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Revs Return Home to Face Nashville: Q&A with New England Revolution Coaches and Players

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Revolution Sporting Director & Head Coach Bruce ArenaOn Carles Gil’s status after exiting Sunday’s match with a muscle strain:

Arena: “[Carles Gil] feels better today. We’re hopeful that as we get through the week he’ll be available.”

On Gustavo Bou’s return to the lineup:

Arena: “Yeah, and it’s going to take some time realistically. We may have pushed [Gustavo Bou] a little bit too much on Sunday, but he’s making progress.”

On Andrew Farrell’s status for Saturday:

Arena: “We’ll see as we get through the week. It was [Andrew Farrell’s] first time on the field today in, I’d say, about three or four weeks. So, we’ve got to see what he looks like during the week.”

On Nashville SC’s strength defensively:

Arena: “Well, their backline defends well and they have good goalkeeping. [Walker] Zimmerman defends well, the whole pairing in the back line is good. They have the MLS MVP from last year, their number 10 [Hany] Mukhtar, who is very good. We know Teal Bunbury is their striker and he’s good, he’s active, and he’s difficult to play against. Dax McCarty is a very good number 6 that they have. So, they’re a good team and they defend well as a team. When they go on the road, they make things real difficult on their opponent, so we expect to see that on Saturday.”

On Teal Bunbury’s time with New England:

Arena: “[Teal Bunbury] is one of the finest athletes I’ve ever worked with. He’s a great guy, good family man, good teammate, very competitive person, and it’ll be good to see him again. We saw him a couple of weeks ago down in Florida and it was nice to chat with him. It’ll be great to have him back. I have a lot of respect for him and he’s a good person.”

On lessons learned from Sunday’s loss at Los Angeles FC:

Arena: “Well, we may have given the game away early with the penalty kick. If you look at the first half, there’s no difference between either team. They were better organized, and I think they worked a little harder to be honest with you.”

On reigning MLS MVP Hany Mukhtar:

Arena: “[Hany Mukhtar] is a creative guy and he’s a goal scorer. He’s got a good nose for the goal, he’s very active in the penalty area, he can shoot with both feet, and he’s very active in the last third of the field. They don’t ask him to come back a whole lot defensively. He has the freedom to move around. A little different from Carles Gil, where Carles will play more in the middle third of the field and he’ll play in the attacking third.”

On Dylan Borrero receiving a call-up to the Colombia National Team:

Arena: “Well, [Dylan Borrero] is a young player and there’s been too many peaks and valleys. I actually talked to him about that today – he needs to elevate his game where he’s a little more steady game-in-and-game-out. And that takes a little time, he’s still young, the league is new to him, and playing the sport at this level is new to him. So, it’s going to take a little time.”

On the depth at center back and the competition for minutes:

Arena: “Well there hasn’t been any competition. The depth hasn’t been there because [Andrew Farrell] hasn’t been training. When he gets back in and he’s healthy, he’s training, and he’s competing to get on the field full-time, it’ll be good. But we’ve got to see how he gets through the week before we make any decisions whether he’ll be part of our team on Saturday.”

Revolution Defender Andrew FarrellOn his return to full training this week:

Farrell: “I’m feeling good. It feels good to be back with the boys, back in training. Obviously, it’s a little rainy and cold today but I’m back and I’m ready to contribute as much as I can.”

On if he hopes to play on Saturday:

Farrell: “Yeah, I mean, we’ll see. The guys have been playing well. Obviously, the last game [on Sunday at Los Angeles FC] was tough, but I think for me right now it’s just being able to get back into training, building up my fitness, and being available for selection. I think that’s the biggest part and the biggest positive for me is to just get back into the fold with things.”

On rehabbing from his injury suffered in preseason:

Farrell: “Rehabbing has been great. It was a rough preseason for me. I came in feeling pretty good, then I had a hamstring problem, then came back, hurt my hamstring again, and came back and hurt my hamstring again for a third time. So, I think I was rushing myself back and I probably should have taken a little bit more time and taken a little bit more care of that instead of such a choppy preseason for myself. But I finally took time off and the medical staff did a good job getting me back. I’m happy to be able to finally get my first week of training this week and build up my fitness to see if I can contribute whatever I can to the team.”

On missing time at the start of the season:

Farrell: “It’s really rough, especially during preseason just because you’re really just there to create that bond, create chemistry, and really get to know the other players. I’ve been here for a while, so I know a lot of players, but there’s new faces and, obviously, to get a starting spot and to be able to play you have to be available. That’s something that, through 10 years, I’ve been able to get through. So, this was probably the roughest preseason for me just not being able to be around on the field with the guys. But that’s part of professional sports. Hopefully I’ve gotten mentally stronger throughout the whole time, and I’m excited to be back this week.”

On reuniting with former teammate Teal Bunbury:

Farrell: “Yeah, I’m excited. Obviously, Nashville SC is a good team. I don’t think they’ve given up a goal yet, great defense. But yeah, I’m excited to see [Teal Bunbury]. I saw him during preseason down in Florida, but it’ll be good to welcome him back and hopefully we can hand him their first loss of the season.”

On Matt Polster becoming a leader in the squad:

Farrell: “Matt [Polster] is a funny player. He’s one of the staples for our team and our core, and he’s a very important player. On our team, we have a lot of guys who are very talented, but it’s hard to find a guy on our that can do what Matt does and he plays such an important role for us, especially as that number-6 role at defensive midfielder. We call him ‘Pouty P’ sometimes because he gets pouty especially when it’s cold and rainy. But he’s one of our toughest competitors and one of our best players. It was kind of a proud moment to see him wear the captain’s armband [at Los Angeles FC] because he’s such an important player for our team. And wearing the armband gives him even more of that status of guys listening to him. I think it will make him step up and be more of a different role of a leader than he already is because of that. But it was exciting to see when the graphic came out, he was on the field with the armband. I think, like I said, he’s a really important player for our team and a close friend to all of us.”

On depth at center back:

Farrell: “There’s not too much competition since I’ve been out for a really long time, but those guys [Dave Romney and Henry Kessler] have played really well so far, which I think is a good thing. It’s a position where we needed to bring in competition and needed guys to push each other. Not necessarily a good thing, but if I don’t ever get to see the field this year it will be a good thing because I’ll be pushing these guys to try to get minutes. There’s going to be time where I might be feeling a knock and I have to step in or someone else has to step in. Bringing [Dave Romney] in has been a good addition. He’s played well so far, and we all get along pretty well. There’s competition to get on the field but we’re all pretty tight and close off the field as well.”

On the challenges of facing Nashville SC:

Farrell: “[Nashville SC] have obviously got really good defensive players on the team with Walker [Zimmerman], Shaq Moore, Jack Maher, and Daniel Lovitz as well as a good goalkeeper [Joe Willis]. Their back line is really good, and they’ve got pace up top, obviously, with Teal [Bunbury], Fafà Picault, and reigning MVP [Hany] Mukhtar. They’ve got a good veteran midfield, a lot of veteran pieces, a lot of young and quick attacking players, and a solid defense. So, that’s a team that is just hard to beat, they rarely make mistakes so it’s hard to beat them because they don’t really beat themselves. You’ve got to create a lot of chances to really put them on the back foot. They’re great on set pieces and have pace up top, so it’s annoying to play against them because they’ll sometimes sit in a block, hit you on the counter, and that’s a dangerous game to play because you’ve got to open yourself up to try and press them and kind of pin them back. So, I think it’ll be a good matchup and it will be exciting for our fans, especially after our last result.”

On changing his number in the offseason from 2 to 88:

Farrell: “I just wanted to switch it up. I think starting my 11th season here, so I’ve been here for 10 years. I’m 30, so I’ve lived in Peru for 10 years, Kentucky for 10 years, and now in Boston for 10 years, so I wanted to switch it up for year 31 of my life.”

On if he minded Dave Romney claiming the number 2 shirt:

Farrell: “No, it’s okay. As long as we win MLS Cup with him on the team, then I think I’ll be okay.”

Revolution Midfielder Matt PolsterOn embracing a new week:

Polster: “Yeah, it’s a difficult one to take. I think at the end of the day, regardless of how you lose, it’s a loss, so I think just moving on from this and just now focusing on Nashville is the most important thing.”

On what makes Nashville tough to play against:

Polster: “Yeah, they’re a unit. I think they defend as a group. They’re all willing to work hard for each other and that’s what makes them difficult to play against. They obviously have, I think, three clean sheets now, so it’s going to be difficult to score, but I think we have certain players that can unlock defenses, so I think we’ll be alright.”

On wearing the captain’s armband for the first time last week:

Polster: “It was an honor. I appreciate the staff for believing in me and thinking that I’m a leader of this team, so I was excited to wear it and to lead the team out there.”

On LAFC’s and Nashville’s midfields:

Polster: “I thought the midfield battle in the LAFC game was good until they started changing things which made them dominate the game a little bit more. I thought they were more intense throughout the entire team. Their front three worked really, really hard, made it difficult to get on the ball. And then looking at the midfield in Nashville, obviously they have really good players like [Anibal] Godoy, Dax [McCarty], and Sean Davis, so it’s another tough game. Again, they work really hard for each other. They’re committed defensively and they have really good players in the attack that can break us down like Teal [Bunbury], C.J. [Sapong], and [Hany] Mukhtar.”

On Teal Bunbury returning to New England:

Polster: “[Teal Bunbury] is annoying to play against. I’ve dealt with it now playing him in preseason, so it’s fun. There’s a little banter in there for sure, but he’s a tough player to play against. He’s always committed to pressing you and as a midfielder you don’t really like that from forwards.”

On Andrew Farrell returning to action:

Polster: “Yeah, it’s everything. I think [Andrew Farrell] brings a charisma to the group, a lot of energy that he brings to training and to games and he’s also a leader of this team, so when you can implement another guy like that, he’s going to feel like a new player for us in this season.”

On what lessons the group learned defensively from last week:

Polster: “Yeah, I think you hit on it. It’s a unit thing. I don’t think you can just look at the scoreline and say, ‘Oh you know, the defense was bad.’ I think when you look at teams that are successful in this league and that can keep clean sheets, it’s all 11 players. You can see that from LAFC. There were multiple occasions where their entire 11 was behind the ball and defending and so, that’s what we’ll need from our group come Nashville because obviously they have a couple good attacking players and then we’ll have to be good on the attack and try to score the first goal against them.”

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