The center back looked great against his former team
Omar Gonzalez’s New England Revolution career didn’t get off to a great start but on Wednesday night he had the best performance of his time in New England.
The veteran center back had been giving away goals and defending poorly for the majority of the 2022 MLS season. Gonzalez has shown every bit of his 33 years and has been a major disappointment for the Revolution.
But that changed on Wednesday night.
Gonzalez played all 90 minutes and completed 27 of his 33 passes. The center back also had 44 touches, nine clearances, five recoveries, and won two duels (2/2 on the night).
After the match, Gonzalez was asked how he can build off performances such as Wednesdays after a difficult start to the season and how he can help the team.
“Yeah, honestly, it’s been difficult not getting the playing time that I want,” Gonzalez said. “But as a professional and as a veteran guy, you keep training, you keep living for these moments, and you keep preparing yourself, and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. I haven’t been getting many opportunities since June, or since the [Henry] Kessler and [Andrew] Farrell pairing was back together. So, you keep moving forward and I kept myself ready, and so I’m really happy that tonight it went well and I performed well.”
Gonzalez then went on to talk about how soccer is a team game and how he can be a good teammate.
“It takes an entire team, you know? Your number isn’t always called but you got to stick with it,” the center back said. “You got to keep on being a good teammate, keep on pumping the guys up even though maybe you’re not called on that day. It’s been the story of of my year, it’s been that way. And it’s about being a good locker room guy and stepping up when your number is called. So tonight, I’m happy with my performance and hopefully I can use this to keep on building confidence.”
The 33-year-old played clean soccer and made no mistakes in the back. He looked great in a five-man back line alongside Christian Makoun and Andrew Farrell.
After the match, Gonzalez spoke about how he thought the Revolution did playing with five men in the back.
“Yeah, I thought we were all very effective tonight,” the center back stated. “We all knew the game plan, we knew exactly what we were doing, and we forced them [Toronto FC] to shoot from distance. On one of them, they were successful, but I mean other than shooting from distance, I don’t think they were able to penetrate and create any real solid chances. So, I thought the backline, the midfielders in front of us did a great job in protecting us and overall, a great team effort. We wanted three points but leaving here with a point is also good and we just keep moving.”
Gonzalez’s performance against his former team will have Revolution fans pleased and hoping that he can do more of the same the next time Bruce Arena calls his name.