New England Revolution

5 takeaways from the Revolution’s 3-2 win over the Whitecaps

New England notched a third win in a row, putting together possibly its best performance of the season.

By Hayden Bird

June 16, 2024

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The Revolution managed a 3-2 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps in front of a crowd of 27,028 at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night, extending New England’s winning streak to three in a row.

First half goals from Noel Buck, Giacomo Vrioni, and Esmir Bajraktarevic were enough to see off the Western Conference visitors, who notched a pair of goals from Ryan Gauld.

Despite the win — and despite now possessing one more win than seven other Eastern Conference teams — New England remains in last place. Yet with a game in-hand on the two teams closest to them in the standings and riding their best run of form in 2024, Caleb Porter’s squad appears to finally be on the upswing.

Here are a few takeaways:

The most complete performance of the season.

After playing well for periods of the game against Nashville earlier in June (another 3-2 win), the victory over Vancouver felt like a more comprehensive display of Porter’s vision.

Prior to the season, the newly-installed Revolution head coach talked about how he wanted his team to “control” games. Saturday felt like the first time in the Porter era that New England was able to consistently gain a measure of control over the proceedings.

“I thought we played with a purpose. Obviously, we were able to play out [of defense], play through them with patience and purpose and that’s the key – the purpose,” Porter underlined. “There was a purpose on the end of the passing and acceleration, there was penetration, and there was chance creation. We’ve still got to score more though, but I love that we got three goals and I love that we responded after conceding to go 1-1.”

Enjoying prolonged spells of possession, the Revolution also found ways to be decisive with the ball (something that, as Porter pointed out, was lacking in more plodding moments earlier in the season).

Vrioni’s goal to put New England back in the lead (2-1) in the 21st minute was instructive: The sequence began with Bajraktarevic recovering the ball at half-field. Instead of trying to force it forward with no clear options, he eventually recycled possession to center-back Dave Romney. Romney played a short pass to midfielder Ian Harkes (filling in for Matt Polster who was out due to a yellow card suspension).

From there, Harkes made a nice progressive pass to Carles Gil. Turning upfield, Gil then slid the ball further ahead to Dylan Borrero (who tucked inside from the left wing).

Collecting Gil’s pass with his head up, Borrero spotted Vrioni’s run and played a perfectly-weighted pass. The Italian-Albanian shook off his recent struggles and applied a quality finish. The move in its entirety showed New England’s patience in possession, but also good movement and an ability to find teammates in dangerous attacking positions.

Aside from the goals, the Revolution did well to build from the back. Midfielders Harkes and Buck worked well in combination with Gil and center-back Xavier Arreaga to keep the ball moving all night. Protecting a lead, the Revolution held 60-percent possession in the second half.

It was Giacomo Vrioni’s day.

New England’s Designated Player center forward has fielded his share of criticism in 2024 (and indeed for much of 2023 as well).

His performance against the Whitecaps was, at least by his own standards, a great riposte. Overtly, he scored a quality goal to cap the aforementioned excellent passing sequence from New England.

Beyond that, Vrioni also totaled 38 touches in the game, completing 17 of 20 passes. Both are high-points for his New England career, demonstrating a capacity to involve himself in the build-up and approach play that has been lacking in past games. He may have gotten in the way on a multiple occasions (inadvertently preventing shots from Harkes and Bajraktarevic), but Vrioni being around the ball more was generally a good thing for the Revolution.

If the 25-year-old can continue to attach his unquestionable work rate with the passing (and finishing) he showed on Saturday, it could elevate the Revolution’s ceiling as a team to another level.

Carles Gil and Dylan Borrero were the central figures of the game.

Though he didn’t record a goal or an assist (which, by his own All-Star standards, is rare), Gil was the attacking fulcrum New England so often needs him to be.

The Spanish playmaker totaled 102 touches on the ball, completing 76 of 82 passes (93 percent). Gil has only eclipsed those those marks in the same game once: In a 2-0 win over Inter Miami April of 2022.

He also looked more comfortable passing the ball quickly, helping to keep New England’s tempo high.

Borrero, who notched an assist, was the third most involved player in the game (with 87 touches), and completed 55 of 61 passes (90 percent). Seeing a winger chalk up such high possession stats is indicative of the Colombian’s ability to move around the field. This helped at several crucial junctures (most notably his Vrioni assist).

Both players are vital for New England’s season if they hope to turn things around. So far, the signs are good for the Revolution, as Gil and Borrero seem to work well together.

Noel Buck scored an absolute screamer (and fortunately avoided serious injury).

The 19-year-old Arlington native has featured conspicuously less for the Revolution so far in 2024 than he did a year ago. Yet after Mark-Anthony Kaye was a late lineup scratch due to a lingering knee injury, Buck was given the start.

He made a loud and instant impact, lashing in an outstanding left-footed shot to give New England an early lead in the seventh minute:

While Buck was also guilty of a few loose touches and misplaced passes in midfield — a feature which might’ve proved more costly against a team with a more efficient attack than Vancouver’s — it was a decidedly encouraging performance.

The only scare came in the 70th minute when he went down with what seemed to be a non-contact injury. Subbed for Andrew Farrell (who most likely made his first and potentially last professional appearance in midfield given the temporary lack of central midfield depth), Buck was able to walk off on his own power. And in his postgame press conference, Porter said Buck was simply cramping up and that it was not a serious issue.

There remains some room for improvement on the defensive side.

While it’s probably hard to get too carried away with the current run of good form given that the Revolution remain in last place, the last few weeks have been an encouraging turnaround from a New England point of view.

Still, Porter said he will have plenty to talk about with the team about defending better (and more consistently).

“It just reminds us, in this game, you let your guard down, you get punched in the face, and that’s a great reminder for our guys,” Porter explained. “I also thought there were a couple other crosses where they got a head to things in the box, so those are things I’ll show them this week.

“I’m going to keep being on their backs. We’re nowhere near where we need to be. We’re still in a hole,” Porter added. “We’ve got to keep fighting, and we’re just scratching the surface of the team that we want to be. But I love that we’re growing in confidence and that our execution is getting better and better, and I love that we scored three goals.”

The first Vancouver goal appeared to catch New England by surprise, as wide center-back Javain Brown snuck all the way down the right wing before collecting a through ball and crossing for Gauld’s flick-on header that tucked inside the post. It was, somewhat surprisingly, the only time that the Whitecaps usage of a 3-5-2 system created tangible issues for the home team. Indeed, it appeared Vancouver switched to a back four in the second half as they tried to grapple with Revolution passing.

More specifically, defending crosses (as well as set pieces) seems to still be a point of concern for New England. For all of the steps forward Porter’s squad has taken in the attack in recent weeks, defending for a full 90 minutes remains elusive.

And as if it was a timely reminder, Gauld’s second goal in (coming in stoppage time) jolted the Revolution back to reality at the end of the game. After a night largely filled with positivity and control, New England finished the game with another one-goal margin of victory. The margins in MLS remain, as ever, razor thin.