How did the New England Revolution get here?
The 15th-best team in the 26-team league when the 2020 MLS Cup playoffs began is suddenly the most in-form side of the postseason, preparing for Sunday's Eastern Conference final against Columbus Crew SC (3 p.m. ET, stream live on ABC). And the 1.39 points per game that got New England into the playoffs as the East's No. 8 seed marked an improvement from the preceding four seasons, when it averaged 1.26 points per game in that span.
The simplest explanation is the hiring of manager Bruce Arena in May 2019.