The New England Revolution's season will be here before we know it, but they have a competition of their own brewing ahead of the 2021 MLS campaign.
Back in December, the Revs signed Wilfrid Kaptoum who will battle with Luis Caicedo, Matt Polster, Tommy McNamara, and Scott Caldwell for a starting role in the defensive midfield. It's a crucial position for New England heading into the new season, and head coach Bruce Arena believes the competition and depth will benefit his club in the long run.
Revs announce 2021 preseason schedule
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"There's a lot of competition there and it's an area we need to be better in," Arena said Monday. "I think that was one position that stood out in the playoff game against Columbus, where they were playing [Darlington] Nagbe and Artur and I think they had the edge in that game. That's an area we know we need to get better in.”
Caldwell is the longest-tenured Revs player at the position and, like Arena, he's looking forward to seeing what the group will bring to the table.
“There’s a lot of guys that can play there. I think it’s great," Caldwell said. "Any team that has competition, it’s only going to help them. I think it’s going to be a good, healthy battle throughout the year. We’re all excited. We know that we’re an important piece to help the team play as well as possible, so it’ll be good competition that’ll only help us across the board. ”
Also embracing the competition at the position is Polster, who appeared in 15 games during his debut season with the Revs last year.
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"I think, looking at it, the goal is to always strengthen the squad in all positions to create competition, because then your team is going to push itself to get better and reach those goals that we did last year, which was to win something," Polster said. "So that's expected with every year and every team.
"For me personally, my expectation is to start and play and I think that should be for everybody in the group, because that's how you, like I said, become better and win something. The additions, you can tell, have raised the level and it's going to push me and push other guys to play at a higher level to compete for that position.”
Regardless of who emerges as a starter, the expectation is the Revs will be much improved at the position in 2021. They'll need that to be the case if they hope to make another deep playoff run.
The Revolution's regular season is set to begin April 17 vs. the Chicago Fire. Their preseason will kick off March 27 vs. the L.A. Galaxy.