Friedel fired, Lapper named interim coach as Revs begin yet another re-build

After a 2-8-2 start to the 2019 season and back-to-back five-goal drubbings, the Revolution have parted ways with Brad Friedel.

The announcement came at 2:16 p.m. Thursday, after the club returned to Foxborough following Wednesday night’s 5-0 defeat at the hands of the Chicago Fire. Assistant coach Mike Lapper, who came to the Revolution along with Friedel, takes over on an interim basis as the Original Ten outfit will now look for its new head coach, the eighth in club history.

Friedel was 12-21-13 in his year-plus tenure with the Revolution, which was his first head coaching gig outside of the U.S. U-19 national team. After starting the 2018 season out well, the club has only achieved full points in five matches since the calendar turned to July.

Lapper was Friedel’s assistant for the last 18 months, but was also with him with the U.S. U-19s. In addition, he was an assistant with Columbus for nine years (2005-13), as well as the West Virginia University men’s soccer program from 2013-15.

The club also announced that second seat assistant Marcelo Neveleff will remain with the organization until June 2 and the Revs’ match with LA Galaxy in Carson, Calif., the last match for the club before the CONCACAF Gold Cup break.

Neveleff will become the Dominican Republic’s U-23 coach at that time.

The club offered no comment on the coaching switch in a statement to the press.

Friedel is the third Major League Soccer coaching casualty in nine days: Colorado relieved Anthony Hudson of his duties last Wednesday, May 1, and on Tuesday, FC Cincinnati fired Alan Koch.

BSJ Analysis

It’s a start, but let’s face facts here: it’s not enough. Or even close to enough. Firing Friedel only relieves one symptom of the illness plaguing the once-proud franchise called the New England Revolution. The rot, the cancer, is still lodged within the club. Remove that, and the club has a chance. Leave it be, let it stagnate again, and you'll have the same results.

I guarantee it.

Friedel’s sacking comes as New England hits absolute rock bottom — well, rock bottom could come Saturday night, should the Revs lose to resurgent San Jose, one would think — in his second season in charge. Four straight matches without a win, 18 goals allowed in those four, and it didn’t look like it was going to get any better any time soon. By all accounts, Friedel had lost the locker room; the players looked like they were playing to get him fired. I mentioned my feelings about that in last night’s Match Report, and won’t repeat them here.

Personally, I feel the Revolution should only blame themselves for letting things spiral out of control like this, and Friedel is only the scapegoat here. I admit, I wholeheartedly believed in Friedel. I put my faith in the hope that he would turn this team around. I thought that he would clear the chaff from this team. He was, for all intents and purposes, set up to fail: last September, he said that he would have winners in Foxborough, and I took that to mean he would do what I thought he would do: gut this team right down to the studs, and re-build from there.

But the club brought back nearly the entirety of last year’s club for this season. Was anyone expecting anything different here? If you bring back the same poor players, you have to expect the same poor results to occur. That happened, and here we are.

Now that Friedel is gone, though, the Revolution have more ways-parting to do; the firings can not just end with him. Marlborough native Michael Burns has already chosen two head coaches in the last eight-plus years and without a doubt should not have the opportunity to have a third bite of the apple. He needs to be fired — and with the club not including any quotes in their news release, we have to think he is next to go; if he isn’t, then it’s a travesty and the firing of Friedel is only a salve. He’s the architect of this team, he signs the contracts. To use Game of Thrones terminology here, his head should be on a spike on the Gillette Stadium ramparts, too.

Who else? Brian Bilello, sure. It’s not personal. As team president, the buck stops with him. He allowed this to happen. Scouting director Remi Roy. He’s been here since the Steve Nicol Era; no one, unless your name is Red Auerbach, should be involved in running a single professional sports team for that long. Whoever brought former part-time players -- read: utter failures -- Cristhian Machado and Guillermo Hauche to Route 1 last year, get rid of them, too.

But not only that, the Kraft family needs to take an incredibly long look in the mirror. This team is a regional embarrassment, a league-wide embarrassment, not a good advert for the sport, and it all starts with them. It was the Krafts who penny-pinched the Revs to death, thinking they can get away with running this team like they do the Patriots. They have been left behind in MLS by all these new teams in the league who are spending a lot of money on talented players and are getting incredibly positive results because of that investment. Toronto had a $26 million payroll and won three titles in 2017. Atlanta won last year, and they’ve re-loaded; the Five Stripes are set to make a run.

And sure… they’ve committed $35 million to the training facility. Wonderful. They’ve reportedly committed $400-$500 million toward the mythical “stadium.” Fantastic. They gave the front office resources for two designated players this year … so why didn’t you go and do that a long time ago? Oh, and the DPs have to be worth the money: no more Claude Dielna’s, no more Milton Cariglio’s. Friedel told me in April 2018 that the Krafts want to win ... well, to use another GoT reference -- words are wind. Show the supporters how much you want to win.

In short, put up, or shut up. If they're not going to care about the team, they need to sell to competent owners who demand their players win -- and not have the team just be a sideshow date-filler in their throwball stadium.

Regardless, it’s time to start fresh — again.

May this new rebuild not be as burdensome as the last.