Porter: Revs’ path to improvement comes down to execution
Last weekend’s 4-1 loss to the league-leading Inter Miami CF at a sold-out Gillette Stadium was another setback for a New England Revolution team in desperate need of points. Now that the fireworks provided by Messi and company has subsided, the Revolution resume the second quarter of the MLS season staring down the barrel of two consecutive away games, beginning this Saturday night at Chicago Fire FC.
First-year Revolution Head Coach Caleb Porter joined 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Zolak & Bertrand on Thursday to reflect on the raucous crowd against Miami, and Saturday’s tilt in Chicago.
“It was amazing. I mean, the atmosphere was unbelievable,” Porter said of the 65,612 fans in attendance on Saturday, a new club record. “Probably the best atmosphere I’ve been in, in my 10 years [in the league]. Just in general, the biggest crowd that I’ve been in.”
Despite losing multiple starters to an ill-timed virus that swept through the Revolution on Friday night into Saturday morning, the Revolution showed up ready to play from the opening whistle. Argentine forward Tomás Chancalay treated the crowd to a clever finish only 37 seconds into the match. New England hung tight with the MLS Supporters’ Shield leaders throughout much of the match with the score even at 1-1 entering as the clocked ticked towards the 70-minute mark, before Lionel Messi and Miami broke the game open with three late goals.
“We had that great moment to start the game 30 seconds in where we scored, and then Messi did what he does, and it was tough,” Porter said. “It was tough, obviously, to lose the game in the way that we did, but you have to move on from it. But it was a great example of what our stadium can look like when it’s full, and hopefully we attracted some casual fans that will come back here.”
Those fans did a glimpse of one of the Revs’ top attacking talents in his first action in nearly a year. Dylan Borrero, a 22-year-old Colombian winger, provided a spark off the bench in his first action since a major knee injury derailed his 2023 campaign.
“Borrero is a very good piece,” Porter said of the former Clube Atlético Mineiro man. “When I was looking at the roster before I took the job, he was a guy that really stood out to me. I knew I’d have to manage the first four to five months without him. In the way that I like to play, he’s the ideal fit on one of the wings, because he has game-changing talent, is very good individually off the dribble, and he can beat guys.
“He played for 10 minutes. You could see he brought even just a little spark in those 10 minutes.”
The Revolution are back on the road this weekend, traveling to the windy city for an 8:30 p.m. ET kickoff against Chicago Fire FC on Saturday night. For the casual fans who enjoyed their first glimpse of the Revolution or MLS last week when the Messi show hit Foxborough, MLS is offering a chance to dive deeper with every match this weekend available to watch free on Apple TV.
To close Thursday’s interview, Marc Bertrand asked Porter what the key to victory will be for New England if they want to leave Chicago with all three points:
“Continue to execute,” Porter responded. “If we get consistent execution, I do believe that we’ll finish and score the goals. So, we have to keep focusing on executing and then the game. Our sport is always going to come down to who can finish their chances.”
Listen to Saturday’s match live on 98.5 The Sports Hub with play-by-play man Brad Feldman and analyst Charlie Davies calling the contest. The match, along with every other MLS contest this weekend, is free to watch on Apple TV.