Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. New England Revolution

Orlando City remembered how to score on Wednesday night, as the Lions put five goals past the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the U.S. Open Cup. OCSC will try to carry that sort of offensive performance over to league play Saturday, when the New England Revolution come to town.

A match against the Revs means I caught up with Jake Catanese, one of the writers over at The Blazing Musket. As always, he was extremely helpful in bringing us up to speed on what this year’s version of the Revolution looks like.

Talk me through the Revolution’s off-season transfer business. Who are some of the new names to know?

Jake Catanese: Okay, so some of the new faces are from the end of last year: winger Luca Langoni and midfielder Alhassan Yusuf were both acquired back in August. Yusuf is a Nigerian international and has cemented himself in the lineup as one of the holding midfielders, and Langoni had a great spell at the end of the last year but was dropped to make room for the Revs’ newfangled 5-3-2 wingback setup — more on that in a bit. Also, Tomas Chancalay isn’t a new face but is fresh off the season-ending injury list from an ACL injury last May and is working his way back up to full fitness, and both he and Langoni started the USOC win against Rhode Island (Wednesday) along with MLS veterans Maxi Urruti and Jackson Yueill, who were picked up this off-season.

The big off-season stuff happened up front, with the Revs making a record GAM trade with Miami for Leo Campana and making an interesting short-term loan for Ligue 1’s Ignatius Ganago out of Nantes. In the Revs’ 4-2-3-1 setup to start the year, it was Campana as a lone striker and Ganago in what I’ll call the “Gustavo Bou” winger/striker role, but both have moved up top with the formation change and it’s been fairly successful. Campana did miss a month with a hamstring injury, which did not help the Revs early on, but the strike partnership is starting to blossom with productivity.

The Revs have been the best defensive team in the entire league, with just seven goals conceded in 10 games. What’s been the secret sauce there?

JC: To finish the rest of the question above, the Revs absolutely hit a massive home run with two new center backs in the off-season. Malian international Mamadou Fofana (age 27) and Colombian Brayan Ceballos (age 23) entered the starting lineup together and basically have been there ever since, and they’ve been tremendous. Ceballos got a Team of the Week nod on debut in Week 1 against Nashville and has been a solid aerial presence, which is something the Revs have struggled with in recent years. Fofana is tremendous on the ball and he’s passing at a 90% clip with an over 50% clip on long balls, as well with several deeper, line-breaking passes that have opened up the defense.

League veteran Tanner Beason was added as the third center back to go with Homegrown Peyton Miller and Israeli youngster Ilay Feingold as the wingbacks/fullbacks, and the Revs have pulled off effectively changing over their entire back line in one off-season, which, given the success this group is having, is rather unheard of. Combine that with keeper Aljaz Ivacic having a top season and his back line blocking a lot of shots for him as well, the Revs have a foundation that looks set for many years to come unless some big transfer offers come in.

The opposite side of that coin is the fact that New England has scored the third-fewest goals in the league with nine in 10 games. The Revs have come on stronger in recent weeks though, with six tallies in their last five matches. What’s changed for the Revs that has allowed the goals to start going in a little easier?

JC: Let me explain…no, there is too much, let me sum up. The Revs in a 4-2-3-1 to start the year were horrific. Campana’s injury didn’t help, but they weren’t moving the ball effectively up field to the attacking group, and turnovers often caught the fullbacks too high as well — almost a carbon copy of 2024, when the Revs were second to last in the East and more or less were to start this year as well. The solution was to drop the struggling Langoni and add a third center back and put Ganago into a second striker role, which on paper I had a lot of doubts about. However, Carles Gil is still a magician and the Revs did solve a major problem with the formation switch.

Having the wingbacks allows one of them to get forward without exposing the defense, so New England is able to switch the point of attack easier and not compromise their center back duo, because Beason is there to help put out any fires. Now the Revs get their width and deep support from the wingback spot and are able to use Miller and Feingold more effectively and confidently going forward, because they have enough strength in the back of the formation. It also helps that the two wingbacks have been really good with high passing numbers despite not registering any official assists yet. Feingold essentially had the assist on the Revs’ opener in Toronto last weekend, but his very dangerous initial cross into the box was half-cleared only to have Gil volley it top bins from the top of the box. Feingold isn’t the pure speedster Miller is, but as a duo they complement each other very well and bring back a 1-v-1 element the Revs really haven’t had since Tajon Buchanan.

Now, do I still think that Caleb Porter’s possession system is too slow and hampers the offense? Yes. Do I think the Revs should counterattack a lot more than they do currently? Also yes. Their two goals against Toronto were very direct — a turnover sent out wide to Feingold set up Gil and then a semi-broken play leading to a long through ball to Campana. I think this is when the Revs are at their most dangerous, because they generally have opponents on their back foot and not in an established and/or set back line. But they are improving and against Toronto were generating better chances and doing so more frequently. And despite their win streak, big chances have been a rarity so far this year. If New England is able to consistently counter and create chances inside the box, the defense is going to carry them very far and you will see this team protecting a lot of leads.

Will any players be unavailable due to injury, suspension, etc.? What is your projected starting XI and score prediction?

JC: No suspensions to talk about, and most of the longterm injuries are off the board as well with Chancalay and Campana back in action. Andrew Farrell and Wyatt Omsberg were listed as questionable last week, but Farrell started in the midweek Open Cup game and Omsberg was on the bench and subbed on for the final 15 minutes. Youngster Malcolm Fry is likely the only person that will still be listed as out come gameday.

5-3-2: Aljaz Ivacic; Peyton Miller, Mamadou Fofana, Brayan Ceballos, Tanner Beason, Ilay Feingold; Alhassan Yusuf, Matt Polster, Carles Gil; Ignatius Ganago, Leonardo Campana.

Same lineup as last week in Toronto — the midfield triangle sees Carles Gil work his magic as the roaming No. 10, so you might see the wingbacks listed with the holding mids in a 3-4-1-2 looking thing. The running joke with the PawedCast demands I predict a 2-2 draw, but given the defensive stinginess of these two teams in the last month or so, I find it highly unlikely this game will have four goals in it…which is exactly why it will happen. We’ll add another to Carles’ tally and I think Mr. Ganago is due for another one. He’s been robbed a few too many times this year.

Thank you to Jake for the excellent primer on this year’s Revolution team. Vamos Orlando!