TUCSON, Ariz. – On the face of it, Wednesday night’s preseason meeting between the New England Revolution and Seattle Sounders FC (8 p.m. ET, streaming live on revolutionsoccer.net) is a preview of the March 8 season opener at CenturyLink Field.
But while the clubs and many of the faces will be the same in both matchups, that’s just about where the similarities will end according to Revolution head coach Jay Heaps.
“I think 10 days from now we’ll be much different teams on the field,” he said. “We’re still worried about ourselves right now, so the opponent really is irrelevant at this point because we’re still managing minutes and trying to find the right rhythm with our guys.”
Heaps acknowledged that the Revs have monitored Seattle’s matches throughout the Desert Diamond Cup, but added that New England’s staff has scouted every MLS team currently training in Tucson. It’s been more about planning for the entire 2015 season than a single game on March 8.
Instead the Revs have kept most of the focus on themselves as they’ve worked to both iron out the kinks and round out the roster ahead of another grueling 10-month season.
“We’re still working both sides,” said Heaps. “We still have a progression we’re trying to get with what we feel is our first group and guys that have been here. Then the second phase is player evaluation.”
The group of unsigned players Heaps and his staff are still evaluating includes the Revolution’s only 2015 draft pick, Marco Fenelus, as well as five other players invited to camp: goalkeepers Trevor Spangenberg and Tomas Gomez, defender London Woodberry, midfielder Tyler Rudy and forward Timi Mulgrew.
With Saturday’s preseason finale likely to look more like a regular-season dress rehearsal – meaning the starting group could play significant minutes – Wednesday night’s meeting with Seattle may be the final opportunity for those unsigned players to impress on center stage.
Based on what Heaps has seen already, he’s confident they’ll be up to the task.
“They’ve been really good,” Heaps said of the trialists. “First and foremost, they’re great guys. I think that’s really important when you introduce players into your group, how they assimilate and how they interact with the team, because we’ve had a good group together.
“And then how they play, obviously, is more important. I think the players have done a good job with that and I think we’re excited about a couple signings that we’ll get from this group.”
