Intelligence Report: Orlando City vs. New England Revolution

Orlando City crashed out of the U.S. Open Cup in rather timid fashion on Wednesday, but we have no time to dwell on that. There are nine matches left in the regular season, and it is imperative for the Lions to keep picking up points at a good clip if they want to remain above the playoff line. They’ll have their work cut out for them on Saturday, as the team travels up to Gillette Stadium to take on the New England Revolution.

A date with the Revs means I caught up with Jake Catanese, one of the writers over at The Blazing Musket. As always, he did an outstanding job at helping bring us up to speed on New England, and I also answered some of his questions about Orlando City, which you can find over at their place.

This is Marko Mitrovic’s first year in charge of the Revs. How does he want this team to play?

Jake Catanese: So, I think the Revs are still figuring this part out due to a rotating list of injuries they’ve dealt with at times this year. But the simplest answer is New England wants to be balanced and I think beat you on overloads. They want to figure out ways to get someone in behind, get multiple runners into one area on a cross, or figure out some way to get the defense to react to something. New England has long struggled with breaking down opponents who are in a set defensive formation and have like eight or nine guys behind the ball, even the creative maestro that is Carles Gil. Five years ago, we saw the best version of the Revs in a Shield-winning team that could punish you in so many ways on the counter with Gustavo Bou and Tajon Buchanan and operate in a “half-court” offense with Adam Buksa as a target man to aim for. This New England team isn’t at that level, but it’s the most versatile and dangerous team the Revs have had since that squad.

Talk me through the Revolution’s transfer business this year. Who has gone out the door, and who’s come in to replace those guys?

JC: The big moves into the team are Jack Harrison and Daniel Gazdag. Harrison was a much-needed upgrade as injuries to Luca Langoni and a rotation of options playing opposite him were doing well but not having the same impact as a Designated Player-level winger. The addition of Gazdag is the most interesting because right now he’s looking at a super sub role, but given the Revs are still shorthanded up top, there’s going to be a ton of opportunity for him to add on to that game winner he had last week. It’s a great foundation that Chris Tierney and Mitrovic have really established so far.

The big move out was center back Brayan Ceballos being traded to Montreal. This was very much a personal thing, as there were issues getting visas for his family to join him stateside. With Ethan Kohler having a breakout year, the Revs did the Colombian defender a solid. While we’re all a little bummed, since he was a really solid player for the Revs last year, I’m very happy New England was able to work that situation out, even though it probably wasn’t planned and definitely could have hurt the Revs short term. Young center backs Joshua Wynder (Benfica) and Tylon Smith (QPR) were brought in on loan to bolster the back line as well.

New England’s defensive play has been a strength this year, with just 31 goals given up in 25 games. What’s made the Revs so tough to score on?

JC: There are two major reasons for this. First, Matt Turner is back to “I am the best shot stopper in the league” level of play, and his analytics are insane. Also in reference to that tweet, the LOL moment of Turner and Djordje Petrovic occupying the Top 5 almost by themselves is just absurd. Now, the Revs still give up like one or two big chances a game too many at times…and while Turner is good to maybe bail you out once, there’s only so many chances you can give up from close range before you concede. We maintain Matt Turner should have started at the World Cup.

That being said, the second reason is thanks to the Revs’ change in style of play, they aren’t getting punished for mistakes, because those turnovers aren’t happening in their own half. Caleb Porter and the Revs spent so much time keeping the ball in their own half that they gave up a lot of chances off turnovers. This Revs team doesn’t have that problem, because they’re progressing the ball with a purpose and generally have more time to recover if and when they do something stupid. Yes, I still think the Revs are a little vulnerable in the air and on set pieces, but it’s not as bad as it was in previous years.

Individually, we mentioned Ethan Kohler’s breakout into the starting lineup and he’s been tremendous since the World Cup break, but Will Sands has spent the bulk of the year as the Revs’ starting left back and has also done really well. I think the Revs’ best lineup eventually has Peyton Miller and Ilay Feingold as the starting fullbacks, but if you’re going to get solid games from Sands and Matt Polster at right back on a regular basis, then you’re doing just fine and it shows up in the fact the Revs are giving up just over a goal a game, which I think is second in the East behind only the brick wall that is Nashville.

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

JC: Ah, the bad news for the week dropped already, and that is the Revs will be without both Jack Harrison and Alhassan Yusuf for about six weeks, as they both picked up injuries at Citi Field against New York City FC recently. Eventually, Peyton Miller and Brooklyn Raines will join up with the USMNT, and Dor Turgeman and Ilay Feingold with Israel, so the Revs are going to have a really interesting week coming up in their near future for reasons only the schedule makers can justify. Last week against Chicago, the Revs deployed Gazdag at wing, Jackson Yueill at central defensive midfielder, and Matt Polster at right back, but if Feingold is healthy enough for an international call-up, he should be healthy enough to start, and I think that drops Polster to the bench.

4-2-3-1: Matt Turner; Will Sands, Mamadou Fofana, Ethan Kohler, Ilay Feingold; Brooklyn Raines, Jackson Yueill; Peyton Miller, Carles Gil, Daniel Gazdag; Dor Turgeman.

Some extra names to pay attention to off the bench are striker Wilson Harris and winger Luca Langoni. Harris was another one of the under-the-radar signings this summer and has been really solid late in games. Langoni has also missed a bunch of time and is working back to full fitness and is probably in line to get some starts before the year is up as well. New England going up against an improved but still very porous defense, I think they take this 3-1 at home off the confidence of two big road wins last week.

Thank you to Jake for the fantastic primer on the Revs. Vamos Orlando!