MLS Season Preview: New England Revolution

With the MLS season set to begin on Friday, theScore runs down everything you need to know about each team heading into the league's 20th campaign. Here, we take a look at last season's MLS Cup finalists from New England.

New England's run to the MLS Cup final last season was nothing short of remarkable.

The team rebounded from eight consecutive defeats in June and July, with Lee Nguyen's MVP-calibre form and the August addition of American international Jermaine Jones spearheading a turnaround that saw the Revolution steamroll their way to a 9-2-2 record in the final 13 matches of the regular season. With a little bit of luck against the L.A. Galaxy, we would be sitting here talking about the defending champions.

Alas, here we are, discussing what the Revs need to go one step further and capture that elusive first-ever MLS Cup. So cruel, sports.

Not so cruel, however, is the roster head coach Jay Heaps has at his disposal to make that goal a reality. With Jones (recovering from surgery on a sports hernia) on board for a full season, New England returns largely the same team from last year, with the re-signing of forward Juan Agudelo just another weapon in an already loaded arsenal.

There are some questions at the back following the departure of A.J. Soares, but the team's attacking core, coupled with its impressive depth that is almost unmatched elsewhere in the league, make New England the beast of the Eastern Conference. 

Anybody telling you that the Revs aren't one of the favorites to hoist both the Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup is a charlatan. 

2014 season: 2nd in Eastern Conference

Playoffs: Lost in MLS Cup final (LA Galaxy)

Head coach: Jay Heaps

Stadium: Gillette Stadium

Season Opener: Sunday, March 8: Seattle Sounders vs. New England Revolution (CenturyLink Field) - 9:30 PM EST

Key Arrivals

Juan Agudelo (free transfer), Jeremy Hall (Toronto FC), Sean Okoli (Seattle Sounder

Key Departures

A.J. Soares (Viking FK), Patrick Mullins (New York City FC), Tony Taylor (New York City FC)

Player to Watch: Juan Agudelo

How will Agudelo, back at the club after he failed on multiple occasions to secure a work permit to join Premier League side Stoke City, be integrated into a team that already boasts some of the best attacking talent in MLS?

Oh, to have Heaps' problems.

"We're excited about the different dimensions [Agudelo] brings to our attack," said the 38-year-old coach. "He is very versatile so he can play across all three attacking forward positions for us. It also gives us different options for where to play Charlie [Davies] as well. We're excited about the strength it puts us in to attack in different ways and different styles."

Having both Agudelo and Davies - who was a revelation in the playoffs last season - is a wonderful problem for Heaps, who will need to determine how to best utilize the two attackers. If he opts to stay true to his 4-2-3-1 formation, I expect the returning Colombian to get the nod up top. 

Davies isn't going to just give the starting berth away, of course. Rather, look for the 22-year-old to take it from him.

Keep an eye on: Jermaine Jones and Lee Nguyen (obviously)

Projected Starting XI

(4-2-3-1) Bobby Shuttleworth; Chris Tierney, Jose Goncalves, Andrew Farrell, Kevin Alston; Jermaine Jones, Scott Caldwell; Kelyn Rowe, Lee Nguyen, Teal Bunbury, Juan Agudelo

Season in a Sentence

The goals will flow at one end as Agudelo adds firepower to a club already boasting a wealth of attacking riches, but if Jay Heaps is going to guide (arguably) the league's best team one step further than last season's heartbreak, it's in defense where the questions will need to be answered.