Under religious context, the idea of The Four Horsemen are that they each depict aspects of catastrophe. On the White Horse rides Conquest; on the Red Horse is War; on the Black, Famine; and upon the Pale Horse rides Death (the actual quote from the Book of Revelations is very badass: I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him.)
When you looked at the New England Revolution before this past week, you'd see their own version of The Four Horsemen.
On the White Horse ride the Krafts on Conquest. They dominate the NFL, they dominate business, they dominate eSports now. They thought they too would dominate MLS as a charter member of the league. But has the desire for conquest hindered their conquest of MLS?
On the Red Horse sat Brad Freidel, the Red Skull. He may have been out of his depth, and this certainly wasn't a great situation for a true first time head coach. But Friedel inadvertently brought with him War. The locker room was lost, there was infighting amongst supporters as to how to right the ship, it was a massive debacle.
Upon the Black Horse is Brian Bilello, the President of the Revolution, and he brings the Famine. The Revolution haven't won a major title since the SuperLiga title in 2008. They've long been on the brink of the ultimate success only to fall short. On top of that, the promises of players and changes only to watch the promises turn to ash. Revs fans have been hungry for a long, long time.
And then there is the Pale Horse. On that ashen stallion rides Michael Burns, now-former-GM. And with him comes Hades. Mike Burns, aside from the Krafts perhaps, should shoulder the most blame for the current state of the Revolution. Burns seemingly was an agent of pure chaos. The hirings and signings he made were at times baffling, and rarely praised by the majority. Mike Burns brought Death upon the club, despite his best intentions.
But now, two of the four are gone. The Red Horse was the first to fall. And, improbably, Death himself felt the cold steel yesterday. Friedel is out. Burns is out. And now, Bruce Arena is in.
Arena is a one of the more polarizing figures in US Soccer today. He's also one of the winningest and successful coaches in American soccer history. His list of accomplishments includes: 5x MLS Cup winner, 3x MLS Coach of the Year, 3x Supporters' Shield winner, National Soccer Hall of Famer, twice led the US Men's National Team (yes, the second of those tenures is much disputed due to the failure to qualify, but we're focusing on his MLS deeds). He likely demanded total power, as he was also named Sporting Director. His role will be much of the Arsene Wenger ilk - manager and GM combined - or for New Englanders, a similar role that Bill Belichick plays for the New England Patriots.
This may be why the Krafts agreed to this setup; Bruce Arena can very much take on a Belichick persona as the end-all-be-all of authority for the Revs in the same way Belichick commands the Patriots. The Krafts are the antithesis of a James Dolan with the New York Knicks, meaning that they want to delegate power to the coaches and front offices of their teams. With coaches at One Patriot Place looking like they'll each hold total power, this could be the scenario needed to not just return the Revs to the upper-echelon of MLS, but to finally get them over the hump and bring an MLS Cup to the Six States.
This could all blow up in our faces. Perhaps Arena will, in some way, bring back War and Death, and we will see the Red Horse and the Pale Horse join their brethren once more. But for now, we have hope. And that's all we can ask for at this point.
New England Till We Die.
