MLS Regular Season | Match #25
New England Revolution at Real Salt Lake
Saturday, August 31 | 9:30 p.m. ET
America First Field | Sandy, Utah
Watch: MLS Season Pass on Apple TV
English Talent: Mark Rogondino (play-by-play), Heath Pearce (analyst)
Spanish Talent: Moisés Linares (play-by-play), Pablo Mariño (analyst)
Listen: 98.5 The Sports Hub (English) 1260 AM Nossa Radio (Portuguese)
English Talent: Brad Feldman (play-by-play), Charlie Davies (analyst)
CURRENT FORM
New England Revolution
12th in Eastern Conference (8-14-2, 26 pts.)
Last Result | 5-0 win at CF Montréal
Head coach Caleb Porter has been adamant for a while now that, once Carles Gil and other starters were back in the gameday squad, the Revolution would be back to looking how they did back in June, when they won four games in a row and five out of six. They matched that level and more last weekend on the road to CF Montréal, running rampant in a 5-0 victory that equaled the club’s record for their best-ever away win and saw Gil, Giacomo Vrioni, Dylan Borrero and newcomer Luca Langoni all contribute in attack.
Porter has also cautioned his team against letting this win go to their heads, reminding them that there are still 10 matches to go, each of which he intends to treat like a cup final. Still, if the team can continue to put in performances like that, especially as key players continue to build match fitness and work their way back into the starting XI, then the chances look good that New England will be playing playoff soccer later this year.
Real Salt Lake
3rd in Western Conference (12-6-8, 44 pts.)
Last Result | 2-0 loss vs. San Jose Earthquakes
The Revs seem to be developing a knack for facing strong teams going through rough patches. Real Salt Lake currently sit 3rd in the Western Conference and boast an MLS Golden Boot contender on their roster in the form of Chicho Arango, but they’re coming off a 2-0 defeat to the basement-dwelling San Jose Earthquakes that saw Arango come off with a hamstring injury.
The question always becomes whether this rough patch is more fluke or form, but zooming out a bit does paint a negative picture for RSL. Despite being strong for most of the season and going as many as 15 games undefeated in the league at one point (9-0-6 through June 20), they crashed out of Leagues Cup in the group stage and find themselves on a four-match winless run in MLS (0-3-1). A “wounded animal” fightback from Salt Lake could be as likely as another bumpy outing.
KEY PLAYERS
Revolution midfielder Matt PolsterPlenty has been said about the injury crisis that struck the Revolution over recent weeks, but there perhaps has not been enough said about those who have toughed it out over that stretch, including the workhorse that is defensive midfielder Matt Polster. Having joined the Revs a little over four years ago now, Polster has gained a reputation for reliability and grit, hardly missing a game at all this season – yellow card accumulation sidelined him in June against Vancouver, but even a bad case of flu couldn’t do the same back in April against Miami.
Polster isn’t the type of player that will end up on the scoresheet often, but he is one who can nevertheless shape the arc of a game through his passing, his defense, and his sheer stamina. He is also a leader, both in word and deed, and his steady presence has been and will continue to be crucial, both this weekend in Salt Lake City and throughout the rest of the season.
Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego LunaWith Chicho Arango listed as questionable for Saturday’s match after sustaining a hamstring injury last weekend, all eyes will be on Diego Luna to step up and help fill the void in attack. The young California native has already been enjoying a stellar season creatively, notching 12 assists so far this MLS campaign, tied for fourth-best in the league, with five goals of his own to boot.
The subject of significant attention a few months ago after being excluded from the United States Men’s Olympic Team, Luna has shown that he likes to let his soccer do the talking, especially in response to challenging circumstances. With the Claret & Cobalt in the midst of their own hunt for Western Conference glory and still reeling from their shock defeat to San Jose, don’t be surprised to see Luna rise to the occasion when the Revs come to town.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Revolution head coach Caleb Porter on Saturday night’s faceoff with Real Salt Lake:
“Important game tomorrow. Obviously, a good team in Salt Lake, they’ve been fighting at the top of the Western Conference standings all season long. Very good players. [RSL head coach] Pablo [Mastroeni] has done a very good job with the team. Another opportunity for us to move up the table and get an important three points.”
Porter on the team’s level in training during the week leading up to their trip to Utah:
“Very good level. Really hard week, everybody worked extremely hard, everybody’s pushing to contribute, everybody’s hungry to help this club get to the playoffs, and everybody wants to be a part of that. Everybody wants to start; everybody wants to play a role. We have a few guys, they’re still not match-fit, yet, to start, so some of the decisions that we’ll make for Saturday will be based on just where guys are at physically, similar to the last game. But yeah, I would say it was the best level, this week, in the eight months I’ve been here, across the board. And the thing with that is, to do well in these training sessions now, it means something. So when we shape up to prepare for the game, and we roll out a starting lineup, if that group and those players do well, it means something. I’ve always felt that, if the training’s hard then the game’s a little easier, and I’d much rather it that way than the training’s easy and the game’s hard. So I feel like our first and second group – and obviously that’ll change week-to-week, we always shape up Wednesday, Thursday – I feel like there’s so much competition that we’re really prepared when we hit the match.”
Porter on the depth in the squad and who he feels are the best available players:
“For me, the best teams in this league and in the world, they have probably 15, 16 guys that could easily be starters on any given week. That’s important; you don’t want the same 11 where everybody knows [who is] on the team, and every opponent knows as well, that you’ve got the same 11. I think you will have, typically, seven or eight guys that you know will always be in, and then you have, from there, seven, eight guys where maybe you don’t know who’s going to be in, and there’s some rotation depending on what you need in the match in terms of the strengths of the players and the options that you have, and the game plan. But yeah, for the most part I have an idea of what I think our best group is, but then I think there’s a handful of players who will really push those guys.”
Revolution midfielder Matt Polster on facing Real Salt Lake Saturday night:
“It’s a fixture we’re looking forward to. We know the difficulty that it entails. Obviously, RSL has been one of the better teams in the league this year, and obviously they’re doing really well in the Western Conference. So there’s definitely going to be a battle, but we’re looking forward to it, and we know what we need to do as a team, that we need to find a way to get three points because we need to find a way to get to the playoffs.”
Polster on maintaining a solid defense against RSL’s stout attack:
“I think [RSL] have a little bit better attacking pieces. Obviously, we’ll see what happens with [Chicho] Arango. But we have to focus on ourselves a little bit. I think we’ve been a lot better defensively the last few games, kept a couple clean sheets or kept opponents to one goal. So that’ll be a key factor for us. Obviously now with bringing some players back into the fold from injury, I think our attacking forces look a little bit better, and we’re able to create a lot more chances, which we did against Montréal.”
Polster on the team’s confidence after beating CF Montréal so heavily:
“It definitely feels good as a team. You know, we’ve struggled a little bit this year, so to go away from home and to put a performance like that in, it makes you feel good and it makes you feel confident. But obviously Caleb’s right, we can’t have this become too big of a high; we have to ground ourselves a little bit because we know we’re now in a tough situation of going to RSL, against obviously a better opposition, so we need to be a lot more focused and more humble and put in a good effort.”
