Foreign Exchange: Three questions with Jake Catanese of The Blazing Musket
We consult an expert about Maxi Urruti's New England Revolution, who Austin FC will play on Saturday night.
The folks doing excellent work on the New England Revolution (and affiliated teams) at The Blazing Musket reached out to do a question exchange ahead of Saturday night's match at Q2 Stadium. Of course we couldn't resist!
Here are our questions that we put to Jake Catanese; we anticipate that our return answers will be up later today as we prepare this (perhaps by the time you're looking at this).
We also have the latest Emergency Podcast up with insights about this and some upcoming matches, plus some Open Cup and All-Star talk.
More than one MLS coach has been fired immediately upon losing to Austin FC. Caleb Porter strikes me as a coach, given how things went last year and how they've been going lately, on the hottest of seats. Do you think the "Austin curse" could strike again, and how would you feel about Porter's dismissal?
I am not aware of the Austin Curse, though I don't doubt its potential. The Krafts are not usually quick to pull the trigger in firing coaches, which made the mid-season Brad Friedel axing a few years ago very surprising. Porter's seat should be very warm because of the expectations the team and Porter established prior to the start of the season. Last year, the hope was to basically take the same roster that Bruce Arena had near the top of the East, and this year to get back in the playoffs. Porter had the benefit of a complete retooling in the offseason and could argue that the team sitting on their hands a year prior was detrimental enough to give him another chance. This year, constant injuries up front (which we'll get to) have been the biggest culprit, as well as just absolutely woeful finishing.
The larger problem with Porter is that his possession-based style doesn't really suit the Revolution's current roster. This is a team that wants to play fast and direct, and when New England does that, they generate great chances, but they just can't finish them. Carles Gil's goal against Miami was a solo effort from pressuring in the attacking half, generating a turnover, and then going forward immediately, and the former MVP just did all the steps by himself.
The Revs had some success switching to a 5-3-2 wingback setup, allowing fullbacks Peyton Miller and Ilay Feingold to attack more freely, but dangerous crosses into the box just don't have that Adam Buksa target player to head them home anymore. If Porter is going to stay beyond the rest of the year, he needs to transition this team into a far more aggressive and countering outfit and take advantage of the speed and skillsets at his disposal.
New England sought to shore up the offense in the offseason, bringing in Leo Campana for all the GAM and adding our old friend Maxi Urruti. How are those moves panning out, and what do you think the offense needs to produce more (if that indeed is what the Revs need to fare better)?
Okay, the strikers ... let me explain. No, there is too much; let me sum up. The Revolution were set up to play a 4-2-3-1 formation around Carles Gil at the No. 10/CAM position to start the year. It went badly, and the Revs pivoted to the extra centerback because they were getting very little production out of the wingers ... then the injuries started. Campana has missed two stretches with various knocks. Tomas Chancalay returned in May from a season-ending injury last year, while Luca Langoni missed a month. Additionally, on loan, Ignatius Ganago has been out the past few weeks with an injury he picked up from international duty. This has forced New England to play numerous combinations up front with varying degrees of success, but the two actual strikers (Campana and Ganago) were the usual frontline players during their winning streak in April.
The short version is the Revs have been playing a lot of pure wingers at striker, and it shows. Runs in and around the box are late, no one is able to stretch the backline or occupy multiple defenders, and the finishing has been bad. I think as soon as the Revs are able, they should switch back to the 4-2-3-1 to get more attackers onto the field again and save the 5-3-2 to close out games, but being able to use both effectively is a good thing. Ideally, having Ganago back to serve as the target option is the biggest benefit to staying with the two-striker setup, as the Cameroon international was strangely effective in the final third at drawing penalties.
As far as Maxi Urruti, he's a complete character and is fitting right in. Ideally, he'd be coming in off the bench and causing chaos late in games, but he's had to make a few starts and, like everyone else, has had mixed results. I think it's a great group of players that if fully healthy should be above the playoff line, but they just haven't had any consistency in their partnerships and it's a tough ask to change everyone's roles all the time and be effective.
What's going on with the proposed stadium in Everett, and how eager are the fans for such a move? (And while you're on the topic, let us know what the soccer experience at Gillette is really like — they let Revolutionary War cosplayers shoot guns after goals!)
Asking the Connecticut guy about Robert Kraft stadiums is ... an interesting concept considering the Patriots and Revs should be in Hartford. Everett is a good site, but it needs a lot of environmental rehab and political red tape to get cleared before we even start thinking about leaving Gillette. The biggest hangup for me is the public transportation aspect, Boston's subway system (the "T") has a likely deserved reputation for mediocrity and unreliability. The Everett site is nowhere near any current stop on the T, and the plan as of now is very limited parking onsite, so there is going to have to be a major improvement somewhere.
Now I have direct access into NY/NJ with MetroNorth and the NJ PATH for games at Yankee Stadium (and whatever the Pigeons are building next to the Mets and Citi Field) and Red Bull Arena. If the Revs move, I'd be taking Amtrak from New Haven into Boston and then likely walking to the downtown T hub and then still walking a mile over a bridge to cross the water over to Everett. The Revs need an SSS; the cavernous Gillette and its turf field is not exactly a selling point for the team. But I also don't think the Krafts should build on a site that isn't suitable for fans either.
For my money, the Bayside Expo site that was explored almost a decade ago was the best site for the team. If and when a stadium happens, at this point, shovels in the ground won't be enough for most of us to believe it's happening. We're gonna need the players to walk out and the referee to signal for the kickoff, and even then there will still be a few non-believers.
As far as Gillette goes, its sightlines are good despite being set back away from the field. Parking is usually free, tickets are reasonable, and the Patriot Place mall offers a lot of places to go pre- and post-game. The commuter train out of the Boston area should run more often than just when Messi shows up, but that wouldn't help me in any way.
The Musket Men are the best; Diego Fagundez celebrated with them multiple times. It's probably the most iconic thing the Revs have, though there is the Gillette Lighthouse thing now, too. The short-lived Tea Crate toss pregame thing died quickly cause it got panned, but I liked the idea but think the team just skimped on the number of crates. Revs games are a lot of fun; it just helps when the team is actually good.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
Nico Estévez asserted that if Saturday's match against the Revolution were played ten times, Austin would win nine of those. Here's some perspective on that apparent 10th game.
As far as the Open Cup goes, Austin FC waits for a semifinal match in September with a chance to host the final. But the most important wait now is for the star forward's MRI results.
The folks doing excellent work on the New England Revolution (and affiliated teams) at The Blazing Musket reached out to do a question exchange ahead of Saturday night's match at Q2 Stadium. Of course we couldn't resist!
Here are our questions that we put to Jake Catanese; we anticipate that our return answers will be up later today as we prepare this (perhaps by the time you're looking at this).
We also have the latest Emergency Podcast up with insights about this and some upcoming matches, plus some Open Cup and All-Star talk.
More than one MLS coach has been fired immediately upon losing to Austin FC. Caleb Porter strikes me as a coach, given how things went last year and how they've been going lately, on the hottest of seats. Do you think the "Austin curse" could strike again, and how would you feel about Porter's dismissal?
I am not aware of the Austin Curse, though I don't doubt its potential. The Krafts are not usually quick to pull the trigger in firing coaches, which made the mid-season Brad Friedel axing a few years ago very surprising. Porter's seat should be very warm because of the expectations the team and Porter established prior to the start of the season. Last year, the hope was to basically take the same roster that Bruce Arena had near the top of the East, and this year to get back in the playoffs. Porter had the benefit of a complete retooling in the offseason and could argue that the team sitting on their hands a year prior was detrimental enough to give him another chance. This year, constant injuries up front (which we'll get to) have been the biggest culprit, as well as just absolutely woeful finishing.
The larger problem with Porter is that his possession-based style doesn't really suit the Revolution's current roster. This is a team that wants to play fast and direct, and when New England does that, they generate great chances, but they just can't finish them. Carles Gil's goal against Miami was a solo effort from pressuring in the attacking half, generating a turnover, and then going forward immediately, and the former MVP just did all the steps by himself.
The Revs had some success switching to a 5-3-2 wingback setup, allowing fullbacks Peyton Miller and Ilay Feingold to attack more freely, but dangerous crosses into the box just don't have that Adam Buksa target player to head them home anymore. If Porter is going to stay beyond the rest of the year, he needs to transition this team into a far more aggressive and countering outfit and take advantage of the speed and skillsets at his disposal.
New England sought to shore up the offense in the offseason, bringing in Leo Campana for all the GAM and adding our old friend Maxi Urruti. How are those moves panning out, and what do you think the offense needs to produce more (if that indeed is what the Revs need to fare better)?
Okay, the strikers ... let me explain. No, there is too much; let me sum up. The Revolution were set up to play a 4-2-3-1 formation around Carles Gil at the No. 10/CAM position to start the year. It went badly, and the Revs pivoted to the extra centerback because they were getting very little production out of the wingers ... then the injuries started. Campana has missed two stretches with various knocks. Tomas Chancalay returned in May from a season-ending injury last year, while Luca Langoni missed a month. Additionally, on loan, Ignatius Ganago has been out the past few weeks with an injury he picked up from international duty. This has forced New England to play numerous combinations up front with varying degrees of success, but the two actual strikers (Campana and Ganago) were the usual frontline players during their winning streak in April.
The short version is the Revs have been playing a lot of pure wingers at striker, and it shows. Runs in and around the box are late, no one is able to stretch the backline or occupy multiple defenders, and the finishing has been bad. I think as soon as the Revs are able, they should switch back to the 4-2-3-1 to get more attackers onto the field again and save the 5-3-2 to close out games, but being able to use both effectively is a good thing. Ideally, having Ganago back to serve as the target option is the biggest benefit to staying with the two-striker setup, as the Cameroon international was strangely effective in the final third at drawing penalties.
As far as Maxi Urruti, he's a complete character and is fitting right in. Ideally, he'd be coming in off the bench and causing chaos late in games, but he's had to make a few starts and, like everyone else, has had mixed results. I think it's a great group of players that if fully healthy should be above the playoff line, but they just haven't had any consistency in their partnerships and it's a tough ask to change everyone's roles all the time and be effective.
What's going on with the proposed stadium in Everett, and how eager are the fans for such a move? (And while you're on the topic, let us know what the soccer experience at Gillette is really like — they let Revolutionary War cosplayers shoot guns after goals!)
Asking the Connecticut guy about Robert Kraft stadiums is ... an interesting concept considering the Patriots and Revs should be in Hartford. Everett is a good site, but it needs a lot of environmental rehab and political red tape to get cleared before we even start thinking about leaving Gillette. The biggest hangup for me is the public transportation aspect, Boston's subway system (the "T") has a likely deserved reputation for mediocrity and unreliability. The Everett site is nowhere near any current stop on the T, and the plan as of now is very limited parking onsite, so there is going to have to be a major improvement somewhere.
Now I have direct access into NY/NJ with MetroNorth and the NJ PATH for games at Yankee Stadium (and whatever the Pigeons are building next to the Mets and Citi Field) and Red Bull Arena. If the Revs move, I'd be taking Amtrak from New Haven into Boston and then likely walking to the downtown T hub and then still walking a mile over a bridge to cross the water over to Everett. The Revs need an SSS; the cavernous Gillette and its turf field is not exactly a selling point for the team. But I also don't think the Krafts should build on a site that isn't suitable for fans either.
For my money, the Bayside Expo site that was explored almost a decade ago was the best site for the team. If and when a stadium happens, at this point, shovels in the ground won't be enough for most of us to believe it's happening. We're gonna need the players to walk out and the referee to signal for the kickoff, and even then there will still be a few non-believers.
As far as Gillette goes, its sightlines are good despite being set back away from the field. Parking is usually free, tickets are reasonable, and the Patriot Place mall offers a lot of places to go pre- and post-game. The commuter train out of the Boston area should run more often than just when Messi shows up, but that wouldn't help me in any way.
The Musket Men are the best; Diego Fagundez celebrated with them multiple times. It's probably the most iconic thing the Revs have, though there is the Gillette Lighthouse thing now, too. The short-lived Tea Crate toss pregame thing died quickly cause it got panned, but I liked the idea but think the team just skimped on the number of crates. Revs games are a lot of fun; it just helps when the team is actually good.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. You can comment here if you’re a subscriber, or reach out via Bluesky.
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