As it’s that time of year, we decided to check in with Jake Catanese and our friends at The Blazing Musket to see what’s going on with the New England Revolution as they take on D.C. United. For our answers to their questions, please check their site out for those takes!

The District Press: So if I have it right, the Revs scored four goals in their first seven games, and scored 14 in their next eight, including a pair of 3-3 draws in the last two and a half weeks. So the biggest question is what’s going on up there?

Jake Catanese: Okay let me explain…no, there is too much, let me sum up. New England started out the year in their standard 4-2-3-1 look and were dreadful – Leo Campana picked up an early season knock, Tomas Chancalay wasn’t back yet, Luca Langoni was struggling. So in a move that honestly without the injuries would have defied all logic, Caleb Porter added Tanner Beason in as a third centerback in a 3-5-2/3-4-1-2 wingback look…and it’s been working.

Now, it hasn’t been perfect, the Revs still stole a few early results against Atlanta and Charlotte when they were still getting used to the new system, but it has a few key benefits. Mostly the Revs have been able to get forward more comfortably without leaving their centerback duo stranded to defend a counter by themselves. Homegrown Peyton Miller has played all over the left side in his career so a wingback role suits him nicely and on the right side Ilay Feingold has impressed multiple times already to go with new centerback duo Mamadou Fofana and Bryan Ceballos. The defense in front of Aljaz Ivacic has been great despite those two 3-3 games, but I still think we’re waiting for the offense to hit its full stride though the early returns have been a significant improvement.

This is still a roster set up to play out of a 4-2-3-1 formation with an abundance of wingers that are now relegated to the bench so it will be interesting to see if and/or when New England starts to make a legitimate effort to utilize both formations. Starting with the wingers and ending with the extra centerback makes a lot of sense but I think this is a countering team and the best way to protect a lead is to go score more goals and when everyone’s healthy the Revs can really turn the screws late by switching into the more attacking winger based look. Given the amount of knocks the Revs have already dealt with, a weird platoon between the two formations might be a pretty good way to keep several players off the injury report.

DP: In terms of onfield players, how close is Carles Gil to being “back” and was Ignatius Ganago’s start to be expected? Also, was there something in his separation agreement where you had to give Bruce Arena anyone he wanted or what?

I mean, I think Carles Gil was back when he single-handedly beat the Red Bulls in late March. Now he’s just getting a lot more help so it doesn’t look like he’s carrying the entire team offensively up Mt Everest by himself. Ganago’s entire situation is weird cause he was sort of short term cover for Chancalay while he came back from injury but now is fairly well entrenched on the striker depth chart since New England uses two of those now for the first time in a while. There’s also a clause in his loan contract that the Revs I think pick up based on playing time for the full season but that hasn’t been confirmed. Either way, he’s been a welcome addition up top though the finishing leaves a lot to be desired, he’s drawn a couple of penalties and is really aggressive in the box. He’s able to get into dangerous positions both with and without the ball and the three assists he has this year is a welcome element to an attacking group that really hasn’t had a lot of help for Carles over the years.

I’ve been told it’s too late in the year to make more New England/San Jose RevQuakes jokes anymore, especially after that dud 0-0 game. We didn’t understand that either but the 12-game combined unbeaten streak for NESJ (yes I know the last 6 are ties) makes equally little sense and I am here for the Quakes being an all out win every game 4-3 to the Revs sometimes plodding 1-0 nonsense. The soccer gods demand balance, they didn’t say it had to be good.

DP: Early on it seemed that Caleb Porter’s seat was maybe a touch warm but the team’s showings seem to have answered that to a degree. Has the expectation on the team changed from preseason or even in March, in terms of where you think they should wind up?

The move to the 3-5-2 likely saved Porter’s job until the end of the year, though it remains to be seen what the Revs can and can’t do this summer. They spent a lot of resources on Campana and might not have the DP/U22 roster flexibility with a winger group of Chancalay/Ganago/Langoni that now is mostly getting minutes at second striker. But the bulk of the moves the team did make over the winter, especially defensively, have been great, so the front office can at least hang their hat on that even if the results on the field still feel mixed.

There’s still a lot of season left and New England somehow has two games in hand on most of the East because…reasons? I don’t think a lot of people were happy the Revs punted on the Open Cup with a backup lineup and mostly academy level bench in an 1-3 loss to Chicago. I still think that making the playoffs is the bare minimum in MLS, and if Caleb Porter wants to guarantee himself a third season in Foxboro, he needs to win a playoff series. I don’t know if the Revs can jump up into the Top 4 especially if Columbus and Miami figure themselves out in the second half of the year. But the Revs as say a 5th or 6th seed knockout out Nashville or Orlando? Yeah, that’s absolutely something we should expect this team is capable of.

Injuries/lineups/predictions?

Injuries: Leo Campana, Luca Langoni, and Will Sands I think are out at least the rest of this week, which dings the fullback and striker depth fairly significantly. Tomas Chancalay started last week and Maxi Urruti came off the bench and scored the equalizer against SKC late so I’d expect a similar roles for them despite both carrying a questionable tag again.

5-3-2: Ivacic; Miller, Beason, Ceballos, Fofana, Feingold; Yusuf, Gil, Polster; Ganago, Chancalay

Could we see a Brandon Bye or Jackson Yuiell make a spot start midweek? Yes, absolutely, but I really think the Revs need to get all six points from their next two games (away to Montreal this weekend) because I don’t think New England can drop points to anyone in the East currently below the playoff line if they want to even contemplate a deep run in November. I think we’re gonna need some late Carles Gil magic to counter act some Benteke wizardry in a 2-1 Revs win.