New England Revolution head coach Brad Friedel made six changes to the starting lineup that lost 2-0 at home to expansion side FC Cincinnati in Week 4 and the new-look side paid dividends.
The Revolution won their first match of the season 2-1 against Minnesota United, receiving key contributions from goalkeeper Cody Cropper, who made his first start since 2017, and rookie DeJuan Jones who made his first MLS start.
"Really happy with the performance the players put in," Friedel told media postgame. "Really happy with the work ethic. And really happy with the application of what we were trying to do.
"You guys and a lot of experts out there are probably surprised that we could motivate the players to work hard," he continued. "But all those players every single day we see them working hard -- and the others that were not involved. A couple of first-half performances that we've had here that haven’t been up to par shouldn’t be the focal point. Very, very proud of the players’ performance today."
In addition to Cropper and Jones, Jalil Anibaba started at center back and scored the Revs' opener against Minnesota. And although he wasn't rewarded with a goal, forward Juan Agudelo was omnipresent across the attacking front.
"Again, every week that starts, every player can get their name in the hat to start," Friedel said. "Cody [Cropper] in the last 2-3 weeks has trained very, very well -- better than we’ve seen him train since we’ve been at the club. And we’ve been averaging two goals a game against. And I made a change and he played very well."
Jones also won praise from his coach for his play on the left wing. The 21-year-old, who was the No. 11 overall draft pick out of Michigan State, was a threat with his speed and dribbling ability.
"Since I and my staff took over, if you work hard and perform well in training you’ll have the opportunity to play," Friedel said. "You never know when opportunities are going to arise. An opportunity arose for DeJuan [Jones] and I thought he played very well today.
"A lot of people have been saying that we don’t have creative players. We do. It takes time to get people together for it all to come together. I’m really proud of the way the players applied themselves in the game."
