BRADENTON, FLA.
Mother Nature and preseason nurture ensured New England followed the expected path through its first preseason friendly with Swedish champions Malmö FF on Friday night.
Eighteen other MLS sides have embarked upon or will start along the same road in short order. The first exercise against unfamiliar opposition offers a chance to assess positives and negatives and tailor the buildup to First Kick accordingly.
This rain-swept encounter at IMG Academy fulfilled those ambitions well enough. Both teams flourished from time to time without producing the consistency and the precision they will expect at a later date. One goal from each side left Revolution coach Jay Heaps satisfied enough about the utility of the affair at the final whistle.
“The guys are at least excited to play against someone other than ourselves,” Heaps said. “Although it's a little early in the preseason to really get after a team, I thought we did a nice job of preparing well, stepping on the field and having some good moments.”
Many of those bright spots occurred in the opening period of the match. Kelyn Rowe pounced on a dreadful backpass to open the scoring inside the first five minutes. His teammates subsequently exploited Malmö's high line with quick play through midfield to place the Swedes under pressure for a spell.
New England goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth highlighted the Revs' ability to adapt to the circumstances in their first preseason outing.
The inevitable toll of early fitness work – Heaps said he would have preferred to play his players for 30 minutes at this stage of the preseason – permitted Malmö to grab a foothold in the game as the first half progressed and secure an equalizer through Emil Forsberg shortly before halftime. Both teams dropped their levels after the interval amid a raft of substitutions, though a late flurry nearly yielded a winner.
Results matter little at this stage of the season, though. These matches serve one primary function: pushing the team onward toward larger objectives.
“That's what preseason is all about: grinding out the first couple of weeks, getting the fitness back, getting the touches back,” Revolution goalkeeper Bobby Shuttleworth said. “It's the first 90 minutes for everyone here. It's a good first step. It's definitely something we can build on.”
New England – like every other club aspiring to lift MLS Cup this season – will expect to do so over the next few weeks. Heaps said he believes the base of this emerging, youthful group is firm enough to allow for further growth in the buildup to the opener in Houston on March 8.
“We have a good foundation of what we worked on all of last year,” Heaps said. “That translated tonight. There were guys who were new to the group, but they understood what we were doing. We went through it only a few times in the week we had. I like that we were able to take a step forward and bring a couple of players who may be joining our group along. I think now we'll get everyone back on board, get back to work tomorrow and use this as a stepping stone.”
