Earl Edwards Jr. assumed full-time goalkeeper duties for the New England Revolution on the most congested and essential stretch of the season.
Edwards is slated to make his second straight MLS begin and third of the season when the Revolution (12-5-7) host the New York Red Bulls (7-10-8) on Wednesday night time (7:30) at Gillette Stadium. The Revolution are undefeated (9-0-3) on the Razor, one of the best house begin in membership historical past.
“I think it’s just getting the opportunity,” mentioned Edwards. “I’ve been in this league a long time, so to get a real chance and get a run of games, it is something I’ve always been ready for and look forward to.”
The Red Bulls match is the second of three MLS video games in eight days for the Revolution after an prolonged break for Leagues Cup play. The Revolution opened the stretch with an eleventh hour, 1-0 loss to FC Montreal on Saturday at Stade Saputo in Montreal.
The Revolution full the compacted slate once they host Austin FC of the Western Conference subsequent Saturday night time (7:30) at Gillette.
Edwards will more likely to be the keeper of file in all three matches whereas interim head coach Richie Williams combine and matches his beginning lineup to stability out the pitch time. Williams has been appearing area supervisor instead of Bruce Arena since Aug 1. Arena stays on indefinite administrative go away pending an investigation by MLS for making “insensitive and inappropriate remarks.”
“It’s definitely not daunting,” mentioned Edwards. “I feel all of us love the job that that now we have, so taking part in video games is all the time enjoyable. It’s somewhat troublesome for guys to get their our bodies rotated in a tighter window.
“But other than that, just getting through the schedule and the MLS schedule can be difficult at times. It comes with the territory and still trying to get results.”
Edwards was bestowed his battle area promotion when the Revolution finalized the switch of MLS All-Star goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic of Serbia to Chelsea FC of the English Premier League for a reported price of $18 million.
The Revolution used the freed up worldwide roster spot to signal goalkeeper Tomas Vaclik, 34, of the Czech Republic by the 2024 season. The Revolution expressed their confidence in Edwards by tendering a contract extension by 2024 with an choice in 2025.
“Controlling what I can and having that security is always nice,” mentioned Edwards. “I’m happy to be with the club for at least another year and I like what we are building.”
The Revolution and the Red Bulls are MLS constitution franchises that date again to the league’s first season in 1996. The Revolution are 34-31-17 all-time towards the Red Bulls, which reveals the Boston vs. Gotham rivalry extends to soccer. The Red Bulls gained the primary MLS assembly 2-1 on July 8 and beat the Revolution on penalty kicks within the opening spherical of Leagues Cup play.
“Everyone is continually working on their game and, whatever happens against the Red Bulls, we just want to compete, play well and at the end of the day have the three points,” mentioned Williams. “That’s what we need to work on.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com