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3 takeaways from the Revolution’s season-opening draw in Nashville
New England got the 2025 season off to an uneven start.
The Revolution got off to a tepid start in the 2025 MLS regular season with a 0-0 draw in Nashville on Saturday night.
After one of the busiest offseasons in team history, the opening match reflected the currently disjointed nature of the roster. New England, clearly, remains a work in progress.
While Nashville and New England were able to create goal-scoring chances during the course of the night — both teams even managed to score, but each goal was nullified by offside calls — the game was largely dictated by caution. Four of the five most involved players for the Revolution (in terms of touches) were defenders, while three out of five of Nashville’s equivalent contingent were also defenders.
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Here are a few takeaways from a stilted start to 2025 for Caleb Porter’s team:
Ch-ch-ch-changes
Of the players in the Revolution’s Starting XI on Saturday, only one (Carles Gil) started on opening day a season ago. And while some of the ensuing additions to the squad arrived midway through 2024 — including goalkeeper Aljaz Ivacic, midfielder Alhassan Yusuf, and winger Luca Langoni — most of the fresh faces on the field Saturday were acquired in the offseason.
The back line drew particular attention. Ivacic in goal and Brandon Bye at right back were familiar sights, but center backs Mamadou Fofana and Brayan Ceballos made their regular season club debuts, as did left back Ilay Feingold. The group managed to keep a clean sheet (which already places them in a better light than most of their 2024 counterparts).
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Still, it was far from a perfect effort, with Nashville probably creating slightly more in the attack. Fofana, the 27-year-old Malian who New England signed from French club Amiens, continued to look inconsistent after producing similar results in preseason. While Nashville forward Sam Surridge’s goal in the 67th minute was ruled offside (due to playmaker Hany Mukhtar being judged fractionally offside in the buildup), it was Fofana who was beaten at the back post. His turnover 15 minutes later also nearly resulted in surrendering a calamitous late goal.
In midfield, Yusuf paired with another new face: Jackson Yueill. The duo were some of the Revolution’s most involved and most consistent players, but neither was able to find meaningful openings in the opposing defense. Each was forced to drop deep to receive the ball (which, in fairness, appeared to be part of Yueill’s responsibility as a holding midfielder).
Up top, Leonardo Campana, the 24-year-old Ecuadorian striker who was arguably Porter’s highest-profile acquisition in the offseason, showed himself more willing to engage in the buildup than his predecessor (Giacomo Vrioni). Scoring chances proved harder to find, however, and Campana’s only clear shot at goal was blocked after fellow new addition Ignatius Ganago did well to run past his marker and cross to the center of the six-yard box from the left end-line.
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Ganago, 26, showcased his evident talent in fleeting moments, but simply couldn’t connect with his fellow attackers on enough occasions (and was isolated on the left wing for large tracts of his night).
Porter has stressed patience as he tries to build chemistry within his new-look group. That clearly still seems to be the case. In the limited sample size of a single regular season game, the Revolution appear to have upgraded the talent level. Now, they just need to find cohesiveness.
Gil’s new role
Gil, New England’s 32-year-old captain, has been the sun around which the club has largely orbited since arriving in 2019. Analysts could probably count on one hand the number of times the Spanish playmaker hasn’t led the team in touches over the course of a game during the preceding four seasons.
In the refreshed roster, it seems Gil will operate in a slightly different way. Playing farther up the field — he was on several occasions the most forward player in New England’s lineup — it also left him somewhat less involved. He closed out the game as the seventh most active player on the team (with 62 touches).
And yet, Gil still managed to have the most “key passes” per advanced stats (with three), and was at the heart of many of the Revolution’s sequences in the attacking third. He remains the focal point.
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Gil also managed to drop deeper into midfield (even defense) to receive the ball as the game went on, with Yueill and Yusuf struggling to break the lines with their passing. How he handles Porter’s new tactical deployment will go a long way in determining the course of the Revolution’s season.
A safe pair of hands
Ivacic got his second season with New England off to a strong start on Saturday, making several important — if not quite highlight-worthy — saves over the course of the game.
On multiple occasions, he was in the right place at the right time to deny Surridge (who managed to shake free for multiple open headers).
With the plethora of offseason acquisitions making their debuts, it was easy to overlook Ivacic. Yet the 31-year-old Slovenian was equal to Nashville’s attack and helped ensure New England walked away from the 2025 opener with a point.
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