The New England Revolution have battled their way to a solid start to the MLS season. But can Brad Friedel’s side now reveal their quality from their character?
The New England Revolution were on quite a nice run prior to their bump in the road against FA Dallas. Four games unbeaten, three of them wins, including two clean sheets and a battling draw against the cream of the MLS crop in New York City FC.
The Revolution sat at 3-1-1, could bemoan the unfortunate circumstances of a red card in the only loss of the season, and were beginning to be discussed as possible postseason contenders. And then the blip, the 1-0 loss to the now sole unbeaten team in MLS.
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Pleased, then, was Brad Friedel at his side’s battling characteristics in their return fixture, a 2-2 draw against the Columbus Crew.
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Not only were New England facing the challenges from a recent loss that damages their postseason hopes in an intensely competitive Eastern Conference, but they also fell behind on two separate occasions, finding the spirit and the fight to claw their way back into the game and earn themselves a point.
And indeed, Friedel extolled the character virtues of his players after the win, heralding their behaviour in that particular match and throughout the season:
"“It showed a lot of character, and really from our first game against New York Red Bulls [in the preseason] we’ve shown resilience in the games. And all the players have shown it in training, no one ever wants to lose a game. The boys do have that in abundance and that’s character.”"
And that’s all well and good. Having intangible qualities like resilience, commitment, steel, fight, the insatiable will to win is all well and good. They are extremely important and we have seen many a talented team fall because they lack them. But in and of themselves, they will not lead to MLS Cup glory. Out of character must come quality, and that is an area of the pitch that the Revolution cannot match some of their more esteemed rivals.
Now, is that to say that the likes of Teal Banbury, Andrew Farrell, Claude Dielna, who was named to the MLS team of the week, Lee Nguyen and others do not have quality. But are they are on the same upper-tier level as what Atlanta United have at their disposal or what Patrick Vieira is building in New York or even what LAFC have sprung up to be in their first season since their expansion? Probably not.
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Fight will only get the Revolution so far. It is an admirable quality. But it does not win MLS Cups alone. New England have to prove that they that something more. Until they do, they are a good, building side with a stable base and a bright future, but winning right now is a little too much.