Everyone Should’ve Seen This Coming

Everyone Should’ve Seen This Coming

It’s no secret the New England Revolution are having one of their best seasons in the club’s 26 year history. Currently sitting atop the Eastern Conference by 10 points, and leading all of MLS in the Supporters Shield race by 6 points, things are looking extremely promising in Gillette Stadium.

Just past the midway point of the season, the Revs have picked up their first impactful injury, missing Carles Gil for what is supposed to be short-term. Gil is arguably the best midfielder and playmaker in MLS, and he’s also among New England’s four MLS all-stars including Matt Turner, Gustavo Bou, and Tajon Buchanan. The Revolution showed they are, for the time being, able to cope without their captain by placing Buchanan at the central attacking midfield role. That is arguably the biggest difference between this season and past seasons with Gil: their ability to perform without him on the field. Gil has had injury issues in the past, this one seemingly (and fortunately) not as severe.

Tajon Buchanan is also an interesting topic at the moment, because reportedly, the Revs have agreed to sell Tajon to Belgian side Club Brugge for $7 million, and Club Brugge will loan him back to New England for the remainder of the season. The terms of this agreement have not officially been agreed to, so this is only speculative. However, I think we can all agree it was only a matter of time before Tajon went to Europe for big money.

Speaking of players that are having a global impact, Matt Turner has officially solidified himself as the best goalkeeper in MLS. If there was any debate for the last two seasons, there is no longer. Turner won the golden glove for being the best goalkeeper in the Gold Cup only allowing one goal the entire tournament (and it was a PK). I honestly believe if Turner improves his footwork on the ball and Zack Steffen continues to underperform with his, Turner could steal the #1 spot on the men’s national team roster.

Not to toot my own horn (which I’m totally doing anyways), but I said at the beginning of the season that I expect the Revolution to at the very least make the Eastern Conference Finals and anything less than that would be a disappointment by their standards. It seems to me that they’re on track to do just that.

I’m also well aware that there is more than enough games left in the season for slumps, more impactful injuries, other teams can catch up, etc. (*rapidly knocks on wood*). Be that as it may, with Bruce Arena at the helm and doing what he does best, I don’t see him letting that happen.

All in all, my prediction is going exactly as planned (Dr. Evil voice). If the Revolution can continue to impress without Carles Gil and not let any inevitable slumps define their season, some serious hardware could becoming their way.

P.S. It’s time the Revs got their own stadium.

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