Bruce Arena Focused On Continued Improvement As Revolution Enter 2022 Season
FOXBORO (CBS) -- The Revolution have undergone a few changes since they last took the pitch. The defending Supporters' Shield winners lost one of their best midfielders and will soon lose their starting goalkeeper.
But Bruce Arena is always a man with a plan, and his has been playing out in New England for the last two-plus years. He signed on contract extension to see it all through, and from his years of success in MLS, he knows to always be prepared for departures from the club.
He, however, will not be one of those departures -- barring any unforeseen circumstances.
"You still may lose me at some point. When you're 70 years old, you never know," Arena joked with WBZ-TV's Dan Roche. "But it's nice to be here and I'm happy we are improving the program. That was the goal coming here, and we have made improvements."
Those improvements were obvious as the Revolution set a new MLS and club record with 73 points during the regular season, capturing the franchise's first Supporters' Shield. But the work is far from done for Arena. The Revs came up short when the postseason rolled around last year, losing in their first playoff match to New York City FC. Arena said that New England's three-week layoff between the end of the regular season and the playoffs didn't help, but that is in the past now.
"It was difficult because we need to play at least one game a week to stay in form. Your timing, your fitness and all of that. You can set up intra-squad games until you're blue in the face; it's not the same," he said. "We were off for three-and-a-half weeks, we were the top seed in the conference and should have been playing the first game of the second round – not the last game.
"It's history now and every year is different. We don't even discuss it," he added. "But if you're a real competitor, it motivates you for sure."
Arena carried that motivation into the offseason, which was a busy one for New England Sporting Director. Tajon Buchanan departed for Club Brugge in the Belgian Pro League, leaving a big hole in New England's midfield. Arena also had an inkling that others may follow Buchanan overseas, and that premonition came true when the Revs and Arsenal worked out a transfer for goalkeeper Matt Turner, which became official last week.
For Arena, bulking up the club's depth was the big focus of the offseason.
"We needed to strengthen our roster. We lost Tajon Buchanan, which is not a like for like – you're not going to find another player like Tajon. But we wanted to get another player in the midfield who can help us, and that was Sebastian Lleget," said Arena. "Looking ahead, we're going to lose Matt Turner at the end of June. We will likely find another goalkeeper. We could lose Adam Buksa, and we're really fortunate we were able to sign Jozy Altidore."
The Revs are taking it slow with Altidore, who is now in New England after a stellar seven-year career with Toronto FC. Arena says we'll see a "really good player" take the pitch for the Revs when Altidore returns to form.
As for Turner, the Revolution will have him through the end of June, as was agreed upon in their transfer terms with Arsenal.
"It's important," Arena said of having the 2021 Goalkeeper of the Year in the mix for the first three months of the season. "It helps us. I'm not sure Matt wanted that because he loses a big paycheck for five months, but that is all part of it."
The Revolution had planned their preseason around a pair of Concacaf Champions League matches with Cavaly, but both were canceled when the Haitian club couldn't get travel visas. That has thrown a wrench into Arena's plan to get his club ready for 2022. Now, the Revs will have to wait to hit the pitch for their first real competition ahead of the season. And when they do start playing some real soccer, it's going to be a lot all at once.
"It doesn't wind in beautifully," Arena said of New England's transition from the CCL to their MLS schedule. "We'll be playing three games a week. The second game in the CCL, we'll likely leave Mexico and then head to Charlotte to play there. It will really test us in the month of March.
"I think we've built a team with some depth, so hopefully we can handle it. But it's challenging," he said. "We aren't going to have the match fitness we need to have; Mexican teams will be entering their third month of competition and we'll just be starting. So it will be challenging."
