FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Revolution went into last Saturday’s game in Seattle with the knowledge that there were going to be tired legs on the field, so it may not have been a complete surprise when a promising first half was followed by a sluggish second at Lumen Field. Fast forward a week, and when the same script played out at home against Orlando City SC, it came across more bluntly as disappointing – for the fans, for the players, and for head coach Caleb Porter.
“I was very pleased with the first half, the performance,” he said after the game. “Thought we had the better of it, executed extremely well, got a deserved goal. And as proud as I was with the first half, I was equally as disappointed in the second half. I thought the defending was very poor, out of some experienced guys at the back.”
The first half went well for the Revs, with striker Giacomo Vrioni notching his team-high eighth goal of the season off a scintillating cross from winger Esmir Bajraktarević helped along by a clever touch from defender DeJuan Jones. But despite how bright the attack was from New England, the team could not preserve their 1-0 halftime lead to the full time whistle, and Porter made no bones about where he thought the primary shortcoming came from: the defense.
“[We] need more pride defensively,” he said. “At a minimum that should have been a 1-0 win for us. It’s disappointing because we knew it would be a tough game, but we got our noses in front, played really well in the first half. We got some guys in like Jack [Panayotou] who hasn’t played all season long, had a really good performance. Even Tommy [McNamara] I thought played really well. I thought the midfield on up gave all they had, and obviously with some inexperienced guys in, they performed; guys at the back didn’t today, and we lost the game because of that …
“The front guys, I thought, performed well enough for us to win today. Especially some guys that hadn’t played a lot – Jack and Tommy, you know, we’re reliant on Jack and Esmir and Tommy who hasn’t played – those guys I thought came through today and played really well. Very proud of that. But again, I’m equally disappointed in just some guys at the back who are very experienced and they didn’t give us confidence in that second half, they didn’t make the plays that they needed to make and the presence, for me, wasn’t good. It was a shocking second half in the backline, if I’m honest.”
Despite Porter’s praise for the attacking players, Bajraktarević acknowledged the errors made by the team in the second half, saying they needed to do better collectively in terms of mentality.
“I think we just made a couple of stupid mistakes in the second half that shouldn’t have been made,” he said. “I guess we just weren’t alert enough to come out hungry in the second half.”
As always following a defeat, Porter will be having his team move on from this loss to Orlando quickly. A quick turnaround to Wednesday night’s trip to face the Philadelphia Union would normally provide a helpful opportunity to do so, but serious squad depth issues leave the coach with little choice but to get the same group ready to give it another go in three days’ time.
“We’ve got to put it behind us,” he said. “We’ve got a game, Philly, and we get no one else back, so it’s going to be a very similar group that we’re playing. In my 10 years in the league it’s probably as thin a group as I’ve ever had. But I’m going to do what I always do and try to put out a team to win the game.”
The depth issues did open the door for Homegrown forward Malcolm Fry to make his MLS debut during the game, albeit perhaps not in the most ideal set of circumstances. Even as he expressed his excitement for his fellow Academy product, Bajraktarević acknowledged that injury issues made contributions from a player like Fry that much more vital.
“Yeah, I’m happy for him,” the winger said. “And hopefully we can get more performances out of him, because we need it right now.”
Similarly, Porter recognized that the excitement of a debut had to be balanced against the challenging reality of squad needs right now.
“I think Malcolm’s been working hard,” Porter said. “But when we’re trying to fill out our bench, right, he’s a guy that we put on and we still have one more spot. But that’s just where we’re at. So, I felt like, let’s put him on, give him the experience.”
The Revolution, and possibly Fry among them, will have their next opportunity to get a result when they face the Philadelphia Union on Wednesday at Subaru Park. Porter stated post-match that returns are unlikely for Carles Gil, Noel Buck or Dylan Borrero, but defender Xavier Arreaga will be available after his one-match suspension, and hopes will be high that the Ecuadorian will be able to slot right back in and help reverse some of the defensive issues on display from the Revs against Orlando.
