The skid only seems to be getting worse for the New England Revolution after allowing five straight goals in a loss to New York Red Bulls on Wednesday.
Heading into Saturday night’s matchup at home against Orlando, the Revs are 6-9-7 and have not won a contest since May 31. Heading into June the club was 6-4-5 and was one of the hottest team’s in the league.
An international break and injuries all across the roster has waylaid New England however, and the gap between them and a playoff spot continues to grow.
Each contest the Revs seem just one shot or one call away from a win or at least a draw, but the points have evaded them in the summer months.
“We’ve done a lot of good stuff in this stretch, but the bottom line is we have not won enough games,” Revs coach Caleb Porter said. “That’s the reality, which means now the margins are tighter for us at the end of the year. In some ways, maybe that’s good, because we know what we have to do.
“I think the confidence is still there. The team is very much still bought in. I met with the leadership council today and they still have a ton of confidence that we can get enough points to make the playoffs and make a run. We just have to stay focused on one at a time.”
Last time out, Porter felt his squad played one of their best halves all year to start the contest against Red Bull and go up 2-0. Midfielder Matt Polster, a member of the Leadership Council agreed, but also acknowledged that the five second half goals allowed cannot recur.
While Polster mentioned that it can be easy to let the frustrations take hold during a stretch like this, he and the rest of the council know that Wednesday’s game has to just be put behind them.
“You can only control what you can control, which is the performances you put out,” Polster said. “Right now, we as a group need to put out a really good performance against a good Orlando team at home, and start stringing some wins together at home, and being better and more difficult to play against at home.
“I don’t want to reflect too much about what’s going on in the past, I just want to reflect on what we can control in the future, ant that’s putting together a good performance.”
Playing a road-heavy start to the season, the Revs have what is in theory a benefit in lots of home games the rest of the way. However, New England has strangely struggled at Gillette Stadium this year, going 2-5-2 in front of their home fans.
Including Saturday’s match, the Revs play four games in a row at home, a part of a larger home-heavy stretch that Polster thinks can help deliver the squad up the Eastern Conference table.
“I think we went on a stretch during the year where we played really good and we won a lot of games, and then now we’re in a little bit of a spell where we need to get out of it,” Polster said. “But we have that opportunity in front of us.
“Eight of 12 (matches) to be at home and more than enough quality in this team and enough talent in this team to do that. So, we have a lot of opportunity, but we have to take it.”
In Orlando, New England has an opponent that they’ve already faced once this season, drawing 3-3 in May. They currently sit in sixth in the Eastern Conference and Porter knows they aren’t to be taken lightly.
“Orlando’s another good team, they’re pretty well balanced, they have talent, they have a good coach, and they’re capable of beating anybody,” Porter said. “They have a great attacking group and Oscar (Pareja) is a great coach. Typically, they’re athletic, good in transition, good on set pieces, and very well balanced.
“They’re very well-rounded overall, which is why they’ve been so consistent over the last several years under Oscar. We have to perform well, I think we’ve shown that when we perform well, we can beat anybody. We just need to perform well for 90-plus minutes.”
A big part of New England’s success in April and May was because of the play of their wingbacks, Ilay Feingold and Peyton Miller. In recent weeks, both have gone out with injuries, not only taking out talented pieces, but also ones that knew how to play their part in Porter’s system.
Miller did return to start in Wednesday’s match, but after suffering another injury, had to be replaced in the second half and the connective tissue of the New England defense was not entirely there.
“He was playing really well,” Porter said of Miller. “Obviously, he’s been a key guy, especially in this new structure we’re playing. The wingbacks are huge, and we’ve had both guys out recently. I do think Brandon (Bye) has been doing a really good job.
“But with Peyton going out, it was difficult. A bit unfair to some of the guys to get thrown right in, because they’re in a game that becomes open, while we’re chasing it. They haven’t played together a lot, so there’s not a ton of continuity. Certainly, I’m not pinning it on those guys.”
Against Orlando, Miller’s status, is still in the air.
“He’s had this little ankle issue and his calf was tight in the first half, and he had to come out,” Porter said. We couldn’t do much on the pitch today, so we’re continuing to evaluate it Hopefully, he’ll be avail for at least some minutes in this games.”
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