Six Questions With The Blazing Musket

Foxborough, MA – Colorado Rapids head to Gillette Stadium tonight for the first time since 2021. It’s been an inconsistent season for both the Pids and the New England Revolution. We reached out to our old SB Nations brethren Jake Catanese from The Blazing Musket to take a closer look at the 2025 Revs. .

Streaky is the word of the year for the Revolutions, yeah? Really bad start, followed by four straight wins, then four straight draws. What’s going on with that? 

Yeah, understatement of the year…let me explain, no there is too much…let me sum up. Start of the year was horrid, everything was out of sorts, Leo Campana had his first knock that kept him out a few games and we realized the Revs attacking depth might not be good.

Flash forward to early April, Caleb Porter added an extra center back to a 5-3-2 look with wingbacks and two true strikers and the Revs had a good run of form. The offense was better, but most importantly the defense was really becoming a lockdown unit. More injuries have hit the Revs in recent weeks, Campana went down again along with fellow striker Ignacio Ganago who are really the two best actual strikers on the roster. Tomas Chancalay has done well up front but has been more of a winger type with Luca Langoni. Pretty sure the Revs dropped a center back against Nashville while they were losing late there could eventually be more time in the 4-2-3-1 which is what the roster was really built to play out of. 

Speaking of streaks, New England’s coming into this game off two straight home losses. Things started well against Nashville on Wednesday. What went wrong? What needs to be better this weekend?

What went wrong is Sam Surridge is good at soccer and the Revs gave up a goal right before halftime and then a set piece chance and PK to convert in quick succession in the second half. You can’t give Nashville those opportunities regardless of the game state. The problem was two fold, the Revs are not a high volume chance team, so they need to convert on the few chances they do create and getting a set piece goal from center back Brayan Ceballos was great. Those have been missing as well as the really big chances this team used to create on the counter with Buksa/Bou/Buchanan during the Shield run.

What we’d like to be better is Matt Polster’s immune system cause he missed midweek with an illness and I think is set to miss the Colorado game as well. The Revs are infinitely better when he’s in the starting lineup and Polster is having a great year alongside Alhasan Yusuf in the holding midfield roles. New England also has regressed defensively and they’re giving up goals in bunches…Orlando, SKC, and Nashville have all hit three past them in the last month or so and with the injuries up front in particular, goals are at a premium and leads can not be given away ever let alone twice in the same game.

It’s been two years since these teams played in the Interim Bowl at the end of 2023. Both rosters have had churn since then. We all remember Carles Gil. Give me two other players to watch who have never played against Colorado. Any wide players for Sam Vines to worry about?

This is easy, the two wingbacks in Homegrown Peyton Miller on the left and Israeli international Ilay Feingold on the right. Miller is a speedster who can play anywhere on the left side and Feingold is a pretty standard box-to-box capable player. What makes these two fun is the Revs love getting their fullbacks forward anyway, but in the 5-man backline as wingbacks they can be far more aggressive at it without sacrificing the defensive structure with the extra centerback as cover. New England has used big switches to the wingbacks to open up the other side of the field and start attacks on occasion and both of them can hit a pretty good ball into the box. There’s not really a target man for them to aim for but it’s the thought that counts.

The Revs are in 11th. Caleb Porter’s seat is less warm I think (you tell me). What are expectations for the team this year? 

If the Revs don’t make the playoffs it should be a considerably warm seat in my opinion. Porter was hired under the guise of running back the team that had done so well in 2023 prior to Bruce Arena’s departure (they were 2nd in the East at the time) and it backfired spectacularly. The Revs had a dreadful start in 2024 too and the same issues exist with both seasons – they play far too slow. This should be a countering team to take advantage of team speed and Carles Gil’s playmaking ability against a backpedaling defense, and instead we get a more possession based build from the back system that is predictable and ineffective. Sure the Revs offense has moments, but a lot of those moments come from quickly getting a turnover upfield and dictating play against a reacting defense. 

Injuries have plagued the Revs up front all season so we understand the consistency issues there, but Porter also switched to a formation that uses two strikers with a roster full of wingers. New England is making it work but barely, and if Porter is insistent on this team playing a fairly plodding style with a roster not really suited for that, then missing the playoffs should have consequences. 

Bonus NWSL question: Denver’s joining NWSL next year alongside Boston Legacy. We’ve seen expansion teams from the same year have a bit of a rivalry, like how Minnesota and Atlanta had beef over who got to be United FC. Do we want to be WoSo rivals? 

I am all for this, especially if Denver NWSL keeps that old Rapids Green they have currently as a placeholder to go against the Legacy’s Austin-esque green. I think the brighter green is an odd choice for the area but unique to the league but always loved that old blue and green Rapids looks (apologies to Burgundy stans). I will defer judgement to when we start seeing shirts…let’s just agree to not always wear the same ones cause I’m still mad about that Burgundy-Red thing a few years back and the MLS sides both have almost the same away shirts again currently. I do not know if I can handle TWO Boston/Denver soccer kit clashes.

Lastly, got a prediction for us. What happens and who scores? 

The Revs really need this game, they can not go winless during this three game June homestand, I know Cincy and Nashville are at the top of the East for a reason but losing all three of these games would be brutal. The Revs getting two set piece goals last game gives me hope that the offense might have a little jump start in them, I’ll give New England a 2-1 victory via very, very late Carles Gil to Leo Campana magic.

Photo Credit: Mark Shaiken

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