New England Revolution drop their first preseason friendly, lose 3-0 to the N.Y. Red Bulls

Four days after arriving at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, where the team is holding a preseason training camp in preparation for the MLS season, the New England Revolution played their first preseason friendly and lost, 3-0, to the New York Red Bulls.

Because all these games will be closed to the public, no details were revealed. Media outlets in the New York area noted only that the goals for the Red Bulls, who are a little further ahead in training, were scored by Emil Forsberg, Elias Manoel and Mohammed Sofo.

The scores in these games mean very little since they are basically steps towards getting the teams to develop and perfect the strategies that their coaches, who were both appointed this off-season, want to implement.

Both head coaches sounded pleased with what they saw.

“I'm very satisfied with our performance. Both halves, we played very well, in our structure and defensive behavior. Very satisfied,” said Red Bulls head coach Sandro Schwarz. “We were a team. As a team, we were very good today: in our communication, in our principles. We are satisfied on the day.”

Head coachCaleb Porter has only worked with the Revolution for 10 days and has been introducing his players to the nuances of his favorite formation, a 4-2-3-1 that he has used in each of his last 5 seasons in the league.

“The progress has been good overall,” Porter said after Wednesday's game. “We have a lot to learn, a lot to work on. We worked attack and defending this week and then we played a little bit of in-squad one week and we played the Red Bulls [Wednesday] and we played two different groups, 45 minutes, and I though Red Bulls executed better than we did today...there were a lot of little things that we needed to do better.”

“The great thing is that it allows us to look at film, allows us to go back to work, allows us to get back to the build out, and allows to work on those details where we can be a bit better and that's why we scheduled that game,” he added. “Setting aside the result, which is totally meaningless at this stage, Porter stressed that the focus is on “growing, it's not about the result, or playing two groups of 45 [minutes], it's about growing every single game that we play. Eventually yes, results matter as we got close to the end of preseason, where we're playing guys major minutes, and physically we're in a better spot.”

While some players were disappointed with some of the mistakes that were made, Porter took a different approach and came away with some positives from what he saw as he tries to learn as much as he can about his players.

“There’s no failure, it’s just feedback,” Porter said. “For me, the feedback we got today was really important. We needed that feedback. We needed to struggle a little bit. We needed to find some mistakes to then now go back, show the film, look at it, work on it, and we’ll be better for it. There are not many teams that play the way Red Bull play, that press the way they press, and when you look at how we wanted to play out today and their press, I thought they executed better than we did today, so we’re better for playing this game. We’re better.”

Porter had his team focused more on their defensive style in this game. As a result, he said the attack was where the team struggled.

“We need to get back to that, work on those details, continue to work on controlling games a bit better, creating chances, not getting turned over with a team that’s trying to press us,” he said. “Finding solutions. How do we create the advantage? How do we rotate? How do we find ways to not play into their hands? I think there was some really good stuff today. But we gave up a penalty and we gave up a couple transitions, so those are moments that we have to do better in.”

Next up is FC Cincinnati, on Thursday, which will give the team one week to increase the work load and clean up some of the issues that surfaced against the Red Bulls.

“So now we'll look at the film and we'll focus on what we need to improve in,” Caled answered when asked about what the team will be working on in preparation for Cincinnati. “We'll be kind of focusing mostly on our two-week tactical periodization, defending, attacking and putting it together, and now we're going to focus on in the areas where there are holes, where we think we to improve.”

Midfielder Ian Harkes also addressed the media after the game and he had a similar assessment of the performance.

“There's been a lot of progress, but there's still a lot to go, obviously, it's still early on,” Harkes said. “Caleb and the staff are working and they're giving us an identity and focusing off the ball and then on the ball in the buildup. Today was a big test of that and ultimately we kind of failed a little bit and it shows that we just need to keep working.”

Feeding off what the coach had suggested, Harkes said that the team will basically build on what they learned during the game and make the adjustments needed in order to have a better showing against FC Cincinnati,

“We’re going to review what happened today, because we take pride in everything and we’re disappointed with how today turned out,” Harkes said in closing. “I think there’s a lot we can work on and focus on from an individual standpoint – obviously, we’re all building – and then collectively, as a group, so we’ll take a look at that and attack it the next couple days.”

Report: Revolution offered $1.6 Million for former Boavista forward Alberth Elis

Arthur Fernandes, writing in mlsmultiplex.com on Saturday, reported that the New England Revolution made an offer of $1.6 million to Bordeaux for former Boavista forward Alberth Elis.

Elis, a native of Honduras, made his professional debut in September of 2013 and made 62 appearances for Olimpia, scoring 25 goals.

He made his MLS debut in 2017 and made 88 appearances, scoring 34 goals for the Houston Dynamo. That success led to a transfer to Boavista and in Portugal he was known as La Panterita, which fit in perfectly because Boavista are known as the Panteras.

Ellis finished the season with a total of 8 goals and six assists and during the off-season he was loaned to French side Bordeaux, with an option to buy, which was exercised because he scored nine goals in 20 appearances.

According to Fernandes, the French club declined the original offer, but it is possible that the Revolution will up the ante as they are in need of a striker. Gustavo Bou was not re-signed and Giacomo Vrioni, who has been inconsistent and has been less than impressive during his stay in Foxborough, is expected to be the starter.

Fernandes added that “the plot gains additional nuances with the revelation that the player is also on the radar of Liga MX, adding an element of international competition to the saga. Mexican teams are looking to attract the talented forward, increasing the pressure on Bordeaux and the Revolution to secure his signature.”

Less than one month before opening day, professional soccer referees vote to authorize strike

Although the regular season is scheduled to start less than one month from today, Major League Soccer and the union representing the referees who officiate league games have not reached a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The previous CBA expired on Jan. 15, but the two sides have continued negotiations after having agreed to an extension that is due to expire on Jan. 31.

It appears that progress has been extremely slow. As a result, on Monday the Professional Soccer Referees Association (PSRA), the labor union representing professional referees in North America and Canada, which includes the MLS' Professional Referee Organization (PRO), voted unanimously to authorize union leaders to call a strike if a new agreement is not reached by Jan. 31.

Although there are other issues, it appears that main differences are monetary in nature.

According to The Athletic, a subscription-based sports journalism website that last July also became the sports department of The New York Times, earlier this month wrote that “the PSRA had asked for pay scale increases of up to 90%, with the largest increases being reserved for its lowest-paid members. PRO countered with an offer that featured single-digit increases”.

Although some progress has been made in the last two weeks, The Athletic added that “it does not appear that there has been significant movement. The PSRA has also pushed for increases in benefits and modifications to scheduling, training camps and travel arrangements”.

The article also revealed that senior referees make a base salary of $95,000 to $108,000 per year, plus $1,350 per match. Less experienced referees make a base salary of $50,647 per year plus the $1,350 per match fee. Assistant referees make much less, $16,000 to $21,000 per year, plus the $1,350 match fee.

“We knew the frustration levels were high, because these officials have not benefited from the growth of our sport and PSRA was forced to file an unfair labor practice charge to address alleged direct dealing committed by certain PRO managers,” Peter Manikowski, president and lead negotiator of PSRA, said in a news release. “PSRA officials are committed professionals focused on perfecting their craft. Yet, as the focus should be on bargaining toward a new collective agreement, PSRA has had to address PRO's alleged unfair labor practices, which undermine the bargaining process.”

This CBA went into effect in 2019, but in 2014 the two sides had a similar bitter dispute during negotiations that resulted in a work stoppage.

Time is of the essence because the 2024 MLS season kicks off on Feb. 21, when Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami, currently in a preseason tour in Saudi Arabia, hosts Real Salt Lake at DRV PNK Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fl.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: New England Revolution drop their first preseason friendly