Revolution coach confident in his players after a quiet transfer window

It’s been a quiet year for the New England Revolution on the transfer front, as the club has signed 11 players while shipping out the same number since the end of the 2015 season. While the team can still sign free agents, the odds of a roster shakeup greatly diminished when the summer transfer window closed on August 3. That said, head coach Jay Heaps is confident in the players he has.

“You can’t get everyone you want and unfortunately this window wasn’t our best in terms of getting the results in that regard, but I still feel strongly about our team,” Heaps told media after Saturday’s 2-0 loss to Columbus Crew SC.

The summer transfer window closed without the Revs adding a single player, though they did acquire 23-year-old goalkeeper Cody Cropper soon after. Part of the reason for the silence has to do with earlier moves.

In the winter, the Revs signed FC Sion midfielder Xavier Kouassi to a Designated Player contract, likely to replace the soon-to-be-departed Jermaine Jones. Unfortunately, Kouassi suffered a knee injury that would significantly push back his Revolution debut.

Three months later, the Revs made another splash by acquiring Kei Kamara from Crew SC. In order to get Kamara, who finished second in the Golden Boot race in 2015, the Revs traded General Allocation Money, Targeted Allocation Money, their highest 2017 first round draft pick, their highest 2018 second round draft pick, and an international roster spot for the 2016 season.

Moves like this required a lot of resources, which made it a bit more difficult to navigate the transfer window. Though the Revs were active in discussions, they ultimately didn’t add anyone.

That doesn’t mean that the 2016 season will be a wash. The team still have nine league games left to play, plus a U.S. Open Cup Final. For the Revs, the remaining months are about cleaning up mistakes and getting everyone to play to their potential.

“I see what we can do, I know our team is good enough, and right now, we have to be better because right now we’re underperforming,” Heaps said.