FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution played an intrasquad scrimmage on Friday, closing out training on a much-needed bye week that gave the team the opportunity to refocus on their identity and begin to reintegrate key pieces that are on their way back from injury.
Midfielder and club captain Carles Gil was a full participant in the scrimmage, playing the first half as he works his way back to full match fitness and offering hope for next Saturday’s trip to Montréal and the team’s crucial final stretch of the season. Fellow midfielder Noel Buck also participated, while hopeful updates were offered by head coach Caleb Porter on the returns of Dylan Borrero, Nacho Gil, and Giacomo Vrioni as they recover from recent injuries, as well as the integration of club-record signing Luca Langoni.
“It’s great,” Porter said of having Carles back. “Our captain, a Designated Player – one of the best players in the league. We’ve had him out, we’ve missed him. The last game he played, we beat Cincinnati, which was our fourth win in a row. And since he’s left [the lineup] we’ve obviously not gotten as many results, and I don’t think it’s any coincidence. So it’s great to have him back.
“He’s huge in the way that we play, in our game model,” Porter continued. “He’s kind of the straw that stirs the drink. And I thought today he looked really good for being out four or five weeks; he played a good 35 minutes, and we’re hopeful that he’ll be able to play a major role next week against Montréal.”
With Capi being one of a number of players joining or re-joining the squad, Porter went on to say that he would have some challenging decisions ahead of him on who would make his starting XI.
“It’s also a great opportunity for the players to audition for the parts of the play next week versus Montréal,” Porter said of the scrimmage. “That competition’s really important. As we get these new signings in, and we get the guys back healthy, there are going to be some really tough decisions next week on starting lineup, and bench as well. There will be some guys that were starting games recently that won’t even make the bench next week; that’s just where the numbers are, because we’re going to be getting guys, almost all our guys back healthy, which means we’ll have some tough decisions, but also those are good problems to have.”
Another benefit of that competition: “The level of everybody goes up,” Porter said. In other words, not only will the players be competing to be the best in their positions, but the best in each position will be getting better for having to fend off the competition from lower down on the depth chart.
Ultimately, the coach stressed that the returns of a number of familiar faces were just around the corner. “I think it’s important to say that we’re going to be pretty close to getting everybody back next week,” he confirmed.
With Carles Gil and Buck full participants in training and the scrimmage, Porter said the last step for each would be to work back up to full match fitness. Borrero and Nacho Gil, meanwhile, are expected to be full participants in training next week, with Vrioni expected to join them toward the middle or end of the week. Additionally, new signing Langoni, now that he has arrived in Foxborough, is also expected to fully participate in training next week.
