FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – As the New England Revolution prepare to host New York City FC on Saturday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, the team has a full week to rest, recover and prepare following their heartbreaking 2-1 loss at the Philadelphia Union this past weekend.
This is the first seven-day period the Revs have had between matches since resuming play in mid-August following the MLS is Back Tournament.
“I think it’s important,” said Andrew Farrell, who has played 450 minutes since August 20. “I think every team, games are coming every three, four days. So we have to try to do some rotations here where we got guys who are injured, who now with this week will be able to get back and healthy, and get back in the fold of things.”
Since early July the Revs have added four fresh faces to the roster, all of which play in the midfield –Matt Polster, Tommy McNamara, Kekuta Manneh and most recently, Lee Nguyen. This will be the first opportunity that the team has had to integrate many of these new pieces into training together.
“Things are really competitive, so keep everyone challenging for those starting spots and adding guys like Lee, Tommy and Matt Polster, who are going to help compete for those spots,” said Farrell. “I think we have the [first] day or two off to recover and rest, and get our guys healthy and refreshed and ready.”
This week is a completely different look from the Revs' previous matches in August and September, which were fast and furious with five games in just 18 days.
“I think it’s going to be huge,” Tajon Buchanan said about having a full week of training. “We’ve been playing a lot of games in a short amount of time so it’s going to be good to get our better players rested and just get back on training fields when the time comes and get ready to play [New York City FC] this upcoming weekend.”
With the Revs playing their 12 remaining regular-season games in only 51 days, averaging one match every 4.25 days, it’s even more important to use this time wisely.
“We wish we would’ve done better to go into this little break with a better mentality, better result,” said Farrell regarding the team coming off the loss to Philly. “But we know we’re going to come out against New York City FC who we have next at home. We have to be ready for them. They beat us last time so we’re excited for that matchup again.”
The Revs will kick off against New York City FC at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, September 19, at 4:30 p.m. on NBC Sports Boston and 98.5 The Sports Hub.
