The New England Revolution have hit something of a rut in recent weeks. Bruce Arena’s side are winless in their last six in all competitions and so are on the hunt for a turning point. It doesn’t get any easier as this new-look Miami side come to town tomorrow night.
New-Look Miami Team Following the Departure of Phil Neville
Dealing with Injury Scares
As has been a regular occurrence in New England, Bruce Arena has had to contend with big absentees this year. Dylan Borrero and Henry Kessler are the two most notable players on the injury list whilst the likes of Carles Gil and Gustavo Bou have been missing in previous weeks too.
Beyond that, Damian Rivera is away on international duty with Costa Rica U23s having made the switch over from the USMNT not long ago. Also, Noel Buck and Brandon Bye are listed as questionable for this weekend’s game, left leg and left shoulder injuries being cited respectfully.
Here’s the latest #NERevs availability report. Noel Buck and Brandon Bye are questionable pic.twitter.com/PiJxLDW52z
— Seth (@SethMan31) June 7, 2023
El Capitan Carles Gil spoke on the situation that the team have endured in 2023. “Obviously we had a very good start but obviously, last four or five games we went down with some important injuries.”
The Revs are currently down in fourth, 12 points behind Eastern Conference leaders FC Cincinnati. Meanwhile, this new-look Miami side find themselves rock bottom out East, six points below the playoff line and two behind 14th-placed Chicago. Assistant coach Dave van den Bergh outlined the quality of preparation ahead of Saturday night. “It’s nice to have a full week of practice this time around. It’s been a little challenging with all these games, especially all these away games and midweek games.”
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What to Expect From This New-Look Miami Squad
Two of the biggest pieces of news in the last week or two are regarding Inter Miami. The internet exploded with the confirmation of Lionel Messi’s move to the Southeast of the US. Gil offered his opinion on the arrival of Messi, a man who he crossed paths with during his time in La Liga. “Yes, obviously it’s a big moment for the league, for Inter Miami. I think everyone is happy. It will be very good for the league to continue to be a better league and obviously with the best player ever, it will be easier.”
The precursor to this news was the dismissal of head coach Phil Neville. He has had topsy-turvy managerial spells wherever he’s been and his time working under his good friend, David Beckham, has come to an end. Javier Morales has taken on interim charge, making this a new-look Miami team who will produce new problems for Arena and co to face.
Inter Miami have sacked Phil Neville after their 1-0 defeat to New York Red Bulls. pic.twitter.com/i3Rh5ydr9c
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) June 2, 2023
Van den Bergh offered his incite as to what we can expect from this new-look Miami side tomorrow night and how much harder it is to prepare for the unknown. “On a weekly basis, we go over different scenarios, but yeah, it’s a little bit harder to predict. Then last week’s game from [Inter] Miami against D.C. [United] got derailed after like five minutes because Kamal Miller got a red card. It is hard to predict, and they had a game last night [Wednesday night] in Birmingham. Obviously, we looked at it and we’ll take something from it, but I think the main aspect of this is that we shouldn’t look too much at Miami, and we need to look at ourselves.”
The Revolution lost to Miami just a few weeks back as well as to the Philadelphia Union before drawing three on the bounce. As a new-look Miami team visit Gillette Stadium, New England are in need of a win to change their fortunes. This fixture will be available to watch on the Apple TV MLS Season Pass with the game kicking off at 7:30pm ET, tomorrow night.
Featured image credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports, taken May 31, 2023.
