The New England Revolution unveiled Marko Mitrovic as the club’s 10th head coach on Wednesday morning, with the Serbian-born tactician pledging to deliver an attack-minded style of play to a franchise looking to end a two-year postseason drought and win its first MLS title.

Flanking Mitrovic in a nearly 30-minute press conference was Revolution sporting director Curt Onalfo, who praised his new hire as an astute tactician, manager, and disciplined thinker.

“Marko is exceptional in every way — the perfect blend of old-school, championship-level coaching and modern technical brilliance,” Onalfo said. “He’s demanding yet deeply compassionate, understands exactly what today’s players need to thrive, and uses modern, winning strategies that define elite coaching.”

Onalfo downplayed the fact that this is Mitrovic’s first professional head-coaching role. He was apparently the last candidate the Revolution engaged during a two-month search to find the successor to former head coach Caleb Porter, who was fired in September after less than two full seasons at the helm.

“Our process, I wanted to make sure it wasn’t rushed,” Onalfo added. “It took eight weeks, and he was the last person to come into the market. The cream rises to the top in these situations, and it becomes very clear who the person is that you want to hire.”

Mitrovic, 47, entered the candidate pool late because he was in the thick of coaching the U.S. national team to a quarterfinal finish at the 2025 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile. Onalfo said Wednesday he requested permission from U.S. Soccer to interview Mitrovic as soon as possible, and alluded to other MLS clubs being interested in his services.

A former central midfielder who spent the brunt of his playing career in his native Serbia as well as in Kazakhstan, Hungary, and Azerbaijan, Mitrovic shifted to coaching in 2011. He served as an assistant coach for several Serbian clubs and youth national teams before joining the staff of his compatriot Veljko Paunovic at the Chicago Fire from 2016-19.

Mitrovic’s last three coaching stints were leading the talent-rich U.S. U-19 (2022-23), U-23 (2023-24), and U-20 teams (2024-25).

The Revolution, which concluded the 2025 season 9-16-9, will look to Mitrovic to provide a fresh approach. Onalfo said some members of the current coaching staff would stay on but declined to specify who, with Mitrovic also stating he plans to announce at least two assistants shortly.

When asked about his approach to coaching, Mitrovic outlined two distinct areas of focus.

“We have to have fighting spirit,” he said. “We have to… give everything. For me it’s non-negotiable. So, before we talk about any quality of our play or individual quality, we have to be sure that every player gave everything.

“Tactically… I will use one word: It’s attack. We will attack with the ball, and we will attack the ball when we don’t have the ball, and we will be very aggressive with that.”

Despite a 2025 season that fell below expectations, the Revolution appeared to turn a corner in the late fall as their scoring threats began to find their form. Summer acquisition Dor Turgeman recorded three goals and one assist. He also seemed to establish a budding strike partnership with Leonardo Campana, while captain Carles Gil concluded the campaign as one of the league’s top chance creators.

Mitrovic has not yet spoken to his players, but said Wednesday that Gil would be crucial to achieving a new tactical philosophy.

“Carles Gil is one of the most talented players in this league,” Mitrovic said. “He’s extremely important for our game, and he’s extremely important for the model of the game that I would like our team to play.

“I can say that watching the games, I’m quite familiar with the roster… I feel very positive with the roster that we have right now.”