Leo Campana's injury hasn't helped, but Revolution's rebuild paid far too little attention to striker

Boston Globe

17-03-2025

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Then, the Revolution lost focus just long enough for Julian Fernandez to equalize on a 38th-minute counterattack with a clinical one-timer. This was a defining moment and, unfortunately, influenced by the unreasonably tight dimensions of the Yankee Stadium field.
At that point, the Revolution needed to be in a cautious mode, especially after holding midfielder Jackson Yueill advanced into the penalty area and left them vulnerable to a counter.
Sure enough, Yueill's centering pass was easily blocked by Keaton Parks and NYCFC went the other way. The Revolution still might have had the play covered, small field or not, except both outside backs — Brandon Bye and Will Sands — were caught upfield. That left only holding midfielder Matt Polster in a position to defend. Once NYCFC got the counter going, center backs Bryan Ceballos and Mamadou Fofana found themselves stranded.
The art of the counterattack 🎥
— New York City FC (@newyorkcityfc)
As for the decider, there was little that could have been done to stop Alonso Martinez's
Unlike last year, the Revolution did not completely collapse. The back line regrouped and New England continued creating threats to the end, including six minutes of added time. The longer things went, though, the more apparent their lack of a finishing touch became.
With Leo Campana (leg) out
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On a sequence late in the contest, the options to finish a cross in the penalty area were Ilay Feingold, listed at 5 feet 9 inches, and 5-foot-7 captain Carles Gil. In that case, the Revolution needed to be patient and look for an opening instead of launching an exceptionally low percentage cross toward their unlikeliest targets.
Which brings us to the striker position.
A mostly productive roster rebuild neglected to sufficiently reinforce the forward slots. Ignatius Ganago and Urruti have displayed effective moves and upped the team's fluidity in possession, but both have failed to convert a goal since the summer of 2023. (Ganago, who will join Cameroon's national squad for World Cup qualifiers this week, underwent knee surgery late that year.)
With a track record like that, neither should be expected to light up the board.
The absence of Campana and Tomás Chancalay (
Teams can't necessarily anticipate or prevent injuries, but a possible solution would have been to load up on strikers; the Revolution carried five of them during Bruce Arena's reign. Another approach would be to find a dominant, durable one, such as D.C. United's Christian Benteke.
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Yes, the Revolution (et al.) passed on Benteke in 2022. They have been playing patch-up at the position since, which forces the defense to become nearly error-free.
Commendably, the Revolution have not adopted a conservative attacking mindset, and staying on the offensive kept hopes alive Saturday. The trick is staying on track and awaiting the return of Campana or Chancalay.
Even without a major presence at center forward, the Revolution looked dangerous in the first half, and probably deserved to score as Bye's cross was re-directed by defender Thiago Martins past Matt Freese.
🎥 ⚽
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution)
Corner kicks and crosses have seldom been a factor for the Revolution since the departure of Adam Buksa in 2022; Campana is the first forward since that appears capable of filling Buksa's role. A bye week gives Campana time to recover, though he might still not be ready for the March 29 home match against the New York Red Bulls.
Porter's newcomers have provided defensive security, but the team also needs to develop resiliency and resourcefulness. Game plans seldom go exactly right, and defenses err.
'The good is we have been competitive in every game, and we have been right there in every second half. The bad is that we are not finding that breakthrough,' Porter said. 'I do believe it will come. Again, if there is a positive, it is not like we are overmatched in any game. We are right there. We just have to continue to work on the final third especially, and clean up the set pieces.'