Revolution ready to hit ground running
Team ready to take advantage of new substitution rule
FOXBORO — When Major League Soccer returns next month, New England Revolution coach Bruce Arena may have the benefit of using five substitutions instead of three.
That is, Arena may be able to swap five players from the bench to the field, an increase of two additional players under current MLS rules.
“I’m sure MLS will implement that rule, I think that it’s a good rule for 2020,” the Revolution head coach said of the rule change being taken under consideration by MLS.
The MLS and the league’s Players Association came to an agreement on Wednesday to start the season in July at Walt Disney World. Details of the tournament have not been finalized, but MLS indicated that the season would last no longer than 35 days.
It is anticipated that the Revolution and other MLS teams will head to Florida on or around June 24 and participate in several stages of “group” play competition.
As a result the Revolution’s 16 remaining home matches at Gillette Stadium and an MLS regular season culminating with a playoff format and culmination with the MLS Cup championship match in December have all been scrapped.
Under previous MLS rules, Arena was allowed to make three substitutions during the match or in stoppage time.
The MLS will likely implement the rule In view of a condensed season forcing multiple matches within a week for MLS teams, the health issues surrounding the fitness of players and the likelihood that matches might be played in the hot weather of Orlando, Florida.
The Revolution have been sidelined for the past three months and have yet to begin team workouts at their Foxboro facility, pending federal, state and MLS directives.
It stands to reason that the players will not be of premium “match” fitness for at least two to three weeks given the go-ahead to begin training. More than ever, having an expanded roster will be a bonus for MLS teams and coaches like Arena.
“We’re going to be coming back in the summer months,” Arena said on the team’s website. “It’s going to be very warm, very humid and players are not going to be on top of their game in terms of their fitness.”
The new directives to be implemented by MLS will allow for three substitutions, but allow coaches to use five players instead of three. Thus a coach may calling for multiple players to be exchanged through the course of the 90 minutes.
“I think having two extra substitutions is going to be important,” Arena said. “I believe the rule is going to be that you can use five subs but only at three times. It won’t be five single substitutions.
“I think that it will be a good rule, I think that it will be a big factor tactically. I’ve been thinking how we utilize those five subs and I think that it could be an advantage for a lot of teams.
Arena indicated that MLS has positioned itself well as a competitive spot on the global state of soccer.
“I still think there’s a future for the American player, obviously, in the league and there needs to be,” he said of the Revolution roster. “I think that’s going to be important as the league continues to grow. But the objective of the league is not to develop American players, it’s to create the best product possible.
“Therefore, I think over the last six, seven years, you’ve seen a much greater influence of international players (like the Revolution’s Gustavo Bou and Carles Gil) in the league, and that’s good. It’s good competition within teams and within the league.”
Arena thinks back to not many years ago in the MLS in which “every team had, for the most part, one or two pretty good players. I think, today, rosters are much stronger. The starting 11’s are stronger. Players 12 through 16 or 18 are stronger.
“There’s a lot more depth in the league, a lot more quality in starting lineups.”
However, with a three-month layoff in training and competitions, nobody— including Arena — is certain of what level of fitness players will be at when they return to the field.
“Like every experience in life and experience something new, it’s (COVID-19 pandemic) certainly challenging,” he said. “You know, you do the best you can as a coach to have the team prepared and ready to play,
“As the league becomes more successful on the commercial side, we’re going to continue to attract better players and have better resources to bring some of the top players in the world. There’s no secret about the fact that — the reason why is some of the top leagues in the world have the players they have, the financial resources they have.