Bedard: Revolution's quick ouster in Round of 16 was disappointing but predictable

Well, that was fun while it lasted.

The Revolution was the first New England professional team to hit the pitch after the pandemic halted everything, and they a nice opportunity to make some waves and generate more interest. Despite the opener not being on English-language television (seriously?), the Revs showed a lot of promise in said match when they bested Montreal 1-0 — and dominated the entire contest.

At that point, you could see the Revs going on a little run. All three of their Designated Players — MLS' franchise players getting the most money — finally played together, and Carles Gil, Gustavo Bou and Adam Buksa looked like they could make some beautiful music together.

Gil was the point guard who controlled the tempo. Bou was the small forward who scared the opposing defenses. Buksa was the power forward who could slam it home.

The opening match was tantalizing. The Revs were onto something on the field, and Bruce Arena channeled his inner Bill Belichick by completely outcoaching Impact bench boss Thierry Henry — totally outclassing Montreal.

Maybe they could catch lightning in a bottle, make a run and finally put the MLS on the map around here before the Big 4 sports really got going.

And then the 62nd minute happened in Game 2, when Gil exited the game with a mysterious injury.

The Revolution were never the same, and they were ousted 1-0 from the Round of 16 by the Philadelphia Union in the wee hours Saturday (another brilliant move ... two East Coast teams starting a match on the East Coast after 10:30 p.m. ... Who markets this league, Gary Bettman?). They were punchless. They lacked creativity. Arena got a red card for referee abuse after the final whistle, and then didn't speak to the media.

Well, that escalated quickly.

From a possible underdog run to exiting with a whimper (well, not from Arena obviously).

What the heck happened?

Gil.

To be more specific, no Gil.

The Revs scored two goals and owned the stat sheet in the first 152 minutes of the tournament. That would be when Gil was on the pitch.

The Revs went scoreless in the final 219 minutes of their stay in Orlando and trailed 0-2 collectively as Gil hobbled around on a walking boot and then didn't even make it on the bench for Saturday.

Yes, Gil was that important. Without him, the Revolution were lost.

No one came close to controlling the game in the midfield. No one came close to distributing the ball and setting up his teammates.

Even though the Revolution still had more DPs on the pitch Saturday night (two) than Union have total (one), Philadelphia was the much more dangerous outfit outside of the first 15 minutes, and it wasn't even close.

I don't even want to hearing the complaining about the hot and humid conditions, or about how the Union had about 12 hours more rest than New England. That's loser talk. You're paid to play professional soccer. That didn't make any difference, or at least it shouldn't have, considering most of New England's best players didn't even play the finale, or at least until the second half.

You are what your record says you are. The Revs just aren't good enough yet, at least not without Gil — and Philly isn't even a contender.

Gil's future is up in the air, which means so is the Revs'. He reportedly had a two-year deal with two one-year options, but it's not known whether or not those are club or player options. So this could largely be it for Gil in a Revs' uniform. That would be a shame, because he was spectacular to watch as the 2019 MLS Newcomer of the Year and ranked second in MLS with 107 chances created. His 12 primary helpers were tied for second-most in the league.

Yeah, the Revs needed that guy big time. It was striking in this tournament. When Gil was on the field, the Revs could compete with most teams. Without him, they could lose to anyone.

That's what happened on Saturday night.

Shame, because the stage was theirs.

At least we'll have those first 152 minutes with Gil. Hopefully there will be more because the Revs can't compete without him.