extremely proud of. I know all the 2021 guys worked their [butts] off to get that record, and it’s something that you want to see etched into stone for a long time. So, hopefully the fans can take some solace if we can get a result in Miami. I know I would.”
