Chicago Fire FC has the undivided attention of the New England Revolution.
The Revolution (0-4) will look to secure their first MLS victory when they host the Fire (1-2-1) in a matinee match on Saturday (2) at Gillette Stadium. The contest is the second of a three-game homestand.
The Revolution will engage the Fire minus three significant players, homegrown midfielders Esmir Bajraktarevic (U.S.) and Noel Buck (England), and goalkeeper Henrich Ravas (Slovakia), who are away honoring their FIFA international obligations. Veteran keeper Earl Edwards Jr. is expected to start in goal against the Fire.
“It’s like heaven,” said Revolution first-year head coach Caleb Porter after training on Thursday. “It’s like heaven to have a full week to prep and to build habits. It’s been very good, the work over the last couple of days. It’s our third day of training this week and the guys are improving.”
The Revolution wrapped up an arduous stretch of eight games in 26 days with a disheartening 2-1 loss to reigning Supporters Shields winners FC Cincinnati at the start of the homestand last Sunday.
Porter had to rotate his roster to its limits and double up the minutes on his established starters playing midweek matches in the Concacaf Champions Cup tournament and weekend MLS games.
The Revolution steamrolled the opposition in Champions Cup play, going 3-0-1 and outscoring their two Central American opponents, CA Independiente of Panama, and Costa Rica entrant LD Alajuelense, by an aggregate score of 9-1.
The Revolution’s success in Concacaf did not roll over into MLS competition. The Revolution have been outscored 10-3 in road losses to D.C. United and Atlanta United FC, and at home to Toronto FC and FC Cincinnati.
The Revolution will resume Concacaf play against reigning LIGA MX champion Club America in leg one of their home and home quarterfinal series on April 2 at Gillette. Leg two will be played on April 9 at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City.
The Revolution close out the homestand on April 6 against Charlotte FC. But their thoughts and training this week have been singularly focused on Chicago and getting that first MLS victory.
“It’s different, of course, when you have week to prepare for a game,” said Revolution striker Giacomo Vrioni. “It’s better to not have just one day (of training), but this is not an excuse at the end, because a lot of teams play every two days.
“But, yeah, I think it is good to have one week to prepare for the game. We did the training and we are ready. It is for sure a difficult time, but we know that we will come back. We know that we have an important game.”
Vrioni has scored two goals so far, one in Concacaf and the other in MLS, but he has endured a difficult and conflicted start to the season. Vrioni drew a red card in the first half of the season opener at D.C. United and had to sit out the home opener against Toronto FC.
Vrioni was later suspended from one Concacaf game for accumulated yellow cards. That’s a strange sequence of missteps for Vrioni, who plays a finesse game and is not overly aggressive on the pitch.
“It was obviously my mistake to leave the team with 10 players throughout the game (at D.C.),” said Vrioni. “I think at this moment, it’s how we learn from this mistake and how you grow up. So now, this is in the past and we have to think about the present. That is the most important thing.”
Attacking forward Tomas Chancalay, who leads the club with 28 shots, started at striker in Porter’s 4-2-3-1 scheme while Vrioni was serving his suspensions. Chancalay can play the position, but the Revolution are more effective in the opponents scoring area when he, Vrioni and midfield playmaker Carles Gil are on the pitch the same time.
“I think that chemistry is still building,” said Porter. “We haven’t had our front four together, game in and game out for very many games.
“Chancalay came in midseason last year and I think I counted three games they were together last year so that says it all. We have a chance to build those connections, that chemistry and that understanding but it is hard to do without training.”
