Complacency and overconfidence cost Revolution a win in Kansas City, and Caleb Porter hopes it's a lesson

Boston Globe

26-05-2025

As for complacency and overconfidence, Porter said he warned against both at halftime. But as much as those traits are despised by coaches, they come with the territory when a team hasn't lost in the league in seven weeks (4-0-3).
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'Our level in the first half was as good as it gets,' Porter said, 'and if we play like that, I don't think there's a team that can beat us.'
He planned to bring his team down to earth by showing 'what went wrong there in the first 15 minutes' of the second half. That might be all it takes to prepare them for visits to D.C. United on Wednesday and CF Montreal on Saturday.
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This breakdown wasn't just a matter of sleepwalking, though. SKC (3-8-4, 13 points) also capitalized on vulnerabilities against the press and defending shots from distance. In the second half, coach Kerry Zavagnin said his team 'went higher … to press the ball, and we turned them over in dangerous areas.'
Zavagnin added that
'I think that contributed to it,' Zavagnin said, 'but I say it to you like I did the players: you can make all the tactical adjustments you want. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. But without the will and the determination, it's useless.'
Zavagnin's lineup flaws also contributed to SKC's poor start, which served to lull the Revolution into a false sense of security. Three substitutes out of halftime, led by captain Eric Thommy, helped change the dynamic.
The first two SKC goals resulted from attempts from just outside the penalty area — Daniel Salloi
Garcia made it 3-2 off a counterattack, with a deflection off Brayan Ceballos past Ivacic in the 61st minute.
By then, Porter's players realized they should have listened to him at halftime, but what about tactical adjustments? Should Porter have matched Zavagnin's changes? Tweaked how the Revolution played out against the press?
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Maybe, but it is up to the players to read the game. That starts with Ivacic, who usually makes the right call with the initial pass against the press. If the opponent is pressing extra high, Ivacic and the back-liners will look to go long. This time, though, the problems included not reading the situation and becoming too predictable. The result was Yusuf being caught in possession.
As Zavagnin said, SKC had to make plays to cause the turnovers, and his halftime admonitions — along with the inspiration of the recent death of
New England's Ilay Feingold wore a shirt before Saturday's match paying tribute to late Sporting Kansas City player Gadi Kinda, a fellow Israeli national team player.
New England Revolution
As for being vulnerable to tries from just outside the penalty area, the Revolution might have closed down more effectively, but those areas are difficult to defend. In fact, they're about the same places SKC left open for late attempts by Matt Polster (whose try in the 73rd failed to test goalkeeper John Pulskamp) and Yusuf.
Not to be overlooked is the Revolution's ability to threaten on dead ball situations. Bye's missed header off a corner kick followed sustained pressure on the right wing. Two other sequences — accounting for both times New England put the ball in the net after halftime — began far from goal.
After Yusuf drew a 76th-minute foul, the Revolution took a short free kick. Luis Diaz crossed with Ignatius Ganago and central defender Wyatt Omsberg making near- and far-post runs, respectively. Omsberg redirected past Pulskamp, but the shot went in off a sliding Ganago, and was nullified. Rarely will a central defender make a back-post run in that situation, but there was Omsberg, taking on the role of a withdrawn forward and seeming to catch SKC off guard.
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Urruti, meanwhile, converted after a quick throw-in from the Revolution's half to Yusuf, who found Diaz on the right wing. SKC had plenty of time to retreat into defense, but could not keep up with the speed of the throw-in, Yusuf's accuracy, and Diaz's pace.
By then, there seemed no doubt the Revolution had their swag back.
'I'm hoping that it's a pivotal moment for our group to really evolve into a team that, instead of being a team that is good for periods, a team that's consistently good and drives games like we did that first half,' Porter said. 'Drives it for 90 minutes, not 45.
'This group can play at a very high level. That's why I believe in this team, I believe in the players. I believe that we have a shot this year to do big things, to accomplish our goals. But for me, it's the mentality. It's not the confidence; this group is very confident. It's the consistency, and at times the lack of sustained aggressiveness. This group, when they get overconfident, they get complacent, and that's what we need to change and correct. Hopefully, we can correct it, because if we correct it, we're going to be a team that I think is going to be very difficult to beat and has a real chance to achieve our goals.'