FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It’s no secret that the New England Revolution have placed a heavy emphasis on fitness this season, and that focus is proving its value as the Revs are in the midst of their busiest stretch of 2018.
“We’ve had three games this week, “ said head coach Brad Friedel. “Everybody knows that we talk about fitness, and we have been since day one. Our team is very capable of playing three-game weeks. I’ve also said that we have a tremendous squad, we have a lot of depth on this squad – which we do.”
After playing three games last week the Revs are now in Louisville, Kentucky for a U.S. Open Cup fourth round match on Tuesday night, before they’ll visit both Chicago and San Jose as part of a two-game regular-season trip from Friday through next Thursday.
All told the Revs will play six games in 19 days, with the potential for a seventh game within 22 days depending on advancement in the Open Cup.
As the recovery time between games dwindles with matches stacked so closely together, the emphasis on fitness has been paying off. A key component of that is Revs’ head of fitness Anton McElhone, who has proven to be an integral piece of New England’s team strength, stretch and recovery methods.
“(Anton’s) played a huge role,” said Teal Bunbury, who played all but one minute of the Revolution’s three games last week. “He really knows what he’s talking about. He expects a lot from players and he pushes us. He brings a lot of new drills and a lot of new tactics in terms of fitness – things some guys have never done before, like myself.
“He knows what he can get out of guys and how far he can push guys so I think that’s been kind of a learning curve, and also dealing with the mindset of it, not just the physical aspect of being able to run a lot and staying fit, but also the mental aspect.”
As the team prepares for yet another test as they head into a stretch of three consecutive road matches, they feel that they’ve been put in a position to succeed based on all of the conditioning and work they’ve put in so far.
“I’m feeling good,” said Revs defender Andrew Farrell, who has gone the full 90 minutes in 13 of the Revs’ 14 games this year. “I think the work we did in preseason, and throughout the season, and the job that the training staff has done to keep us healthy has been good. And so I think everybody’s feeling really good and excited for this next stretch. It’s a tough stretch of games but we’re all ready for it.”
Part of maintaining health through so many matches is being able to rest and recover. Since playing in Vancouver on May 26, the Revs have had only 2-3 days to prepare for each opponent and that trend will continue at least through their road match on June 13th against the San Jose Earthquakes.
A large part of condensing preparation into these short periods becomes training more tactically, and allowing the players to train less physically to give their bodies a chance to recover.
“Obviously you get tired after games, but I think we’re getting the proper recovery,” said Bunbury. “We’re getting as much rest as we can and I think it’s helped us a lot.”
As the Revs set their sights on conquering their upcoming road opponents, the staff will strategically use their fitness regime in combination with the depth on the Revs’ roster.
“We will be giving a few players a chance to play of course, but we’re also going to be playing a lot of players that have had many minutes this season, so (Louisville is) an important game for us,” said Friedel. “We want to win, we want to be in the hat for the next round and the players that play well in this game will do themselves no harm going forward into the season.”
