The New England Revolution fell to FC Dallas this past weekend for their first home loss of 2018. But for the Revs it is important to not only learn from their mistakes but simply move onto the next one.

For Head Coach Brad Friedel the sentiments are the same, but the VAR decision in the 92nd minute of the Dallas game keeps on sticking in his head: “After watching the game, especially in the second half against Dallas, we played pretty well. We outshot them 15-5 in the second half, overall in the game had 63 percent of the ball, we had numerous chances, and some of the chances, after I watched them again, were even better than I thought they were when we were watching the game. FC Dallas was resolute. They are a good team. They haven’t been beaten yet, but I did think that we were worthy of winning the game. On the penalty decision [in the 92^nd minute], it was a penalty, and we’re going to get some of those, and we’re not [going to get others]. Everybody makes mistakes in that manner, and I know [PRO General Manager] Howard Webb very, very well, and he’s a very, very good referee and very good at his job. I know he’ll get to grips with all the VAR as we go forward. But a lot more pleased with what I saw after I watched the game many times and taking the emotion out of it. We’re going to have another exciting one against Columbus.”.

With Columbus Crew SC as their next opponent, there is a personal connection there for Friedel who will be facing his former club for the first time as the New England Revolution Head Coach:  “My mom still lives in Ohio, so I’ve been down to Columbus many times. My mom was born and raised there, so we have some family roots.”.

As for the game itself and Columbus HC Gregg Berhalter, Friedel thinks he has done a terrific job and there should be a fun match on hand this Saturday.

“Gregg’s [Berhalter] done a really good job with Columbus since he took over. They have a distinct style of play and the word entertaining is going to come to mind [when we play on Saturday]. We like to get the ball down and play, they like to get the ball down and play. We both like the physical side of the game and we also like the technical quality. We’re going to their stadium, my old club, as well. It’ll be nice to go there and coach against them, and I think it’ll be a fun evening for everyone to watch.”

For the Revs one of the reasons they lost against Dallas was their inability to put a finishing touch on the ball with the club missing the majority of their shots. For Diego Fagundez this week is their opportunity to work on getting better at capitalizing on their scoring chances in the hopes they can bury them against Columbus.

“The only chances that we had, I think we need to finish those. When we don’t have a lot of chances we need to somehow create them — if it’s either going wide, getting crosses in, trying to put things in the box. I think in the second half for 10 minutes we had them pinned in where we thought we were going to get one and we were just unlucky and we couldn’t get it. I think this week we’re going to work on trying to get those opportunities and when we have our chances to try to bury them.”

The Revs will take on Columbus Crew SC this Saturday at 7:30 pm eyeing their second road win on the MLS season. Having their first road win of the year under their belt should certainly provide them a confidence boost as suggested by forward Teal Bunbury.

“A frustrating loss [against Dallas], but we were able to go to Houston and get three points, so we know we can win on the road. It’s going to come down to little details. Making sure that we’re fully locked in for the full 90 minutes, and we’ll be able to get three points.”

Revolution Academy Goalkeeper Eliot Jones Called To U.S. Under-16 Boy’s National Team for the Torneo delle Nazioni in Grasdisca d’Isonzo, Italy.

The Revolution Academy had a rather nice surprise on Tuesday with the announcement that one of their own was being called to the U.S. Under-16 Boy’s National Team for the Torneo delle Nazioni in Grasdisca d’Isonzo, Italy.

The player who is receiving the honor of wearing the American flag on his jersey is 14-year-old goalkeeper Eliot Jones who will play in the tournament that runs from April 19th- May 2nd.

Jones is in the middle of his third season with the Revolution Academy and has made a combined 41 appearances including 32 starts for the Revs Academy. Jones has spent time at the U-19, U-17, and U-15 levels this season. The New Britain, Connecticut native is not a stranger to the U.S. Youth National Team though. This will be Jones’s fifth appearance since joining the Academy and is the only player on the squad making is U-16 Boys National Team debut in the tournament.

The U.S. has been drawn into Group A and opens tournament play against Italy on Tuesday, April 24. The team then plays Libya on Thursday, April 26 before concluding group play against Croatia on Friday, April 27.

“Any time you have the opportunity to face international competition, we look forward to it because this is the standard and the benchmark that we want to hold our players to,” U.S. Under-16 Boys’ National Team head coach Shaun Tsakiris said. “This will be a great test for our players. What I like about this tournament is that the teams we are facing are not only very good opponents, but they are also very different opponents, in their style, who they are and how they play. I’m excited to see how our players respond to different types of international talent.”

U.S. U-16 BNT SCHEDULE:

April 24: U-16 BNT vs. Italy; Gradisca, Italy (11:30 a.m. ET)

April 26: U-16 BNT vs. Libya; Cervignano, Italy (4:45 a.m. ET)

April 27: U-16 BNT vs. Croatia; Monfalcone, Italy (4:45 a.m. ET)

April 29 – Torneo delle Nazioni Semifinals

May 1 – Torneo delle Nazioni Final

We will keep you updated on how Jones faired in the Torneo delle Nazioni at its conclusion on May 2nd.

Update: Revs President Brian Bilello via Twitter confirms the practice facility idea but said team remains committed to building a stadium closer to Boston.

The question now is what locations the club is looking at for the stadium. And now if the practice facility idea hour through the logistics of the travel between the two now plays a factor.

In terms of training facility improvement and expansion, as I’ve stated in the past it is unrelated to our stadium project and that our intent is still to build a stadium closer to Boston. That was also stated at the recent meetings on the training facility expansion.

— Brian Bilello (@RevsPrez) April 18, 2018

It looks like the New England Revolution will be investing in some new practice fields, the issue is getting a series of zoning approvals.

According to the Foxborough Patch, a representative of the Kraft group at a recent meeting related to Foxborough zoning bylaws stated that the New England Revolution would continue to hold a presence in Foxborough if they could build a few practice fields along Route 1.

The plan according to the Patch is to have the proposed fields go in front of the planning board if the town approves the zoning changes along with plans to include practice fields and outdoor athletic facilities in the works. Per the Patch, the zoning changes are being requested by the Revolution with the idea of keeping them in Foxborough instead of moving elsewhere. An attorney who represents the Kraft Group, Peter Tam, told the Patch that the team has simply run out of space and can no longer share a facility with the New England Patriots. The location they are eyeing for the new practice fields and a small athletic facility is an area between Cross Street and the south shopping area of Patriots Place. Tam also told the Foxborough Patch there are no plans to move the Revolution from Foxborough despite past rumors and stories suggesting the team moving closer to the City of Boston.

It is a bit odd that the only person quoted in the Patch story is a Kraft Group attorney. This does take away some of the legitimacy of this rumor.

Fairly interesting stuff, anytime a new stadium idea comes across the table it deserves some attention. This latest proposal though actually sounds quite reasonable without knowing any type of price tag that goes along with it. But by the way, this sounds this new facility would just be for the teams training sessions allowing them to have some more room to call their own and then continue to hold their games in Gillette Stadium.

The idea that they are no longer pursuing options outside of Foxborough though seems to be a tad misleading as it wouldn’t make sense from a business perspective to not look at other options. There have been plenty of public bids by the team and ownership for locations outside of Gillette including one that was part of Boston’s Olympic Bid that fell short with little support from the community.

If the plan is to stick with Gillette for home games and then have a sperate practice facility on site as well that is a reasonable ask if that is their true intentions. But it seems highly unlikely that the Kraft’s have abandoned their bid for a soccer specific venue in the greater Boston area.