The New England Revolution and Nashville SC were two of the worst teams in the Eastern Conference last season.
That led to some roster makeovers and both teams hope to improve this year, beginning when the Revolution visit Nashville on Saturday night.
New England finished 14th in the 15-team conference last season and ranked last in MLS with just 37 goals.
Nashville finished in 13th place in the East and was next-to-last with 38 goals.
The Revolution hope they have elevated the attack with the acquisition of forward Leo Campana from Inter Miami and the signing of free-agent midfielder Jackson Yueill, formerly of the San Jose Earthquakes.
Campana, 24, scored 28 goals in three seasons with Miami, with the Ecuadorian netting eight last season. Yueill, 27, had 13 goals and 19 assists in eight seasons with San Jose.
“We’re hungry, ambitious. I think it’s a new team who really wants to do well this year, so it’s really important to do well at the beginning of the season,” Yueill told reporters. “The guys are eager to play. Everyone loves soccer and loves to be out there. The games are what matter, and everyone is eager to do well this year.”
Forward Giacomo Vrioni was the Revolution’s leading scorer last season with nine goals but he was shipped to CF Montreal in the offseason. Carles Gil (seven goals, 10 assists) was the only other New England player with more than three goals. Gil was the 2021 MLS MVP.
Nashville’s departures include defenders Shaq Moore and Lukas MacNaughton and midfielders Sean Davis, Anibal Godoy and Randall Leal.
Davis was traded to the Los Angeles Galaxy for midfielder Gaston Brugman, the MLS Cup MVP.
Brugman, the 32-year-old from Uruguay, was a part-time starter for the Galaxy.
Nashville coach B.J. Callaghan is in his first full season running the club and sees no reason why his squad can’t make a huge jump up the standings.
“The message that we have is that we’re committed,” Callaghan told reporters. “We’ve replenished the roster, we have a lot of new players, players that are exciting as individuals but also fit the team that we want to bring to Nashville.”
The top scoring holdovers are forward Sam Surridge (12 goals) and midfielder Hany Mukhtar (eight goals, 10 assists). Mukhtar was the 2022 MLS MVP.
New England went 2-0-1 against Nashville last season and holds a 3-2-3 edge in the all-time series.
–Field Level Media
