{"id":41168,"date":"2022-02-25T20:16:08","date_gmt":"2022-02-26T01:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/?p=41168"},"modified":"2022-02-25T20:16:08","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T01:16:08","slug":"the-new-england-revolution-portland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2022\/02\/25\/the-new-england-revolution-portland\/","title":{"rendered":"The New England Revolution visit Portland for their season opener"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>PREVIEW<\/strong> \u2013 After what feels like a particularly short off-season, MLS is back! The defending Supporters\u2019 Shield champions are of course the New England Revolution, and their campaign will get underway in Oregon. The Revs will face last year\u2019s MLS Cup runners-up Portland in a huge fixture- a long-awaited return to the West.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Portland hosts the New England Revolution to get the season underway <\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3><strong>Off-field disruptions <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Both teams have had their own disruptions in recent weeks. New England was supposed to kick off the CCL with a tie versus Haitian side Cavaly FC but due to visa issues, the minnows were unable to fulfil the fixture. Whilst the New England therefore advance, the Timbers are in some muddy water of their own.<\/p>\n<p>Not only has stalwart Diego Valeri departed, but in more pressing issues, the club is under investigation from the league. Portland reportedly failed to report domestic violence allegations that were pending against player Andy Polo and so this misdemeanour is far from an ideal starting spot.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>How did 2021 go for the New England Revolution and the Timbers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>As previously mentioned, both the New England Revolution and the Timbers had things to shout about last year. The former, led by Bruce Arena, broke the regular-season points record of Bob Bradley\u2019s LAFC, before then coming up short in the playoffs. The Revs were bested by NYCFC and the same goes for Portland, only they were overcome at the final hurdle. Ronny Deila masterminded the New Yorkers to a first MLS Cup in the Timbers backyard, Providence Park.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">MLS Cup Champs return most of their core in Castellanos, Moralez, Callens, Magno &amp; Johnson. <\/p>\n<p>Will @NYCFC make it back-to-back titles? \ud83c\udfc6<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Major League Soccer (@MLS) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MLS\/status\/1496469893419388928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 23, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Talking of Providence Park and this will be the location for a Saturday night classic. From LAFC versus Colorado to Atlanta versus SKC, there are a number of fascinating fixtures in this opening weekend of MLS, and the game in question certainly fits the bill too.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>The tale of the tape and the squads<\/strong><\/h3>\n<h4><strong>New England Revolution and the Portland Timbers<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The team from Boston last faced Portland all the way back in September of 2018. The pair met at Gillette Stadium and it ended 1-1, with second-half goals coming from RSL new-man Scott Caldwell and Kenyan Lawrence Olum. They haven\u2019t met for so long due to the pandemic limiting matches to within their own conference. This isn\u2019t an issue in the mind of Arena, or so he joked anyway when he said \u201cgiven the circumstances in Boston I don\u2019t think it\u2019s as challenging given that I think there\u2019s eight inches of snow.\u201d He then went on to, more seriously, say \u201cwe\u2019re playing on the same surface we have in Gillette so we\u2019re not as handicapped as one might think.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Diego Valeri may have departed Portland but Sebastian Blanco remains a key part of Gio Saverese\u2019s plans. On the other hand, a lot of key faces have stayed put in New England. Of course, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2021\/08\/26\/tajon-buchanan-club-brugge\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><em>Tajon Buchanan<\/em><\/a> has gone to Belgium plus <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2022\/02\/17\/matt-turner-arsenal-ne-revs-motivations\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><em>Matt Turner<\/em><\/a> will be moving on in the summer, but besides that, the stars are still under Bruce\u2019s stewardship. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2022\/02\/15\/jozy-altidore-new-england-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><em>Jozy Altidore<\/em><\/a>, Sebastian Lletget and Omar Gonzalez are the trio of new faces, all of whom have worked with the Revs manager previously.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Sebastian Lletget is heading to the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NERevolution?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@NERevolution<\/a>! \ud83d\ude4c <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xPOqHYib0F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/xPOqHYib0F<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FOXSoccer\/status\/1471535204405694468?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">December 16, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Goals of the New England Revolution<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>New England will go in search of a first-ever MLS Cup this term whilst also competing for the Champions League. No MLS side has ever lifted the latter and so it is a joint feeling across the league that, if anyone can get over the line, that is better than nothing. This sentiment was reiterated by Altidore when he spoke to Last Word on Soccer last week as well as Arena in today\u2019s presser: \u201cwe [MLS] have four teams remaining in the last eight so hopefully we can advance teams into the semi-finals and certainly be competing to win it all. It\u2019s something we need to do as a league, I think just getting an MLS representative into the world championships would be an important next step for the league.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There are questions over who Arena will go with from the start at Providence Park. Will there be a back five or a back four? On top of that, there was talk of Turner having maybe picked up a foot injury. As is often the case though, the New England Revolution manager was keen to keep his cards very close to his chest when it comes to team selection: \u201cI\u2019m not interested in talking about ant injuries to the players, we\u2019ll have a line-up set later today for tomorrow and we\u2019ll leave it at that.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Last word on the New England Revolution<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>It is hard to talk about the Revs without zeroing in on the reigning MVP Carles Gil. He won the award despite facing injuries last year, he seems to be in good spirits about his health though: \u201cI feel good, I feel perfect at the moment. You never know with the injuries but hopefully, I can have a full season [without injury].\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u201cI feel perfect in the moment\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Carles Gil talks about how he feels physically coming into 2022. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NERevs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NERevs<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/NESW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#NESW<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wpro?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@wpro<\/a> @Hot106 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/eg6BZwBpGC\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/eg6BZwBpGC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Quinlan (@TommyQuinlan_IV) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TommyQuinlan_IV\/status\/1497299969191014403?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">February 25, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Complacency is an issue faced by many championship teams but the general vibe from the camp has been that this is a new year and everyone is looking to further add to their success, as opposed to resting on their laurels. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to continue in the same light as last year. It\u2019s a similar group with many players that were here last season, everyone knows Bruce and we know Bruce and also we have some very good new players.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally, on the winning of that award and Gil mused that his \u201cgoal is always to be better than last year\u201d and that it is about \u201ctrying to help the team, the most important thing is the team. When the team is playing good and winning games, everyone are better players.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The game will take place at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday in Portland, Oregon. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/2022\/02\/21\/predictions-2022-mls-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><em>Click here<\/em><\/a> to read Last Word on Soccer&#8217;s predictions for the 2022 MLS season!<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"RLX5SqEmSO5yJ5n70m1AGQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/1357979266\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'RLX5SqEmSO5yJ5n70m1AGQ',sig:'mV0jF0gj0Sm63lA1She13SyYsL-9UNKUl40F93gykVA=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1357979266',caption: true ,tld:'ca',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PREVIEW \u2013 After what feels like a particularly short off-season, MLS is back! The defending Supporters\u2019 Shield champions are of course the New England Revolution, and their campaign will get underway in Oregon. The Revs will face last year\u2019s MLS Cup runners-up Portland in a huge fixture- a long-awaited return to the West. Portland hosts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3891,"featured_media":41175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[119,11,24],"tags":[115,2895,165,184,2040,392,900,3917],"class_list":["post-41168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mls","category-revolution","category-timbers","tag-bruce-arena","tag-carles-gil","tag-diego-valeri","tag-jozy-altidore","tag-matt-turner","tag-providence-park","tag-sebastian-blanco","tag-tajon-buchanan"],"modified_by":"Raheem Bashir, Site Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3891"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/soccer\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}