The New England Revolution can exit their make-or-break stretch of four home games in five weeks in better shape than when it began.
The Revolution (4-10-1) can close out the stint with a third straight victory when they host the Vancouver Whitecaps FC (7-5-4) in an interconference game on Saturday night (7:30) at Gillette Stadium.
“It’s kind of nice to play a new opponent, someone you don’t see often,” said Revolution head coach Caleb Porter. “I’d prefer to play a (jokingly) weaker team from the west than Vancouver, because they are a very good team.
“Yes, it is nice to mix it up. I always say it with the crossover games, you don’t gain a ton from it with a draw like you may in a conference game where you’re holding points. So, it’s one that we need to go for and I’m sure they’ll think the same.”
The Revolution started out the five-game run with a hard-luck 3-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union at home on May 18. Revolution right back Ryan Spaulding drew a red card in the 14th minute as the Union managed a clean sheet using their backup goalkeeper.
The Revolution reached their low point in the season the following Saturday against New York City FC. Gotham midfielder Keaton Parks scored on a header in the 81st minute to secure a 1-0 victory before 26,625 at the Razor.
The Revolution showed a new resolve with a 2-1 victory at Nashville SC on June 1. The Revolution were up 2-0 when goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic stoned Nashville midfielder Hany Mukhtar, the 2022 league MVP, on the penalty kick in the 54th minute to preserve the two-goal lead.
The turnaround continued back home the following Saturday with a 1-0 victory over the New York Red Bulls. Midfielder Emmanuel Boateng, a lightning-in-a-bottle type player, came off the bench and scored the lone goal in the 81st minute. The Revolution survived five minutes of intense stoppage time and Ivacic collected his second clean sheet.
“Those are the type of plays we need out of guys,” said Porter. “We weren’t getting those plays early in the year. So, it’s funny, I don’t look at that as a break, I look at that as us making a good play.
“A break would be us getting a call that we didn’t deserve or a penalty we didn’t deserve. We’ve had a bunch of those go against us, where we’ve had those calls or those plays kind of go against us. So, I still think we’ve got a bunch of calls coming up.”
Vancouver coach Vanni Sartini takes an unconventional approach to the game’s orthodoxy in terms of schemes, formations and putting his guys in position to finish plays. The Whitecaps have scored 24 goals with 68 shots on target while allowing 19 tallies in 16 games.
“They play a unique system,” said Porter. “It’s a 3-5-2, and it’s a true 3-5-2. They don’t connect a lot into an actual five, they keep the three, defend with the three, and use the wing backs to attack and put pressure on the opponent wide.
“They have two guys up top, (Brian) White and (Ryan) Gauld, who are a handful and very good in the box, both of them. It’s a different structure than we’ve played (against) in the last month.
“The good thing is the next three opponents are playing a similar system in Cincinnati and Columbus. We need to, this week, work hard to kind of get used to their structure, which is different than what we’ve been playing.”
Gauld is a striker who doubles as a playmaker. Gauld leads the Whitecaps in goals (7), game-winning goals (2) and assists (4). Ivacic and center back Xavier Arreaga saw a lot of Gauld in their time in Western Conference with Portland and Seattle, respectively.
“He is a very good, quality player,” said Ivacic. “They are a good team and they have other individuals too. Obviously, he’s like Carles Gil for us, everything goes through him. So, if we stop him, if we can make it harder for him, it’s going to be easier for us.”
