History In The Making

History In The Making

Now I don’t want to get ahead of myself, because seasons like this have ended in disaster countless times, but the New England Revolution are on the verge of making history in Major League Soccer. With an 18 (yes 18) point lead in the Eastern Conference, an 11 point lead in the Supporters Shield race, and having secured a first-round bye in the MLS Playoffs, the Revs are on pace to break the all-time points total in MLS history with 76 projected points on the season. The current record is held by LAFC with a 72-point season in 2019.

You can only say the word ‘historical’ so many times about the Revolution when you talk about this season, but everything about this season is just that, historical. They’ve won 20 out of 29 games played with 5 draws and 4 losses. They lead the lead in total goals and assists (57 and 60), Carles Gil leads the league in assists and key passes (16 and 96) and is also the frontrunner for league MVP, Gustavo Bou and Adam Buksa are tied for fourth in the league in goals each with 13, Matt Turner has solidified himself as the best goalkeeper in the league and is holding the #1 spot for the U.S. Men’s National Team… I mean what else can be said?

What’s even more incredible is this didn’t happen overnight for the Revolution either. This has been accumulating ever since Bruce Arena took over as head coach and sporting director on May 14th, 2019. Bruce Arena, by the way, is only three wins away from breaking the late Sigi Schmid’s record for most regular season victories in MLS history. He’s changed the culture, the attitude of the players, the mindset for the rest of the coaching staff, and he’s created a belief among the rest of the league that the New England Revolution are a legitimate dangerous franchise in Major League Soccer. They’re hard to play against, they’re gritty, they’re creative, and they’re extremely resilient. Those are the makings of a great team.

Now, here’s what worries me. The MLS Playoffs are no joke. We all saw what the Revolution did to last years Supporters Shield winning Philadelphia Union. Not a whole lot is really preventing that from happening to the Revolution if they’re not careful. This is a long break they’re in the midst of with the World Cup Qualifiers taking place. New England will have had a full 16 days in between games, and that is plenty of time to kill any momentum to any team no matter how dominant they are. If the Revs can keep their resiliency that’s been driving them all season long, they’ll be in fantastic shape heading into the postseason.

I’m excited to see what happens.

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