How do you find an MVP candidate? The Seattle Sounders and LA Galaxy “found” theirs in well-known, big-money signings (Obafemi Martins and Robbie Keane). The New England Revolution? They grabbed their MVP off the scrap heap.
The Revolution's acquisition of Lee Nguyen in the 2012 Waiver Draft may have raised a few eyebrows, if only because of his unusual path back to MLS and less-than-amicable departure from Vancouver before a ball had even been kicked in the 2012 regular season. Now, though, it looks like a master stroke from the Revs.
Nguyen’s emergence in his three-year-run in New England is certainly one of the greatest stories of the Revs’ rebuild, but like all rosters, he represents but one part of a game that requires a deep understanding of your pieces, your opponents’ pieces and how it all fits together.
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With a shift in focus from the international to domestic market, which involved finding value in players seemingly on the downturn or discarded by their old teams (in the cases of Nguyen, Charlie Davies, Teal Bunbury) and grabbing at least one key contributor every year in the draft since 2011, the Revs have played this game well.
Here’s a deeper look at New England's process, year by year:
Pre-2011
Though Jay Heaps’ hiring at the end of 2011 is the focus point for our timeline, it’s worth mentioning some of the prior moves that helped set the team up. Diego Fagundez, Kevin Alston, Darrius Barnes and Bobby Shuttleworth are all notable, US-bred contributors today that were signed in 2011 or earlier. In particular, the selections of Alston and Barnes marked the beginning of a run of annual draft success that has not abated.
A good deal of the credit here has to go to now-General Manager Mike Burns – like Heaps, a former Revs and USMNT player – who has worked in various player personnel positions since 2005, first as Director of Soccer, then as Vice President of Player Personnel starting in 2008. Burns was named GM on Nov. 9, 2011, two days before Heaps took the head coaching job.
2011
Record: 5-16-13 (28 pts, 9th-East)
Top Scorer: Shalrie Joseph (8)
Most Assists: Benny Feilhaber (7)
Most Games Played: Kevin Alston (33)
Key Acquisitions: M-F Diego Fagundez (11/15/10 - Homegrown), D Ryan Cochrane (12/15/10 - Re-Entry Draft), D A.J. Soares, D Stephen McCarthy (1/13 - No. 6 and No. 24 picks in MLS SuperDraft), F Rajko Lekic (4/8 - free transfer), M Benny Feilhaber (4/19 - Allocation Process), F Milton Caraglio (8/2 - loan from Rosario Central; DP)
Key Departures: F Taylor Twellman (11/3/10 - retired), D Seth Sinovic (3/31 - waived), M Marko Perovic (6/30 - option declined)
It's tough to replace a coach as iconic in club lore as Steve Nicol, but up stepped Heaps after another disappointing year in 2011, a man intimately familiar with the team after playing with them from 2001-2009 and serving as a TV analyst on their local broadcasts in 2010 and 2011. That familiarity helped Heaps hit the ground running despite a lack of head-coaching experience, and by the start of the 2012 season, only six players who were on the game-day roster for the last game of 2011 were still with the team.
It’s worth noting, though, four players on the roster during the last two years of Heaps’ playing career are still with the team and were significant contributors in 2014 – Shuttleworth, Chris Tierney, Alston and Barnes. It works both ways, but in some cases, familiarity can be a boon in rebuilding a roster.
Seth Sinovic was one that got away, with the Revs missing out on a longtime contributor at left back, but they've gotten by since then. Milton Caraglio, the club's first DP and an international signing, also failed to last four months, but these misses certainly don't make the project a failure. It may not have looked good in the present, but it's worth remembering that no matter the sport, you're not going to hit on 100 percent of your players.
2012
Record: 9-17-8 (35 points, 9th-East)
Top Scorer: Saer Sene (12)
Most Assists: Kelyn Rowe, Chris Tierney (5)
Most Games Played: Kevin Alston (31)
Key Acquisitions: M Clyde Simms (12/23/11 - Re-Entry Draft) M Kelyn Rowe (1/12 - No. 3 pick in MLS SuperDraft), F Saer Sene (2/13 - loan from Bayern Munich) M Lee Nguyen (3/2 - Waiver Draft), F Jerry Bengtson (7/5 - transfer from Motagua; DP), F Dimitry Imbongo (7/16 - free transfer)
Key Departures: D Ryan Cochrane, M Kheli Dube, F Rajko Lekic, M Pat Phelan (11/30/11 - options declined), F Milton Caraglio (11/30/11 - purchase option declined), M Kenny Mansally (5/7 - waived), M Shalrie Joseph (8/1 - trade to Chivas USA)
New England continued to play to their strengths by hitting gold in the draft with Kelyn Rowe and again when the Whitecaps discarded Nguyen, giving the Revs their team MVP in 2012 and a potential league MVP two years later. Rowe has proved to be a hit with his understanding of the game, versatility and offensive contributions. Though the results on the field were not there in 2012, this is the year that the Revs as we know them really started to take shape.
Despite adding two key midfield parts, the 2012 campaign illustrated the the issues the Revs have had locking down a consistent No. 9, as well as their struggles on the international market. Saer Sene looked good that year but was hampered by injury and only scored six goals in the following year and a half before being traded to New York. Jerry Bengston, now on loan in Argentina, can certainly be classed as a ‘miss’ in the DP department, while Dimitry Imbongo has struggled to stay on the field.
2013
Record: 14-11-9 (51 pts, 3rd-East)
Top Scorer: Diego Fagundez (13)
Most Assists: Kelyn Rowe (8)
Most Games Played: Jose Goncalves (34)
Key Acquisitions: M Andy Dorman (11/15/12 - free transfer), M Scott Caldwell (12/21/12 - Homegrown), D Jose Goncalves (1/3 - loan from FC Sion), D Andrew Farrell (1/17 - No. 1 pick in MLS SuperDraft), F Juan Agudelo (5/7 - trade with Chivas USA for allocation money), F Charlie Davies (8/9 - loan from Randers, trade 2014 1st Round SuperDraft pick to D.C. United for rights)
Key Departures: M Benny Feilhaber (11/30/12 - option declined, traded to Sporting KC for 2014 1st Round, 2015 2nd Round SuperDraft picks), M Sainey Nyassi (5/16 - waived)
A year after the building blocks of New England’s midfield started to fall into place, the front office followed suit by shoring up the defense. They finally struck gold on the international market in Portuguese journeyman center back Jose Goncalves, who brought some much-needed bite to the Revs back line and proved to be an immediate hit on his way to the 2013 Defender of the Year award. Then came another draft hit, Andrew Farrell, who has become one of the league's top young defenders and played 5,653 minutes since entering the league – fifth-most among all outfield players in that time and by far the most in his draft class.
There was also very little upheaval in terms of players leaving the team, with Benny Feilhaber's trade to Kansas City the one notable departure, and it came in a spot already well-covered in the roster. In exchange, New England received a pair of draft picks, assets that the team has proved adept at cashing in on.
2014
Record: 17-13-4 (55 pts, 2nd-East)
Top Scorer: Lee Nguyen (18)
Most Assists: Teal Bunbury (6)
Games Played: Daigo Kobayashi (34)
Key Acquisitions: M Steve Neumann, F Patrick Mullins (1/16 - No. 4 and No. 11 picks in the MLS SuperDraft), F Teal Bunbury (2/19 - trade with Sporting KC for 2015 MLS SuperDraft 1st Round pick, allocation money) M Daigo Kobayashi (2/26 - rights acquired from Vancouver for 2016 SuperDraft 4th Round pick), M Jermaine Jones (8/24 - Designated Player Blind Draw)
Key Departures: GK Matt Reis, M Clyde Simms, M Juan Toja (11/20/13 - option declined), F Juan Agudelo (11/22/13 - out of contract), F Jerry Bengtson (7/25 - loan to Belgrano), F Saer Sene (8/12 - traded to New York for F Andre Akpan, allocation money)
The jury is still out on this year's SuperDraft class – we'll get a better idea on how to judge in two or three years – but it's worth noting here that the Revs were able to turn the No. 12 (natural) and No. 19 picks (from the Feilhaber trade) in the SuperDraft, plus the rights to Michael Parkhurst (a good player, but a luxury on an already-sound defense) into the Nos. 4 and 11 picks, with which they grabbed Patrick Mullins and Steve Neumann. There's still a ways to go before they can be classed as successes, but they've shown in flashes that the potential is there.
Heading the other way were some of the failed forward projects, but with Teal Bunbury, Charlie Davies and Mullins all coming in over the last 18 months, the Revs seem to be turning to the domestic market to find some known quantities up front, even if some can be classed as development or reclamation projects. Whatever you call it, though, two of those players (Bunbury and Davies) are now starting in their current playoff run.
The only Revs player to feature in all 34 regular-season games this year? Somewhat surprisingly, you'll see above it's midfielder Daigo Kobayashi, who started 23 of those games and contributed four asssists, for the relative pittance of a 4th-round pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft. A luxury? Maybe, but it looks a lot better when it works out.
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Though this is certainly the best Revolution team we’ve seen in some time, there are still some kinks in the roster to be worked out. There’s little reason to doubt Lee Nguyen can maintain his high level of play, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll rack up another 18-goal season.
No one else on the roster has more than five goals in 2014, though Davies and Mullins have shown promising signs. Even if the Revs don’t make a big move at the position in 2015, it is a spot that will come under consideration and scrutiny from both the front office and fans in the coming months.
In the meantime, they'll be pretty happy with where they are, especially knowing how far they've come.
Content researcher Ben Baer contributed to this article.
