With the New England Revolution training camp starting on January 18th there is plenty of things to watch out for if you are a fan of the team.
With so many moving parts this off-season that trend will likely continue into the early weeks of pre-season action.
Here are three predictions I have for New England’s 2020 pre-season:
Bruce Arena will be tinkering with formation and personnel groupings….
This tinkering will likely lead to some less than ideal outcomes on the pitch but this is what pre-season action is all about. Better to tweak this things now than in the regular MLS season.
Given all the new personnel and the fact this is Arena’s first training camp with the squad some learning curves are to be expected with the coaching staff installing their system.
So with that I fully expect some growing pains early on in preseason that could very well linger into the opening weeks of the MLS season.
A Veteran Will Be Traded Away…
Call it a hunch but I get the feeling that one of the veterans might be getting shipped off ahead of the regular season starting.
Who will it be? Money is on Diego Fagundez.
Fagundez doesn’t have a clear role on this team and his talent is deserving of more action. The HomeGrown player is still just 24-years-old despite entering his 10th MLS season in 2020.
In his Revolution tenure Fagundez has appeared in 242 games, 177 starts while scoring 52 goals and racking up 45 assists. Last season he appeared in 25 games (lowest since 2012) and started in just 13 (lowest since 2012). In that limited action Fagundez scored two goals and tallied three assists.
Given the roster build a Fagundez deal makes sense. Right now in the midfield the Revolution have Kelyn Rowe, Scott Caldwell, Carles Gil, Damien Rivera, Luis Caicedo, Wilfred Zahibo, Nicolas Firmino, Isaac Angking, and Fagundez. Certainly an area of depth that Arena can afford to remove a piece in exchange for an asset.
Tajon Buchanan Will Be The Breakout Star…..
I am on the Tajon Buchanan hype train, I fully admit it. This isn’t a season prediction that Buchanan will break out but in terms of capturing some buzz in camp he has all the talent in the world to turn heads.
Buchanan had some flashes in 2019 but appeared in just 10 games with 4 starts, far less than his fellow first round pick DeJuan Jones who had 20 appearances and 14 starts.
Buchanan as great pace and a 1v1 ability that is top notch.
