FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – When New England Revolution defender Henry Kessler was selected as the club's top pick in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft (6th overall), the rookie could clearly envision the upcoming year.
It featured a typical trajectory for any player right out of college, as Kessler planned to prove himself in preseason before the regular season started in February, followed by weekly games through October.
However, with only two career 90-minute performances under his belt, the rookie’s taste of a typical MLS season was cut short in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic altered the course of the season in an unpredictable fashion.
But Kessler didn't let any obstacles, not even a pandemic, stop him from fighting for a spot in the Revolution's starting XI when the season resumed in July at the MLS is Back Tournament. The New York City native was determined to be ready, both mentally and physically, when his name was called, and he carried that mentality all the way through the regular season to his four appearances in the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs as the Revs made a run to the Eastern Conference Final.
“My biggest takeaway is be prepared for anything,” Kessler said as he reflected on his rookie season. “You’re not sure when you’re going to play. We’ve had games at 9 a.m., 10:30 p.m., so you really need to be prepared for anything. Whether that’s playing in Orlando or playing here at home without fans, so just being ready for anything that comes our way.”
Kessler appeared in 26 of the Revolution's 28 games in all competitions, and started in 23 of those performances. In every single game, the 22-year-old demonstrated his innate knack to read games and build upon each performance.
“I worked on my awareness,” said Kessler. “Being a defender, you need cohesion in the backline so that’s something that I definitely improved on tactically there. I think my passing has gotten a bit better too. I think maybe in all areas there’s certainly a lot I had to learn and so I think I made strides in all areas.”
Between his first career goal notched against Montreal off a set piece and only two total yellow cards on the year, Kessler’s teammates also noticed these strides that the rookie had made throughout his inaugural season.
“Henry Kessler is a great player and he showed it this year,” said Tajon Buchanan. “I played against him in college and he was a great player then, but just to see that he’s improved so much is nice to see. He just keeps working on his game and if he keeps working hard, I know the sky is the limit for him.”
As Kessler keeps reaching towards the sky in 2021 and beyond, his teammates realize that with the foundation he has built in his first professional season that he will only continue to improve.
“We saw a few young guys play really well, and guys like [Henry] Kessler and Tajon [Buchanan] and DeJuan [Jones] all had really good ends to the season,” said Andrew Farrell. “In another year under Bruce is going to give them a really good push for our team.”
Head coach Bruce Arena and Kessler have a very strong relationship, and Kessler says that Arena pushes him to continue to improve.
“[Improving] offensively,” said Kessler. “It’s something that Bruce and I have talked about quite a bit. I had one goal this year which was great, but hopefully getting three or four, become more of an aerial presence, that’s something that I would like to work on.
“[Bruce has] helped a lot. Obviously, there was some familiarity with us both being Virginia guys, but he’s been very helpful, whether that’s on the ball or off the ball. He’s been constructive and hard on me at times when I’ve needed him to be so he’s been excellent.”
As the team has their eyes set on 2021, Kessler believes this Revolution squad that was so close to an appearance in the MLS Cup final this year, will return for next season refreshed and hungry to make an even deeper postseason run.
“We can do even better," said Kessler. "I think we had a good run this year, but the regular season there were sometimes when I didn’t think we performed to the best of our abilities, so hopefully next year will be even better and we’ll go even further.”
