Photo Credit: Kari Heistad
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – On Tuesday, Revolution coach Brad Friedel said he needed commitment and effort from all of his players, but stopped short of saying Lee Nguyen met those criteria.
Three days after the team’s dynamic midfielder was left off the gameday roster for the sixth straight game, Friedel addressed the topic at length following the team’s morning training session.
“I have not punished a player here once,” Friedel said. “That’s not what it’s about. It’s about getting people’s fitness levels up, and playing, by the way, committed players.”
The inference seems obvious: Friedel believes that Nguyen, who held out during the first three weeks of camp due to a trade demand, is not one of those committed players.
“When a new staff comes in, it’s a clean slate,” Friedel said. “It’s very, very simple, and the players who are willing to commit and put the effort forth are the players who are getting an opportunity to play.
“When I pick a team, no matter who it is, there are zero personal issues that go into it. It is who me and my staff feel will win a game on the weekend. There is nothing more or less to it.”
Friedel also seemed to suggest that Nguyen, who originally requested a trade at the start of the 2017 season, could have done better to position himself for playing time during the preseason.
“He opted not to come to training,” Friedel said. “Can you not go to work? OK. So if you opt not to come to work, then your first impression is a good one, or a bad one? OK, so everybody else is working incredibly hard while someone doesn’t turn up.
“And then when he does turn up, he’s so far behind fitness. It’s not punishment. I don’t have an issue with Lee. We have not had one personal back and forth with each other at all.”
Nguyen (center-left) who has 51 goals in 191 regular season appearances for the Revs, has yet to make an appearance with the side in 2018 (photo credit: Kari Heistad)
That may be true, but the fact that Nguyen, who scored 11 goals and collected 15 assists last year, was unavailable for selection in Saturday’s home loss to Dallas only subjected the first year coach to greater scrutiny.
But Friedel has remained firm in his gameday player selections.
“I said when I was hired that what you did in the past, and what your salary is, what your last name is, is absolutely irrelevant to me and my staff,” Friedel said. “It is what you do in front of us that is what’s going to impress us, or not impress us.”
Curiously, the first-year head coach seemed surprised by all the questions surrounding Nguyen’s absence from the 18 all season.
“You guys are focused on one individual and I’m not really sure why,” Friedel said. “There are a lot of players out here who are working incredibly hard and doing incredibly well. I expect them to turn up and be professional every single day, which by and large, every single player does. It hasn’t been the case with every player, but almost every player.”
Saturday’s match at Columbus may force Friedel’s hand when it comes to midfield options. Kelyn Rowe injured his knee prior to last weekend’s match, and is expected to miss at least one more match.
With that in mind, Friedel was asked whether Rowe’s injury could create an opportunity to make the 18 for the first time in 2018.
“Everyone has an opportunity to make the 18,” Friedel said. “It depends upon what kind of effort you put forth in training.”
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