MARBELLA, Spain – “We created enough chances to win the game.”
That was a common refrain from New England Revolution head coach Brad Friedel last year, as he consistently felt like his squad was dangerous enough around the opponent’s penalty area, but lacked the killer instinct to bury chances and put teams away.
That’s an issue that the Revs have addressed in part this offseason with the additions of Juan Fernando Caicedo, Justin Rennicks, Nicolas Firmino, and Tajon Buchanan, but their quest to strengthen the attack continues with preseason preparations now well underway.
“We missed an incredible amount of chances inside the box (last year) and it was just something that we as a staff, and collectively as a team, we’ve spoken about a lot and we want to improve on,” said Friedel. “Hopefully with people that we’ve brought in, people that we currently have, and also a couple more additions, we’ll rectify that problem.”
Club president Brian Bilello has indicated via Twitter that the Revolution “will still add two more max contract players prior to the start of the season,” and while it remains to be seen if one or both of those will be attacking pieces, it’s an area the Revs know they need to be sharper in 2019.
New England’s 49 goals last year were tied for 15th in MLS, and Teal Bunbury – who was the Revolution’s second-leading scorer with a career-high 11 goals – is confident that the Revs have the talent to be an attacking force in 2019, but they need to hold each other accountable.
“We have guys in the attacking group and new guys that are coming in that are going to bring a lot of goals and a lot more opportunities,” Bunbury said. “It’s going to be about us being sharp, being committed, and I think it starts in preseason.
“It starts just getting on each other, in a positive way, demanding the most out of each other.”
The first measuring stick will arrive on Thursday morning when the Revs will take on Shanghai Shenhua FC (5 a.m. ET) in the first of eight preseason friendlies scheduled for the next four weeks, all of which will be critical opportunities for the Revs to sharpen their approach prior to the March 2 season opener.
“The longer that we have with the players and the longer the players play together with one another, the better everything will start to come together,” said Friedel. “We’re very happy with the group that we’ve assembled, and we’ll be very happy with a couple more additions.
“I’ve said it a couple times – this is more our team now. We have a very good team spirit and a very good relationship with all the players that are currently here.”
