Caleb Porter: Revs’ upcoming home stretch “a good opportunity for us”
Revolution Head Coach Caleb Porter is starting to see the fruits of his labor in the teams’ recent performances, even if the results aren’t yet there to show for it. New England’s manager certainly hopes the best is still yet to come for the Revolution, as they get set to begin a stretch of four home games in their next five, with six of their next eight contests in Foxborough.
“It’s important to remember that we’ve played four of [the last] five on the road,” Porter said on Thursday. “We’re back at home now. We have four of five at home, six of the next eight at home. So, this is going to be an important stretch for us to pick up points.”
In their last road contest on Saturday night, the Revolution fell to the New York Red Bulls, 4-2, in New Jersey. The good news? It was the first time this MLS season, the Revs had banked multiple goals. The bad news? Individual mistakes and a borderline penalty decision gifted the hosts four goals, dropped New England’s record to 2-8-1 on the season.
“We actually played better in that game than we did in the game we won versus Chicago,” Porter said. “That was actually the case. It was the reality. We made a few mistakes defensively, but in every analytical category minus the scoreline, we played better in that game. We’re not happy with the result, but the performance was actually very good.
“I loved our fight. We fought back 1-1, we fought back to 3-2. … There were a lot of encouraging signs in that match.”
The two most recent performances give Porter plenty of reason to feel optimistic about his team’s direction moving forward, though he knows points will be critical in the weeks ahead with a home-heavy calendar through early July.
“I like how they’re fighting,” Porter said. “Every single guy that we’ve been playing recently is improving and playing better. The transition to our game model is coming. It’s definitely coming. I’m totally encouraged to get back on track. With these home games coming up, it’s a great opportunity for us.
“We’re progressing, we’re improving. The guys are actually playing with a lot of confidence. We have a good mentality right now. I’m encouraged by the progress.”
The Revs will have great support in the stands, with over 35,000 expected for Saturday’s meeting with Philadelphia. There will be extra eyeballs on the broadcast as well, with the game free for all to watch on the Apple TV app.
With Bruins and Celtics off this Saturday night, Bertrand asked Porter to give fans a reason why they should tune in to the local MLS team instead:
“I think people are going to start to see that the way we play is an exciting brand,” Porter said. “Maybe it didn’t seem like that early in the year as we were evolving, but we’re scoring more goals, we’re controlling games, we’re becoming a very good passing team. The team is fighting.
“We need to start building a fortress at home. To do that, we need fans at the games that are loud, proud, and fighting for us as well. We’re going to start getting results to match their passion.”
