The New England Revolution were only down 2-0 at halftime in Chicago on May 8th, but the team’s locker room was a screaming match, a brutal 15 minutes full of finger-pointing and bruised egos.



Things may have been quieter after the game, but the mood was worse. The Revs had lost 5-0. The embarrassing result dropped the team to 2-8-2, tied with lowly FC Cincinnati for last in the Eastern Conference. It was their second consecutive five-goal defeat and capped a four-game stretch in which they gained just one point and got outscored 18-5. The Revs felt defeated. They were only 12 games into their season, but it looked like the Revs were staring down the barrel of a fourth-straight lost campaign.



“In Chicago, guys gave up,” said Revs defender Andrew Farrell. “Guys in the locker room, a couple of guys were just like, ‘Yeah, I quit out there.’ It was just like, ‘Huh, OK, well, fuck you, then.’ It was just weird. I think...