![]() ![]() "I think it just wasn't pieced together strategically. "Like any roster, there was some good, some bad," Arena said to ESPN. With New England in last place in the Eastern Conference on May 14, 2019, Arena was named coach and sporting director. After a nine-year run with the Galaxy in which the club won three MLS Cups and two Supporters' Shields, he left his position with the Galaxy in 2016 to try to salvage the United States men's national team's 2018 World Cup qualification attempt, and would resign shortly after that process ended in failure.ĭuring conversations with the Revolution's ownership group, Arena became convinced the club was ready to invest in the team at a level that would allow it to compete. I guess they accomplished more than any team in the history of the league." The road to the summitĪrena, an institution in MLS and American soccer with five MLS Cups to his name, had been out of coaching for about seven months when the opportunity in New England came about. You come to work every day, and it's a pretty good work environment. "That shows the character of these people - not only the players, the staff. ![]() "To think how far they've come is kind of remarkable. "What a s-show I inherited in May of 2019," Arena told members of the media on Sunday. Make picks throughout the playoffs and compete for $4,000. 27, they beat Colorado 1-0 to break LAFC's 2-year-old single-season points record of 72 and will raise the Supporters' Shield on Sunday to celebrate what should be remembered as one of the greatest turnarounds American professional sports has seen in decades. And not only that, since hiring coach Bruce Arena in 2019 and adding some key players along the way, the Revolution developed into one of the best teams in league history. The idea that the bulk of that team Friedel coached could stay intact and quickly develop into an MLS Cup contender wouldn't have been worth considering.Įxcept that's what happened. Playing before scarce crowds at cavernous Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, the rudderless Revolution missed the playoffs from 2016 to 2018, never finishing better than 14th in the league.įollowing manager Jay Heaps' dismissal in September 2017, the downward trajectory continued under his replacement, Brad Friedel, whose 1.04 points per game in 47 matches in charge is the worst all time among Revolution managers. ![]() One of the league's original 10 clubs, it had come close before - finishing as MLS Cup runner-up four times between 20 - but remained without a trophy. New England's regression wasn't outside the norm. We kind of fell behind the league, and the league advanced." "I thought, 'Oh, this is what it's always going to be like,'" he told ESPN. Although they lost to the LA Galaxy, Farrell had every reason to believe more success would follow. The Revs had reached the playoffs in 2013, his rookie season, and advanced to MLS Cup the next year. After two years in Major League Soccer, New England Revolution defender Andrew Farrell thought he had a pretty good handle on the league. ![]()
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