Caleb Porter outlines how he wants Revolution to ‘control’ games

"I prefer a tighter game, a more organized game, a tactical game, and I've found over the long haul that that increases your chances of winning game after game with more control."

Caleb Porter during his introductory press conference with the Revolution in Jan. 2024. Barry Chin/Globe Staff

February 23, 2024

The concept of “control” in a soccer game has been a riddle that coaches have obsessed over for more than a century. From Jimmy Hogan to Johan Cruyff to Pep Guardiola, tactical innovation has often been driven by a desire to attain more control.

Of course, anyone who has ever watched soccer can attest to the notion that it can appear slightly hubristic and possibly even oxymoronic to think that such a game can ever be controlled. Yet these contradictory thoughts outline why this has been a managerial quandary: How to control a game that’s still — even at its highest levels — occasionally determined by the literal bounce of a ball.

Bad bounces were on full display in the Revolution’s season-opening game against Club Atlético Independiente in Panama on Wednesday during a first round matchup of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. New England walked away with a deserved win, though the 1-0 scoreline was tighter than what new head coach Caleb Porter wanted to see.

On a windswept, uneven field, Revolution passing combinations were often stifled, particularly in the attacking third. It was not surprising that the only goal of the game — Tomás Chancalay’s 54th minute skillful finish — resulted from a long ball that was flicked-on into the Argentine’s path. The direct approach proved the most effective in such circumstances.

“The field was terrible,” Porter said, reflecting on the result in a Friday press conference. “I don’t know if you could see it on the TV but it was really hard to pass. So, those conditions with the heat and the field were difficult, but I thought we played pretty well overall and executed the way we wanted.”

Porter was happy with the defensive performance of his team, adding that “I can’t remember a real clear chance that they had over the 90-plus minutes.”

Looking ahead, the game plan will change, but the overarching strategy will not.

The Revolution open the 2024 MLS season on Saturday at Audi Field against D.C. United. The field will (presumably) be in better shape, allowing for more elaborative passing and buildup play.

Porter talked about his desire for New England to have a “clear identity” during his introductory press conference in January. Exactly what that means will begin to take shape as the season gets going. Yet his comments on Friday when asked if he expects to see a more intricate passing game against United revealed a little more about his vision.

“It depends on the game. We’re not going to be a team that’s naive, so you won’t see every game, us naively playing out from the back,” he explained. “We have to be smart, and we have to look at each game as it comes.

“But I always want to have control in a match,” he continued. “For me, if you have control in a match, people would say, ‘Oh, you’re defending really well.’ Well, yeah, we defend well with the ball too, so that allows us to control games, that increases our chances of winning, that reduces the element of luck.”

For Porter, the concept of controlling a game takes many shapes. As he pointed out, possession of the ball provides more than just goal-scoring possibilities. It also has value from a defensive standpoint. The Revolution retained 66-percent possession against Independiente (bad bounces and all), denying the Panamanian side more opportunities to strike on the counter.

“I don’t personally like a game that’s open,” Porter said. “For me, an open game, yes, you might score more goals, but you’re going to probably give up more goals and it’s a flip of a coin game. You may win, you may lose.”

Such comments appear to be a departure from the days of Bruce Arena, who tasked his outside backs to charge forward whenever possible, often leaving center backs in one-on-one marking situations. It was a style that, in its best moments, helped New England break the record for most points in an MLS season in 2021. It was also a style that led to the Revolution squandering leads (including the team’s last venture to Central America, when Mexican side Pumas UNAM rallied from a 3-0 deficit on aggregate to knock New England out continental competition in 2022).

It illuminates how Porter views the concept of “control” in a soccer game. His reference to avoiding naivety by always building possession from the back suggests that he’s not wedded to a possession-heavy style, yet he also wants (and expects) to see more combination passing against United. The two-time MLS Cup champion, perhaps unsurprisingly, seems to subscribe to a more versatile tactical approach, all with one philosophical goal in mind.

“I prefer a tighter game, a more organized game, a tactical game, and I’ve found over the long haul that that increases your chances of winning game after game with more control,” Porter said. “It might not mean you have a 5-4 game. You might not score three, four goals every game. But you’re in every game and you’re not sitting back, defending in a low block, hoping that you don’t give up a goal. Ideally, you’re doing it in the front half keeping the ball creating chances counter pressing.”

Attention to detail, and tactical adaptation based on the opponent seem to be core Porter concepts. Amid a busy schedule in the next two weeks (a period that includes the return leg of the Champions Cup matchup with Independiente), Revolution fans will begin to see exactly what that means.

“I think over time, you’ll see that my teams are organized in every phase, and our mentality is always strong,” Porter concluded. “We’ll have a game plan that’s respecting the opponent.”