Porter: Revolution are “building for the future” as team closes the 2024 season
The Revolution may have played 80 minutes of quality soccer in last weekend’s 2-1 loss to D.C. United, their 2024 home finale, but a start saw the Revs trailing by two goals less than 10 minutes into the match. That advantage was all the visitors needed to escape Foxborough with all three points, officially eliminating the Revolution from postseason contention in the process.
Revolution Head Coach Caleb Porter jumped on with Zolak and Bertrand on Thursday to commiserate on the missed opportunities that will see his team focused on building for the future, rather than making a run at this year’s MLS Cup.
“We gave everything in that game,” Porter said of Saturday’s loss to D.C. “You can’t watch our team and say ‘Yeah, they’re quitting,’ or ‘Yeah, they’re not working.’ Those guys gave everything. We just made some dumb mistakes early in the game, and we’re down 2-0. We fought back 2-1. For me, we were far and away the better team the rest of the game. We just couldn’t quite find the goal to tie it or win it.”
Although the Revolution were unable to reach their expectations of qualifying for the MLS Cup Playoffs, there’s still plenty of motivation for them to put their best foot forward over the final two games of the season, beginning this Saturday, Oct. 12 at the Columbus Crew.
“For me, yes, we’re out of the playoffs, but the vision is still there,” Porter said. “It doesn’t change our goal. Our long-term goal is to put trophies in the trophy case. Even though we’re out of the playoffs, we’re building for the future. I expect the players to have a good mentality. I expect the players to show that they want to be here, that they’re encouraged by the project and the future.
“Nothing should change. I want to see guys that are going to show up, have a good mentality, leave it all on the pitch, fight to the last second.”
New England will conclude the 2024 season with two of the most challenging opponents in MLS. The Revs visit Columbus, the defending MLS Cup champions and Champions Cup finalists, on Saturday night before traveling to meet Lionel Messi and Inter Miami CF, the 2024 Supporters’ Shield winners, on Decision Day next weekend.
They’ll have to go the rest of the way without captain Carles Gil, who Porter said Thursday will be shut down for the rest of the season with a hamstring strain. The Revs will also be missing four players due to international duty: defenders Peyton Miller and Xavier Arreaga, winger Esmir Bajraktarević, and midfielder Alhassan Yusuf.
“I look at Miami and Columbus, our last two games, that’s the standard in our league right now,” Porter said. “We have an opportunity to show that we’re close, that we’re on the right track. Either way, we’re going to learn a lot.”
Saturday’s match in Columbus kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET. Watch it on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app in English and Spanish. Listen to the action on 98.5 The Sports Hub, with Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies calling the match.
