Playoff football is the goal for the New England Revolution and Bruce Arena this year. From unbeaten streaks to back-to-back defeats against CF Montreal and the LA Galaxy, the Revs are left in a precarious position. The Galaxy came firing out of the blocks to the point where New England were unable to recover properly.
The New England Revolution are Unable to Complete the Comeback Against the Galaxy
Matt Polster Starts Having Signed a New Deal
Arena made three changes to the New England Revolution XI for this one, but Matt Polster remained in the side. His manager spoke highly of the former Rangers man, who has signed a new deal with the club. “Matt has been a good midfielder for us the last couple of years and he still has many good years ahead in his career, and he’s a valuable asset to our team. So, we thought it was important to sign him.”
The three changes that were made from the defeat at Montreal saw Christian Makoun make just his second start for the Revs. Henry Kessler and Emmanuel Boateng also came into the team. Jon Bell, A.J. DeLaGarza, and Esmir Bajraktarevic were the trio to make way and the depth of the squad will continue to be crucial in the run-in.
XI XI XI pic.twitter.com/7pWmsAo2qx
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) August 29, 2022
The LA Galaxy also made a few changes off the back of a 3-3 tie with Seattle. Riqui Puig, the recent arrival from Barcelona, made his first start alongside former Real Madrid man Javier Hernandez. Meanwhile, they changed from a back-four to a back-five. Raheem Edwards, Mark Delgado, Samuel Grandsir and Victor Vazquez dropped out for Chase Gaspar, Derrick Williams, Puig and Daniel Aguirre.
The New England Revolution Fall Behind Early-on
“I thought we did a great job coming back, and we had chances to score more goals, and they capitalized on their chances. We didn’t do what well enough in the final play to get another goal” were the words of coach Arena after the game. A comeback was necessary for the New England Revolution after the Galaxy fired into a 2-0 lead.
The Revs’ players weighed in on the slow start. Tommy McNamara pointed out that “It’s very frustrating. It makes it very difficult in the game for us.” Meanwhile, Makoun said the following. “We didn’t start well tonight, and they knew that. They took advantage. They really had better rhythm from the beginning of the game.”
Riqui Puig threads the needle to find Chicharito 🪡
(via @MLS)pic.twitter.com/VRifKvFUB8
— B/R Football (@brfootball) August 29, 2022
Aguirre slid the ball beyond Djordje Petrovic with less than 200 seconds gone in the game. It was then the turn of Puig and Chicharito to step up to the plate. The former threaded it through for the latter who put the Galaxy two-ahead with his weaker left foot. The New England Revolution dominated on the stats front but were unable to do enough about it. With roughly 10 minutes left, Carles Gil stepped up and converted a trademark left-footed curler. The deficit was halved but Vanney’s men still prevailed.
Read More: Nacho Gil Signs on for the New England Revolution
Arena Is Full of Praise For His Opposite Number
Bruce Arena and Greg Vanney have crossed paths throughout their careers a number of times. The former spoke highly of the Galaxy head coach prior to the game. “We’ve had relationships both as player-coach as well as two managers and he’s done a very good job at all the clubs he’s been at.”
Not only did the New England Revolution man speak to his relationship with Vanney but also to his time over in L.A. “LA was a great club to work for. They are built to win championships and that was a great experience, and we had a lot of success, so I’m looking forward to the game.”
Attentions now turn to a mid-week clash with the Chicago Fire on home soil. Here is Arena’s take on the quick turnaround, “We know how difficult it is and we’ll get the guys ready and hopefully reset for Wednesday. May make some changes for sure.”
