By Tiffany Williams –
The New England Revolution after falling Tuesday night on the road to Club América, 5-2, on in the second leg of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup Quarterfinals, ended their Concacaf Champions Cup campaign. But on for the New England Revolution, it’s on to Yankee Stadium.
On Saturday night The New England Revolution will head South to New York City for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff at Yankee Stadium, and following Thursday’s training session in Foxborough Head Coach Caleb Porter said, “Our focus is 100 percent on the league, which is a nice feeling. We don’t have to compartmentalize multiple competitions, so all our energy, 100 percent, is now on the league. And we can’t forget our last two league games, we drew and we won. So, I took the team back to our last game today versus Charlotte and showed them some film from that game of all the positives of that win, especially our defending and how disciplined we were. We also talked about some things in the attack as well and how we can continue to improve and create more chances. But I think that is a very good game to build on, and we can’t forget that we won the last game in the league.”
When Porter was asked if New York City FC is a better team than their record indicates, he said, “Yeah, probably like us. I think when teams face us, they probably say the same thing. New York City, they have talent. They are a younger team than they’ve been in the past. Since they won MLS Cup, they have gone younger and they have some really talented young players on that team, and some experienced players too. So, it certainly won’t be easy. We do want to continue to build on our past two positive results. Like I said, we are unbeaten in the last two league games and we want to get our first win on the road.”
When asked about the smaller pitch dimensions at Yankee Stadium affecting gameplay, Porter said “You just have to be smart. Everything happens a little quicker because it’s a shorter field, so like the transitions both ways happened quicker and you get to goal quicker. So, we have got to be mindful of that on both sides of the ball. It’s very narrow, so there’s not a ton of width in the game. So how do you create some width? You have to do it in different ways than normal. Set pieces become more of a factor as well. Even things like long throw-ins and our service in the box, you have got to make those adjustments. Typically, when I’ve played New York City FC, we have actually lined the pitch a little bit. Like tomorrow, when we shape up, we will actually try to lay down discs in the same dimension of their pitch, because it’s just a lot more narrow and shorter than any pitch in the league.”
When asked what he wants the group mentality to be on the road, Porter said, “I think you saw it against Charlotte. We kept it pretty simple – let’s get a clean sheet, let’s be tough to play against, let’s not get broken down, let’s be a really disciplined defensive team, and let’s find ways to win. Maybe it’s one goal, maybe it’s transitions, and maybe it’s a set piece, and I think that’s going to be our approach in this next game. So, I think we’ve already set the mindset and the mentality, and somewhat of the simplicity, in I would say our system of play right now with this group that should fit this next game as well.”
Saturday night’s match between the New England Revolution and New York City FC can be heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub with Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies on the call, and on 1260 AM “Nossa Radio USA” in Portuguese.
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