First-year coach Caleb Porter and his New England Revolution have picked a good time to be playing their best soccer.
The Revolution (6-10-1, 19 points) will put their four-match winning streak on the line when they host the Columbus Crew (8-3-6, 30 points) on Saturday in Foxborough, Mass.
It will be a special match for Porter, who faces his former club for the first time since being fired in 2022 after four seasons, including winning the club’s second MLS Cup in 2020.
“Really, really fond memories of my time there, but I’m really, really pleased to be in New England right now,” Porter said Tuesday. “I’m excited about the future of this club.”
“I’m proud of my time in Columbus and proud of being a part of an MLS Cup championship team, one of the three that they have. … I can’t wait to play against Columbus because I like playing the best teams, and this is definitely one of the best teams.”
He mentioned the Crew’s three titles. The third came last season, the first for his replacement, Wilfried Nancy.
New England was scheduled to play in Columbus on May 29 but it was rescheduled to Oct. 12 because of the Crew’s appearance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final at CF Pachuca on June 1.
The Crew have won five of six but will have to carry on without Aidan Morris, who was transferred to English second-tier club Middlesborough FC. He was given a send-off after the 4-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City last Saturday.
Morris has two MLS Cup titles and teamed with Darlington Nagbe for one of the best midfield duos in MLS.
Nancy said his team is suited to replace Morris with players such as Sean Zawadzki.
“Aidan, he is a really good piece for us, but it’s always (what’s) next,” Nancy said. “My job is to try to be ahead all the time. So, the fact is that we have players who can play in different positions, and Aidan didn’t play all the games, he missed a few games. So, I’m not concerned by that because it’s going to be good for other players.”
Cucho Hernandez has a team-best nine goals for Columbus after his hat trick against SKC.
Carles Gil and Giacomo Vrioni share the New England goal-scoring lead with five.
–Field Level Media
