New England Revolution 0, LA Galaxy 1: 3 thoughts

The New England Revolution stepped out onto the field for the first time on Saturday night. Unfortunately in the club’s first preseason game of 2021, New England would not be victorious. The Revs ended up losing 1-0 to the LA Galaxy out in California.

Seeing that it is the preseason, the result doesn’t really matter. What does matter is the play on the field and how some of the newest players are fitting in.

Fans will have to wait to see newcomers Christian Mafla and Wilfrid Kaptoum play as it was announced by Jeff Lemieux that they had not dressed for the friendly.

But there were definitely some things that stood out when it came to New England’s play on Saturday.

1 - Carles Gil was in midseason form

The best player on the field for New England won’t come as a surprise. Even though it was the first preseason game of the year, Carles Gil looked great.

Gil was making great passes and creating chances on the attack. Gil and Gustavo Bou linked up on a number of occasions and seemed to be operating on the same wavelength throughout the night.

The Revs are just a completely different team when Gil is on the field. He jumpstarts the attack and makes everyone around him better.

For the first preseason game of the season, he did a fantastic job.

2 - Maciel holds his own

Besides Gil, another player who stood out was Maciel. The recently signed midfielder got the start for New England and played a significant chunk of the game.

The main thing for Maciel was that he looked comfortable out on the pitch. It might have just been a preseason game, but he was making the right decisions.

Particularly his positioning stood out. The Brazilian knew when to drop back and help defend and also when to join the attack.

Now the midfielder will have to show that he can play like this night in and night out if he wants to compete for some playing time in the regular season.

3 - New England needs to work on finishing

There is one clear and obvious area of New England’s game that the club needs to work on. Their finishing was awful.

Part of this can be credited to rust. Players are still trying to find their legs and gain fitness.

But on the other hand, New England struggled at times to simply get shots on net. The Revs have to improve on their finishing if they are going to compete for an MLS Cup.

Next up for New England is another friendly against LA on Wednesday night.