Caleb Porter Returns to Zolak & Bertrand ahead of Revs’ Season Opener
New England Revolution Head Coach Caleb Porter certainly kept himself busy over the offseason. Over the club’s two-and-a-half month break, New England hit the reset button on its roster and brought in 14 new players ahead of the 2025 season. Only one of last season’s opening day starters, Carles Gil, is expected to be in the Starting XI when the 30th MLS season kicks off on Saturday.
Porter returned to Zolak and Bertrand on Thursday afternoon for his first weekly interview of the new year. Now in his second season at the helm of the club, and with plenty of new faces in the fold, Porter is optimistic about what his team can accomplish in 2025.
“Everything’s better, year two,” Porter said. “Obviously, a lot of new players. That makes me really happy. We have 14 new players, new blood. I’m really enjoying this group. That’s the biggest thing, right? When your work is good, then your life is good. My work is a lot better this year.”
New England focused its offseason on finding ways to improve its team with speed and youth. Porter feels the club checked both of those boxes with the group of incoming players.
“A trademark of my teams in the past is we always had a lot of pace, power, and speed,” Porter, a two-time MLS Cup Champion, said. “We have a lot more of that this year. We got a lot younger, too. We went from, our average age was 30 and now our average age is around 24 years old. It’s by and large a young group that’s really talented, really athletic, and they train hard.”
In the attack, New England made a series of splash moves, highlighted by the acquisition of former Inter Miami CF forward Leo Campana. The 24-year-old striker wasted no time fitting into his new team, netting two goals during the preseason.
“He’s our striker, he’s our goalscorer,” Porter said. “We felt like last year, we had a lot of good play, but we never got enough goals consistently out of our striker. We feel like Leo Campana’s going to be that guy who’s going to chip in those goals and finish the play.”
Defensively, New England didn’t take its struggles in 2024 lightly. After conceding the second-most goals in MLS last year, the Revolution addressed those shortcomings by adding two new center backs in Colombian Brayan Ceballos and Mali international Mamadou Fofana.
“We didn’t stop enough goals last season,” Porter said. “We brought in two new center backs that we think are going to help with that. They’re really athletic. These two guys are killers. … Those two guys are key.”
In the midfield, New England brought in MLS veteran Jackson Yueill, formerly the captain of the San Jose Earthquakes. Yueill projects to play a key role for the Revolution in a defensive midfield role along with Alhassan Yusuf and Matt Polster.
“We feel like Jackson’s one of the best midfielders in the league,” Porter said. “He’s really excited to be in a new club.”
Although time will tell how these new pieces come together, Porter feels his team is ahead of schedule in building chemistry.
“I feel like we have enough to get back to the playoffs, for sure,” Porter said. “Obviously, it’s not going to happen overnight when you blend a lot of new players. But they’ve come together quicker than I thought. You never know for sure how it’s going to come together, but you hope you can predict it a little bit.
“This team is a little loose and has fun, which I like. That means they’re confident.”
The Revolution begin the 2025 campaign with an 8:30 p.m. kickoff at Nashville SC on Saturday night. Watch the match on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV or listen live right here on 98.5 The Sports Hub, where Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies will have the call.
