![Prost International [PINT]](https://prostinternational.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/PINTtFontLogoRoboto1536x78.jpg)
FOXBOROUGH, MA– New England Revolution Sporting Director Curt Onalfo addressed the media prior to the closing of the 2024 MLS Secondary Transfer Window.
Those in attendance in-person were Seth Macomber of The Blazing Musket, Nick Boonstra of revolutionsoccer.net, & Frank Dell’Apa of The Boston Globe.
Those in attendance via Zoom included myself, along with Sam Minton of The Blazing Musket, and Hayden Bird of boston.com . 
Sporting Director Curt Onalfo addresses the media on 8/14/2024Sporting Director Curt Onalfo opened the press conference with an opening statement regarding his thoughts on the Secondary Transfer Window.
“It was a very busy period of time for us. Extremely busy month. Our goal going into this transfer window was to make sure we got better immediately. Right now. So that we could make a legitimate push to make the playoffs the last 11 games of the season and also to position ourselves to be better next season as well. We were able to accomplish that with the four moves that we made during this window.”
Frank Dell’Apa had the first question, pertaining to how transfers came about as well as the ETA’s on Luca Langoni and Alhassan Yusuf.
Onalfo stated, “Every transfer window we want to get better. Often the summer window can be a robust one. A window where you can really add a lot of players because of other, you know, the European window for example, there that that’s, that’s, that’s their main transfer window. For us, we wanted to be active. When you put a new coach in place, there’s a period of time where you need probably 3 windows to make the team the coaches. This was our second window. We wanted to make sure it was impactful. We made a record club signing you know with Langoni, he’s on a flight right now… So, he’ll be in very shortly. He’s going to need physical work and all that kind of stuff done once he gets here and probably by the end of the week and all of next week preparing for next week.
“In the case of Alhassan Yusuf, we’ve applied for his P-1, we think that will get approved in the next couple of days, so, we’ll get him up here as quick as we possibly can and incorporate him into the team.”
Frank Dell’Apa then built on his question by asking about the clubs’ expectations for the remainder of the season.
Curt stated, “Our expectation is to do everything we can to try to make the playoffs. We are sitting in last place, but we are 5 points out of playoff contention. We have two games in hand. You know, we have a team that’s getting healthier, which is, you know, in a more robust team because we just added players. So, our goal is to make the playoffs. You know, it’s 11 games left, seven which are on the road, four at home. So, it’s not going to be an easy challenge, but our guys get better every single day. Caleb has got everybody dialed in and we’re going to make a push. And that’s why we were bold in this, in this window.”
Per Sources: The New England Revolution are acquiring defender Will Sands from the Columbus Crew via Trade.
New England is sending a player in the deal, awaiting further confirmation on who.
📸: @Schudel_ralph of @MassiveReport#NERevs | #Crew96 | #MLS pic.twitter.com/QQWLUAZR2q
— Caleb Pongratz (@CalebPongratz10) July 31, 2024
Seth Macomber then asked regarding the Revolution being up against the Salary Cap & having to make the moves that resulted in losing Henry Kessler & DeJuan Jones.
Onalfo stated, “You’re always up against the cap. I mean, it’s a very complicated league and it’s very difficult for the outsiders looking in to see basically what happens. But with player sales and without player sales, you know, you can be more robust, and you can end up, you know, having more room on your cap.”
” I think the biggest thing for us is that you know we sold Petrović, right? But when we sold Petrović, there was no mechanism for us because we had three DP’s to be able to add real players. So, with the league change of adding the U22 initiative, that was huge for us. So, we were able to add Langoni, a game changer type player that fits Caleb’s model. So that in itself helps us and it helps us in the next window as well…”
“All those things factored in to, you know, the moves with, with Henry Kessler and DeJuan, you know, we, we got players, but we also got money. So that gives us flexibility. Our goal is to continually get better. Sometimes you have to make moves that you know that it’s never fun to move players that you care about. I mean, I’m sure the fans felt it and we felt it probably more because we work with them every day. But it’s all part of the business. You know, in the case of DeJuan, he’s a, he’s a lovable guy and we already miss him. You know, he’s athletic player, he’s got that incredible smile. But we had the emergence of Peyton’s really talented young player and then we were able to get a left footed player with Will Sands that between the two of them are puts us in a really good position in Caleb’s model. When you know Caleb’s model, he likes his outside backs getting forward, but he likes them to be left footed guys on the left side, right footed on the right side and the premium of keeping the ball. So those were all parts of the things that we that we thought about as we as we made those moves.
BREAKING: The New England Revolution are nearing a deal to acquire center back Tim Parker in a trade which sends Henry Kessler to St. Louis, sources say.
Further details includes New England also getting allocation money. Final details still coming. pic.twitter.com/xaBlwWKdBp
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) August 2, 2024
Seth then asked about the striker position and whether the team attempted to strengthen that position.
Curt stated, “For us, you know, we want to get better every single window. We’re going to do our best to add players every window. We added Luca Langoni, an attacker, we’re going to continually be looking for attackers.”
“The positive for us collectively if you look at our team, Vrioni – 6 goals, 6 games, Wood – 2 goals, 2 games, which is great because that is kind of the form that he had last year and he was a little injury ridden this season, which has changed. Carles comes back into the team, Borrero comes back into the team, you add Langoni, you have Esmir, you have Ema, you have Nacho, you have Panayotou, who am I missing? Tommy Mac, we have all these talented players now and now we’re robust. We feel that’s going to enable us to create more chances and score more goals.
“Then you add another midfielder that Caleb talks about being more vertical and that makes us more dynamic as well. So, when you incorporate all those, we now will be more robust and the goal and the feeling we have is that we’ll score more goals and win more games and make a push into the playoffs.”
🏥 Medical tests to complete Alhassan Yusuf deal to New England Revolution are taking place since this afternoon in Antwerp. #NERevs
💰 Final agreement with Royal #Antwerp FC found on $2,5M + a percentage on the future sale. #RAFC
✅ Confirmed. #mercato #JPL #MLS https://t.co/qRdQjwSViZ pic.twitter.com/B64odHoYPr— Sacha Tavolieri (@sachatavolieri) August 9, 2024
Nick then asked about the club breaking the records for single signing and single window & what that should say for intent and what fans should expect for future windows.
Curt started by thanking the Krafts for writing the checks. “They just get it; they know what it takes and we’re going to look to get better each window. My job is now to look toward the next window and the coaching staffs’ job is to do whatever they can for our team to make the playoffs. We’ll be looking to add more players. We’ll have another U22 position available to look to add a player there and we’ll access how this looks. Caleb & I are 100% on the same team, we’re aligned, we work together, and we see things similarly, and we’ll make the smartest decisions we possibly can make ourselves better in the January window.”
Nick then followed up on the addition of David Kammarman & his impact in the window.
Curt stated, “He was outstanding. We have a great network of scouting. Remi Roy has been doing it for a long time as well. Chris Tierney has a lot of experience. Caleb is outstanding at this. I’ve quite frankly never been around a coach that is that detail orientated that knows exactly what he wants. A lot of the time, coaches aren’t as clear on exactly what they want but Caleb knows what he wants. So that makes it easier for us because the profile is very clear, and the game model is very clear. We feel really good about the knowledge we have in the building and we’re going to continually make it better. It’s a big part of this business is adding talent, and we talk about being robust and the only way to be robust is to have a cap that is well managed and have an abundance of players and have a robust roster. We’re getting close to that, and we want to continually get there, and it takes a little time.”
"It’s clear that we are an ambitious club, and so for me it’s an opportunity to be a part of something that can be special."#NERevs newest hire David Kammarman on joining the club.
— New England Revolution (@NERevolution) May 14, 2024
Seth then asked a question regarding the team’s run of winning 5 out of 6, the start of the season and his relationship with Caleb Porter & the Kraft’s throughout the season.
Curt stated, “I’m steadfast. Caleb is a championship caliber coach. He’s won championships with two clubs and he’s going to win a championship here. It’s that simple. I’m unwavering in my belief in our project, Kraft’s are the same way and so is Brian. It’s a profession where there is a lot of ups and downs and if you can stay even keeled throughout the difficult times, there will be more of winning 5 out of 6 games and hopefully that’s how we can start this next stretch, but we believe in what we are doing.”
“We all know that the Champions League is a tough challenge, especially when you have a brand-new coach that’s trying to implement a way of playing and I think it took a little time for Caleb’s way to start coming through the team. If you watch our training sessions and see the environment that Caleb and his staff has created for our team, it’s outstanding. So, it’s just a matter of making sure we get better, we obviously hit a ran of some bad luck of injuries and hopefully in the future that doesn’t happen but as the team gets healthy, you know, the important thing is to stay the course. Caleb is a great coach, and we just have to continually get better and continually add better players. Just get a little better each day.”
June 8, 2024; New England Revolution head coach Caleb Porter talks to the press after a game between the New England Revolution and the New York Red Bulls at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (c) Burt Granofsky
Seth then asked about implementations into the roster while trying to get better.
Onalfo stated that alignment was the most important factor. “You want to make sure that when you’re signing someone, its someone that the coaching staff believes in and it’s going to be successful.”
Hayden Bird then asked regarding whether or not New England would add any more players during the window and to build on the potential of Borrero, Chancalay and Langoni competing for minutes when they are all healthy.
Onalfo stated, “We think we’re done. I mean, there’s still time where there could be a move, but we feel very confident, very good about this window, I think it’s unlikely there will be any more moves prior to the end of today.”
Onalfo then added, “It’s good to have a robust roster and to have flexibility. Chancalay can play as a forward, Langoni can play as a forward and actually so can Borrero and also you have Esmir who has been outstanding this year. That just gives us flexibility. Unfortunately, with the case of Chancalay, he’s going to be out quite a while. When players are out for a period of time, it takes for them to find their form. We feel like the more talented assets you have, the better off you’re going to be. We’re going to utilize the U22’s in particular and our homegrown system to make sure that we can be as robust as we possibly can and have as many as options for Caleb and his staff to put out a team that’s exciting and can win more games.”
🚨New England volvió a la carga por Luca Langoni e hizo una nueva oferta.
*️⃣El monto se acerca a los u$s 7.5M por el 80% que pretende Boca. La negociación entra en etapa final 🏁. pic.twitter.com/zqIiMjkCfb— César Luis Merlo (@CLMerlo) July 22, 2024
Frank then asked about the U22 Initiative, rule changes and how it would’ve changed the system in the preseason.
Curt stated, “We had players that we were targeting. We thought there was going to be that change in preseason. It was frustrating. We had this huge player sale. We obviously lost an incredible player in Petrovic in a situation where you have to sell the player, but then, you have these funds, and you want to re-invest in the team but don’t have mechanisms to do so. That would have definitely meant that we would have utilized the U22 Initiative in January, but it is what it is, we continually want to get better. We felt that we made good moves in the last window, we made some good moves in this one, we’re going to do whatever we can to make the playoffs and end this season strong, then we’re going to go into the next window and look to add players each window continually to have a winning franchise.
Seth then asked the final question reflecting on Onalfo taking on the Sporting Director role on how the role has been and challenges that he has faced
Onalfo stated, “It’s very aligned with our head coach, and I believe 100% in our project, and I feel good about where we are with the moves that we made in this window to end the season on a positive note so that we can get into the playoffs and make a run.”
The conference then concluded after 16 minutes.
The next key date in Major League Soccer in the 2024 MLS Roster Freeze on September 13th. Between the closing of the Secondary Transfer Window and Roster Freeze Date, clubs are eligible to sign out-of-contract free agents.
New England Revolution Logo. Image Courtesy of New England Revolution.
The New England Revolution (7-2-14, 23 pts.) look to close out the final 11 matches of the MLS season by reaching the MLS Cup Playoffs. They head out to the Montréal, Canada where they are set to face MLS Eastern Conference side CF Montréal (6-9-10, 27 pts.) on Saturday, August 24th. The match kicks off in Stadium Saputo at 7:30 p.m. ET on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app.
