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3 takeaways from the Revolution’s disastrous Champions Cup defeat against Club América
"They were better than us today in every aspect of the game."
The Revolution lost 4-0 to Club América at Gillette Stadium in what was a thorough display of domination from the visiting Liga MX side on Tuesday night. New England will head into the return leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal in Mexico City on April 9 with a Himalayan-sized mountain to climb.
Caleb Porter’s team tried a fresh tactical approach, but it failed to stem the tide of the América attack.
Henry Martin got things started in the 16th minute for the visitors, finishing off a tidy move following a Revolution turnover. U.S. international Alejandro Zendejas doubled América’s lead eight minutes later after his cut-back dropped the attempted defense by New England center back Dave Romney.
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The scale of the away team’s dominance was such that América didn’t allow a shot until almost halftime. Second half goals from Cristian Calderón and Brian Rodriguez capped what was a comprehensive Champions Cup win for Club América.
Here are a few takeaways from a tough night for the Revolution in Foxborough:
A change in formations wasn’t enough to hold back Club América’s attack.
Porter opted to play three center backs on Tuesday, with Dave Romney, Jonathan Mensah, and Henry Kessler all getting the start. DeJuan Jones shifted to right wingback, with Ryan Spaulding on the left. It looked like a 3-5-2 in possession and a 5-3-2 when New England did not have the ball (which turned out to be a vast majority of the game).
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In midfield, Carles Gil and Nacho Gil tried to float in central attacking spaces (though both players tended to drift wide) with Matt Polster in the holding role. Tomas Chancalay and Giacomo Vrioni acted as forwards (with Vrioni staying central and Chancalay making runs from the wing).
In theory, the change may have been adopted to help keep a clean sheet at home. With away goals still a factor in CONCACAF, a scoreless first leg would’ve been an acceptable result for the Revolution.
Yet while New England started the game energetically, América quickly figured out where the space would be and began probing with increasing intensity, monopolizing possession in the process.
When the breakthrough came via Martin’s goal, it was hardly a surprise. And when América doubled the lead, it put an exclamation mark on the failure of the initial game-plan.
Asked afterward if the tactical switch was more a reflection of internal assessment or a reaction to Club América’s tactics, Porter offered an explanation.
“Both,” he said following the game. “Club América, obviously you saw it, they are very aggressive, they get numbers forward, they are a positional play team, so we felt, at times, we needed a five in the defensive third.
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“I thought at the end of the first half, we were more aggressive out of the five and made it more of a three, which is what we wanted to do with the wingbacks releasing and then rotating around, and I just thought the first 20 minutes, we were too tentative,” Porter added. “We basically left the five versus their three, which meant we never got pressure on the ball and that was not what was meant to happen.”
The defeat was a microcosm of the team’s many issues so far in 2024.
Between giving up goals off of turnovers, poor marking, or set piece shortcomings, there were traces of the many issues the Revolution have displayed so far in 2024 in each of Club América’s goals.
And with Giacomo Vrioni failing to latch onto any of the limited passes that were sent his way, the game was a showcase of both defensive and offensive problems in New England. Warning signs that have been flashing in isolated moments over the past few weeks coalesced into one giant debacle on Tuesday.
“They were the better team today,” said Porter of América. “It’s that simple. There’s not much more I have to say. They were better than us today in every aspect of the game.”
MLS teams are not built to compete on multiple fronts. Now, New England’s MLS season needs saving.
With only one point so far in MLS regular season play (New England is 0-4-1), the path forward will not be an easy one for the Revolution. And with attention quickly swerving away from the Champions Cup (with such a seemingly impossible task in the second leg), the goal will be simple.
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“We’ve got to win this next game in the league,” said Porter. “So that’s what we’re focused on right now.”
One of the underlying issues for New England, like all MLS teams, has been the limited options available for teams trying to seriously compete in multiple competitions while navigating the league’s salary cap rules.
Porter noted that Liga MX’s top team are not beset by the same issue.
“We’ll play a game every three days when we’re not fully fit and in form, and we don’t have the roster,” Porter said of the early-season struggles. “You saw [Club América] brought in guys off the bench that were [Designated Players] in MLS. Brian Rodriguez was a DP and so, that’s difficult. You’re playing a team that can manage, basically, the window a lot better than we can.”
New England hosts Charlotte FC on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. In a sense, it’s as close to a must-win as the Revolution can have in a regular season game in April. Another defeat, coming on the heels of the Champions Cup rout, would only further enflame the club’s crisis.
After Saturday, the Revolution go on the road for two weeks (including the Champions Cup return leg at the famous Estadio Azteca in Mexico City). And when New England does eventually return home on April 27, Inter Miami (and possibly Lionel Messi) will roll into Foxborough for what could be the most anticipated regular season game in club history.
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