FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Throughout the 2018 season, head coach Brad Friedel has repeatedly pointed to lapses in concentration as cause for the New England Revolution’s struggles.
Now officially eliminated from playoff contention for the third straight season, the first-year coach’s tone didn’t waver. In fact, “mentality” was Friedel’s succinct response to his biggest lesson from year No. 1 in charge, expanding in greater detail.
“You can take a couple of the games we lost, LA Galaxy and Philly here, and it’s 11 draws maybe we’ve had,” Friedel said before Monday’s training. “Of the 11 draws, at least six or seven should have been won. You have to have belief as a player. You have to not only want to win, but think and believe you can win all the time.”
Many of those close encounters came during a nine-game winless stretch following the World Cup break, only broken by a 1-0 victory over NYCFC on Sept. 5. Plus, until defeating Orlando City SC, 2-0, on Saturday, New England hadn’t won at Gillette Stadium in nearly three-and-a-half months.
The area most in need of change? Players of the right mindset who can fit Friedel’s broader project for the Revs. He said the core group remains strong, but tweaks are certainly needed.
“We’ve had a year under our belts and know much more about the type of player we need to bring through the doors,” Friedel said. “We started that process many months ago already to prepare for next season.”
Still, the club is on track for its worst home record since 2013 and has already allowed 51 goals or more for the third straight season – with games remaining at Real Salt Lake on Thursday (9 pm ET | TV & streaming info) and hosting the Montreal Impact on Decision Day presented by AT&T.
Impactful signings will come this offseason, Friedel insists, while the club also has its new training facility in Foxborough, Mass., to look forward to. General manager Michael Burns said it should be usable by July or August 2019, including two new grass fields for the first team and spaces for the academy.
As that all comes together, striker Teal Bunbury said there’s been a notable shift around the club.
“One of the big-picture things is a lot of professionalism and accountability for players, for staff,” Bunbury said. “Whenever you get a new coaching staff, the whole philosophy changes, so that takes some time for players who have been here for some time to get used to. After having a year of that under all our belts, I think it’ll be easier for us to adjust come next preseason.”
Scott Caldwell, with the club since 2013, has also noticed a change under Friedel, notably that spots in the starting XI are harder to come by.
“One of the biggest things is the emphasis on our physicality in our defending, and right now everyone is always fighting for a job, fighting for a spot,” Caldwell said. “That’s something we have to continue to do through the end of the year. Hopefully that will help us with the competitiveness inside the team and build a stronger team in the offseason.”
Effectively already in preseason mode for 2019, Friedel said another big takeaway is how many MLS teams go through point swings throughout a campaign.
With the right players in place and appropriate attention to detail, Friedel insists that consistency can be found. From there, of course, comes a path back to the postseason.
“The great thing is the Krafts, as you see with the training facility, are there to back us,” Friedel said of the club’s ownership group. “Going into next season, we hope we can do some great things for the Krafts and for the fans.”
