The Eastern Conference side let half of their team go at the end of the 2024 season, and might be all the better for it
Curt Onalfo watches training every day. The New England Revolution Sporting Director, who has overseen immense change in his 18 months in the role, makes sure to be on the sidelines every time his team – yes, this is now his team – goes to work on the practice field. And of course, Onalfo is there. He used to be a head coach himself. He sees it all.
He sees veteran playmaker Carles Gil find pockets of space and orchestrate in small-sided games. He sees winger Luca Langoni, Argentine flair and all, sit-down defenders. These days, he also looks at Leo Campana, his marquee winter signing, do all of the right things — make the right runs, press at the right time, and find the back of the net.
And the man in the middle of it all, leading the session, is Caleb Porter – someone he is aligned with. It has been 18 difficult months in New England. The Revolution were poor at the back end of the 2023 campaign, mired by scandal and the subsequent departure of Bruce Arena. In 2024, they responded by hiring Porter, a coach with an immaculate MLS pedigree, but one who played a markedly different style to the roster he inherited. This wasn’t a full rebuild, but changes had to be made.
This winter, they all happened at the same time. Sixteen players were let go. Fifthteen came in. With the transfer window still open, more might yet arrive. New England is a different team altogether, re-energized, rebuilt, and, finally, shaped in the image of a club that looks far more aligned, top to bottom.
“I would call it the end of a cycle. Every roster goes through that… and we felt the group had stagnated a bit,” Porter told GOAL.
