The New York Red Bulls look like one of the better MLS teams this year. The New England Revolution are looking to improve.
It’s time for each club to keep building when they meet Saturday night at Foxborough, Mass.
“I am proud that we have this fighting spirit, this mentality,” Red Bulls coach Sandro Schwarz said.
The Red Bulls (8-3-5, 29 points) have won their past two matches, including 1-0 last Saturday against visiting Orlando City SC, and are 4-1-0 in their past five games.
“This is also very important for us — that we can win with one free kick situation,” Schwarz said. “To have this feeling, to create these moments, I’m very satisfied.”
New England (3-10-1, 10 points) has the fewest points in MLS, but the Revolution are fresh off last Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Nashville SC.
The team needed some positive vibes.
“It’s coming together, obviously,” Revolution coach Caleb Porter said. “I’ve been saying it for weeks. We’re starting to execute more and more. … It wasn’t just always on the ground. There was some verticality to how we played — sometimes going direct, sometimes building attacks on the ground. Same thing on the defensive side — sometimes pressing high, sometimes holding and waiting.”
The only other time New England scored as many as two goals in an MLS match this season came in a 4-2 road loss to the Red Bulls on May 11. There were six different goal scorers in that match. That was one of three matches this season when the Red Bulls posted a total of four goals.
“I don’t care about possession,” Porter said. “I care about whether or not we stop a team like Red Bulls who wants to press us and disrupt us.”
Now, it’s a huge opportunity for the Revolution to string together strong performances.
“This is another game that we’re going to be very focused on winning and doing everything we can to continue to fight out of this hole that we’re in,” Porter said.
Despite the dismal record, New England is trending in the right direction, midfielder Matt Polster said.
“I think we wanted to be a little more aggressive going forward, playing the ball forward more often and at a quick pace,” Polster said.
The Revolution are 41-36-21 overall against the Red Bulls, including 29-8-10 at home. New England won the most recent meeting at Gillette Stadium, 1-0 on Aug. 30, 2023.
–Field Level Media
