Revolution reveal pre-season schedule; introduce new head coach, goalkeeper and other additions

The pre-season for the New England Revolution begins officially on Saturday, Jan. 13 when the players will report to the Revolution Training Center in Foxborough for entrance physicals.

They will then start their pre-season training and remain at the Center for one week. On Jan. 19, the team will depart for a four-week training camp at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fl.

The stay in Florida will see the team play four tune-up matches against other MLS sides. The club announced that the games will not be open to the public and the Revolution will face the York Red Bulls (Jan. 24), FC Cincinnati (Feb. 1), Orlando City SC (Feb. 10), and the Philadelphia Union (Feb. 14).

New England Revolution sign Portugal’s João ‘Jafonso’ Vasconcelos for the 2024 eMLS Season

The season will get under way on Feb. 21, when the Revs travel to Panama to face CA Independiente at Estadio Universitario FC in the first leg of Round One of the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup.

Three days later, the Revolution open their MLS campaign in Washington D.C., against D.C. United.

After that come two home games at Gillette Stadium - the second leg against CA Independiente on Thursday, Feb. 29 at 8:15 p.m.; and the MLS home opener, against Toronto FC, on Sunday, March 3, at 2 p.m.

Defender DeJuan Jones and midfielder Esmir Bajraktarevic will miss the initial part of training camp because they have been called up to the United States Men’s National Team for its annual January camp and have been in Orlando, Fl., since last week.

The U.S. team will then head to San Antonio, Texas for a friendly match against Slovenia on Jan. 20.

The two young players will be trying to earn spots with the teams as the United States will be playing in three different events in 2024.

First up are the Concacaf Nations League Finals. The USMNT will face Jamaica in one semifinal; Mexico plays Panama in the other. The title game between the two winners will be played on March 24.

After that comes the expanded 2024 Copa America, which will be played between June 20 and July 10. A total of 16 teams will be competing, with the opening match being held at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia on June 20 and the final scheduled for Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fl., on July 14.

Finally, there are the Summer Olympics, to be held between July 24 and August 9.

Men’s teams are restricted to players born on or after January 1, 2000, with three overaged players allowed on the 18-man squad. So, midfielder Esmir Bajraktarevic, who will turn 19 on March 10, will be fighting for a spot on that team.

The draw for the Olympics will be held sometime after South America and Asia have completed their qualification tournaments, in February and May, respectively.

“This is an opportunity to identify and work with the next generation of players who have the potential to make an impact on our program,” USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter said. “We appreciate the support from MLS and all their clubs so that we can utilize this platform. Our priority is on getting as many players as possible experience in important competitions, and this camp and the match against Slovenia will be extremely valuable in the evaluation process.”

Revolution introduces Caleb Porter as head coach

Although he was announced as the new Head Coach for the New England Revolution on Dec. 19, 2023, Caleb Porter was only introduced to the media on Jan. 4, during a press conference at Gillette Stadium alongside Revolution Sporting Director Curt Onalfo.

Porter, the 2013 Sigi Schmid MLS Coach of the Year, has nine years of coaching experience in MLS and earned titles in both previous stops, in 2015 with the Portland Timbers and in 2020 with the Columbus Crew. As a result, he is hoping to become the first coach to win MLS Cups with three different teams. Porter also won the NCAA title in 2010, with the University of Akron men’s team.

“Caleb is a proven winner. He’s got incredible experience. He’s won everywhere he’s been – college level, in Portland, in Columbus – and he’s going to do it here in New England,” Revolution Sporting Director Curt Onalfo said as he introduced Porter to the media.

“We wanted a strong leader. We wanted a proven winner, and we wanted somebody that wanted to coach our players, and it just came out so evidently in the interview process. From the first time we had a conversation where most of those conversations would have lasted just an hour, we spoke for two hours, and it just flew by.”

After expressing his gratitude for being hired, Porter added that “it was clear and evident that this is a club with a very strong foundation to build on from the standpoint of the people, the staff, the infrastructure, and the roster.”

“Those two aspects were really important to me in my decision, and ultimately, that’s why I felt like this was the ideal fit,” he said. “The team is ripe for success, and I look forward to getting to work with the players and helping them continue to leave a legacy and hopefully put more trophies in the trophy case.”

Porter takes over for Bruce Arena, the all-time winningest coach in MLS history who spent the past four-and-a-half seasons in Foxborough and turned the Revolution into a serious title contender.

During the press conference, Porter addressed a multitude of topics.

The roster decisions revealed on Dec. 1 took place nearly three weeks prior to his appointment, but Porter seemed pleased with the roster that he is inheriting.

“I would not have taken the job unless I felt we could win an MLS Cup here,” Porter said. “Over my nine years in the league, I’ve developed a blueprint and a process to get there. And so, I have experience in doing it, but I also know how hard it is to do it and it’s going to take every single day. I believe that the daily details determine the difference. That’s the edge. The work has already begun, but I plan when preseason starts to hopefully create that edge, those margins, the five to 10 percent which is the difference in winning an MLS Cup.”

Arena had the Revolution playing an aggressive, attacking style, but Porter is going to tinker with the team’s tactical approach.

“I think a little bit different system than they’ve been playing,” Porter explained. “I think the club needs to be better in certain ways to obviously achieve the goals that they want. They played a lot of a 4-4-2 diamond, which worked really well, obviously, when they won a Supporters’ Shield, didn’t work quite as well in the years after.”

“I have my ideas on the structure and the philosophy that I’ll implement. I won’t go into those details, but I think the players by and large fit the vision that I have,” he added. “It’ll be exciting. We’ll decide the game with the ball, and we’ll create a lot of chances and score goals. We’ll play aggressively defensively as well, but I think you’ll see that we’ll adapt to win. That’s the key. We’ll adapt to win, and we will respect the opponent, so it won’t be predictable.”

Prior to his introduction, Porter saw the team add two players to the roster.

Emmanuel Boateng, who spent the past three seasons with the Revolution but saw the club decline his contract option on Dec. 1, was re-signed last week to a new one-year contract.

Jonathan Mensah spent 2023 with the San Jose Earthquakes, but also saw his option declined, so he was picked up last week. Both Boateng and Mensah played for Porter in the past.

“With Jonah [Jonathan Mensah], I felt it was a great piece to add,” Porter explained. “When you look at [Brandon] Bye being out, [Andrew] Farrell is going to have to cover at times, along with Nick Lima, at right back, which means we don’t have a ton of cover behind [Dave] Romney and [Henry] Kessler. So, Jonah gives us a very experienced player.”

“I know his character, his leadership, his integrity. It’s really important,” Porter added. “Jonah was my captain, so I know his character, I know what he can do. He’s at a stage of his career where he’s not going to play every game. But, the games he plays, he’s going to be fresh, and he’s a quality player.”

Revolution sign Goalkeeper Henrich Ravas

During the press conference, Porter informed the media that “we’re going to be adding a goalkeeper soon.”

Two days later, the club announced they signed Henrich Ravas, who had been playing for Widzew Łódź in the Ekstraklasa, Poland’s first division.

Born in Senica, Slovakia, Ravas, 26, made 63 appearances with Widzew Łódź, and spent seven seasons in England with Boston United, Gainsborough Trinity, and Hartlepool United.

“Henrich Ravas is an experienced goalkeeper who has performed well over his three seasons in Poland, showing progress each year to develop into one of his league’s best shot stoppers. His physical traits and top-flight European experience should allow for a seamless transition to MLS,” Revolution Sporting Director Curt Onalfo said in a release.

“We liked his experience, but also his growth over the past several seasons, which gives us confidence that his best years are still ahead of him,” Caleb Porter added.

On Tuesday, once they secured Ravas’ services, the Revolution announced that they “have parted ways with goalkeeper Tomáš Vaclík and exercised the club’s buyout on the player’s Salary Budget charge.”

Vaclík, 34, was signed by the Revs in August 2023 right after Serbian goalkeeper Djordje Petrović was sold to English Premier League powerhouse Chelsea Football Club, but the Czech goalkeeper did not make any appearances with the club during his brief stay in Foxborough. Earl Edwards Jr. and Jacob Jackson are the other goalkeepers currently on the roster.

Revolution make additions to first team technical staff, including a former strength and conditioning coach for Porto FC’s academy

On Monday, the Revolution announced several additions to Caleb Porter’s first team technical staff for the 2024 season. Porter’s longtime assistant Pablo Moreira and former Revolution player Blair Gavin, who just left his position as head coach of FC Tulsa in the USL Championship, are the new assistant coaches.

Federico Pizzuto is the Revolution’s new Director of Sports Performance. A native of Calabria, Italy, Pizzuto, served as the Performance Director for FC Porto’s Youth Academy from 2016-18.

He and worked with the team that won the UEFA Youth Champions League, a squad that has produced a number of stars, including Vitinha, who is currently with French champions Paris St. Germain; Fabio Vieira, who was sold to English Premier League side Arsenal; and Diogo Costa, the starting goalkeeper for the Portuguese National Team.

Pizzuto earned his master’s degree in high-performance training from the Universidade do Porto, Portugal.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: N.E. Revolution reveal pre-season schedule; introduce new additions