After all those air miles, all that time spent viewing videos, attending tryout sessions and matches, it turned out they only had to be sitting by the phone. Last Tuesday, a call arrived from MLS offices in New York informing them US national team midfielder Benny Feilhaber was all theirs.

All they had to do was say yes.

No contract had to be negotiated, no wait for an international transfer certificate, no visa applications. It was a no-brainer.

And the least-complicated acquisition in Revolution history might well salvage the season. Before their 3-2 win over Sporting Kansas City in Feilhaber’s debut Saturday, the Revolution had presented a frenetic, inconsistent approach to midfield play. Two of their most experienced midfielders, Shalrie Joseph and Pat Phelan, were red-carded in a 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake, and their ejections could be attributed to the chaotic activity in the center of the field, leading to confusion and frustration. Whatever the Revolution were doing in the midfield, it was not leading to goals, or even decent scoring opportunities, and the team had produced only one victory in six games.

Feilhaber put an end to a lot of that uncertainty soon after stepping on the field. In the 12th minute of his first game, he produced a nice layoff to Marko Perovic for a goal. He continued moving quickly to the right spots, and his composure on the ball led to cohesion.

There were questions whether Feilhaber would be worth a $375,000 annual salary. In fact, Chivas USA and Philadelphia, which were ahead of the Revolution in the allocation order, passed up Feilhaber, likely because of his contract. The league considers the deal worth $335,000 toward the salary cap, equal to a designated player.

By adding Feilhaber, it could preclude the acquisition of a DP during the June transfer period. But the Revolution decided to take a chance and the move has an excellent chance of paying off. There are plenty of potential DPs out there with Feilhaber’s ability, but the chances of them moving to MLS are slim. And, a lot of wheel-spinning would have to be done just for the possibility of convincing them to make the move.

Why did Chivas USA and Philadelphia pass on Feilhaber?

Chivas coach Robin Fraser had several days to consider the decision, Feilhaber having signed with MLS with a move near his Irvine, Calif., home in mind. At the last minute, Fraser said his team is more than one player away from improvement, so he presumably plans to invest elsewhere. The next call went to Philadelphia’s Peter Nowak, who turned down Feilhaber. The Union already have skillful midfielders, and Nowak might well have something else lined up.

That left the Revolution.

“There was no way we expected to get that call,’’ vice president of player personnel Michael Burns said yesterday. “We were on the clock at that point and, naturally, I called Steve [Nicol] and for a lot of reasons it made sense for us.’’

Whatever the cost, Feilhaber appears to have been worth it because now the Revolution are on the right track.

Nicol had changed the team’s direction before the season by rebuilding the defense and taking steps toward finding finishers. Rajko Lekic, who scored the deciding goal against Sporting Kansas City, is an instinctive, lively striker and the Revolution believe they can add another forward in June. But the missing link was in the midfield, and nobody seemed to have a solution to that problem until Feilhaber showed up.

So, in true American sports franchise style, the Revolution have been rewarded for past failures. Their 2010 record (9-16-5), the team’s worst since 2001, placed the team in a position to improve.

In ’96, the Revolution earned 18 points in 17 games and were in fourth place in a five-team division when they acquired Joe-Max Moore. In ’02, they were coming off a 7-14-5 season when they selected Alex Pineda Chacon, Mamadou Diallo, Adin Brown, Carlos Llamosa, Steve Ralston, Jim Rooney, and Diego Serna.

Feilhaber is not expected to play against D.C. United in a US Open Cup match tonight in Boyds, Md. But he will be making the trip to Los Angeles for the Revolution’s visit to Chivas USA Saturday.

“I think he’s had a lot of experience with the national team and playing internationally, so that has helped him in the process,’’ Burns said.

“To be fair to Benny, it was a whirlwind 48 hours for him. For all intents and purposes he was surprised to end up in New England and we were surprised, also. He had a one-hour training session and had to play in a game. So, we wanted to give him a couple of days off and let him get his feet underneath him, and process this whole thing.’’

Frank Dell’Apa can be reached at f_dellapa@globe.com.