Chelsea is set to play New England Revolution in a friendly match for a good cause. A loss would be the most embarrassing in the club’s history.
*Editor’s note: If you are a New England Revolution fan that likes the franchise, first of all I am sorry. Second, you will want to skip this one. If you do not like the franchise, well this one is for you!
It is rare that the complete weirdness of American sports intersects with the Premier League so directly. Roman Abramovich and New England Revolution (and New England Patriots owner) Robert Kraft are hosting a friendly for a very good cause. That being said, the timing is far from ideal for the clubs involved (though, Boston did just earn the Liverpool ranking for “sexiest American accent” so they have that going for them).
All that being said, losing to a team like New England would be utterly embarrassing for Chelsea and they might need to just close up shop in that event. New England Revolution is a mess in American soccer and while this game is for good, it will likely be pretty bad on the field.
Miguel Almiron coming to the Premier League from Major League Soccer might have shifted some perceptions about the league but it should not shift all of them. MLS is a league where the best team can become the worst the next season and vice versa all because of the archaic and overly complicated rules. That being said, the quality of MLS varies widely these days.
The best MLS teams, like Atlanta United, Los Angeles Football Club, and the New York Red Bulls are probably around Championship level in quality. The worst, like Colorado Rapids and New England Revolution, exist somewhere in League One praying that it is not the year they finally drop.
In fact, it is pretty surprising that Kraft even remembered he had a team in MLS long enough to have this friendly scheduled. He makes Stan Kroenke and Mike Ashley look like City Football Group.
The Revolution will be without a fulltime coach for the match. They had former Tottenham keeper Brad Friedel as their coach. But eight losses from eleven games, including drubbings by Chicago Fire (5-0), Philadelphia Union (6-1), and Montreal (3-0) in three of four games sealed Friedel’s fate. Assistant Mike Lapper took over and won his first game in charge before being replaced by Bruce Arena.
For anyone who is not American, Bruce Arena is one of the primary reasons why the United States did not join the insanity that was Russia 2018. A win against the worst team in qualifying, Trinidad and Tobago, was all that was needed. Arena played one midfielder and the match was lost. He wrote a book explaining where the fault was truly at.
Arena will not take charge in time for the match against Chelsea which is tragic for most American Chelsea fans who would like nothing more than to see the Blues steamroll and Arena side. Regardless of who plays, they Blues should steamroll New England.
Do not expect much in the way of tactical nuance from this match and do not leave it thinking that it is a reflection of MLS. The best thing that can come of the match is that Chelsea can keep players match fit for the Europa League final, test out some youth and new strategies, and avoid injuries. The worst thing is the Blues lose and the club has to disband out of shame.