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New England Revolution

New England Revolution Training Report For March 21st

March 21, 2018 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
New England Revolution News Release


New England Revolution Head Coach Brad Friedel

On harnessing the energy from the March 10 win through the bye week: Coach Friedel: "Energy is still really good and now we're focusing a little bit more on New York. ...The energy has been very, very good from day one. Whenever you get a victory under your belt, it's always easier to be in a good mood. Let's put it that way."

On Gabriel Somi's recovery from a head injury: Coach Friedel: "We didn't rush him, that's for certain. We let the medical staff do what they needed to do and Gabriel [Somi], obviously, we told him from the get-go to be as honest as he can be. We don't want to have any bad head injuries in the game. We don't want one of our players to sustain any side effects or serious effects going forward in their lives. The medical staff did a very good job and they were prudent in every step of the way, and Gabriel is good."

On Antonio Delamea and Claude Dielna returning from red-card suspensions: Coach Friedel: "It's always important to have all of your players fit in every position. I've said this many times, I want to have at least two deep in every position so we can have competition for places. I don't want complacency to creep into any position in the group. Having Toni [Delamea] and Claude [Dielna] back will help that dramatically. We don't have to sort of change players and positions now. Now, it's a battle for places and we'll see on Saturday who wins their place in the starting 11."

On New York City FC: Coach Friedel: "Very good team going forward, though from the sounds of it they'll be missing [Alexander] Ring, who has been a very good ball winner in the midfield next to [Yangel] Herrera. So, they're going to have to make an adjustment there. They don't have [Rodney] Wallace and [Ronald] Matarrita, I believe, as well on international duty. I would assume - or we're going to plan - on David Villa and [Anton] Tinnerholm both being fit for selection. I think we have to do that. If David Villa is fit with [Jesus] Medina and [Maxi] Moralez, they're very, very good up front. I do think that we're very good up front also, and it should make for a very entertaining game."

On Luis Caicedo's expected arrival: Coach Friedel: "Hopefully he's on a plane today. We'll see. We had to wait for obviously all of the visa paperwork to be stamped and finalized. So, hopefully today or tomorrow he's on the way in. Hopefully, if it is tomorrow, the storm doesn't stop him from coming in."

New England Revolution Midfielder Kelyn Rowe

On how the team is dealing with the cold temperatures at training: Rowe: "You kind of get used to it, I guess. Not a huge a fan of it every day, but that's kind of how it is. When it comes to New England weather, you kind of just expect it to be cold and you expect more snow to come around, which it is this week, so look, you've got to play through it."

On how the group is feeling after the bye week: Rowe: "Feeling pretty good, I don't think any of us wanted the bye this quickly, but we got it. We got it after a win, which is nice. We put in a lot of work last week and we were able to get a couple days off, and now we're back to work and focusing on New York [City FC]."

On his reaction to Chris Tierney's game-winning goal against Colorado: Rowe: "I think it's a last-minute goal and one that no other guy deserves more. He's a guy that's been here forever and he's the epitome of a Revolution player. He's a guy I've looked up to for a long time, so it's great for him get that goal in a crazy fashion. You could see everyone was excited, not just myself, that was great. We're just going to [build] momentum as much as we can to get into [the match against] New York. There are also things we have to learn from that game as well. We've got to learn to kill a team off, because we were very good in that game, but for about 10 minutes, man, we weren't. So, can we get rid of those 10 minutes and put a full 90 together."

On the challenges presented by NYCFC: Rowe: "I think they're very good going forward. They have a lot of players that can attack and not just their forward front two [or] three. Their wing backs get involved as well and they're very good at cutting plays out in the midfield. They're going to be missing a few key players, but I think coming into New England, we're very good against many teams, but New York [City] as well. I think we're going to play our game and attack them on the wings."

On having Antonio Delamea and Claude Dielna available for selection this weekend: Rowe: "It's been good. It's good that we've had the weekend off, because we get those guys kind of acclimated back into the system again. But you know, they're going to have a lot of work in front of them. I thought Jalil [Anibaba] and [Andrew] Farrell were very good on the weekend, and you see them going out through the preseason as well, so it's going to be great and [I] love the fact that there's competition everywhere."

New England Revolution Defender Antonio Delamea

On returning to the squad after missing the March 10 match with a red-card suspension: Delamea: "I'm hungry for games, that's definitely the fact. I'll be pretty rested thanks to that red card. I'm just hoping I'm going to get a chance to play, to prove myself in a game."

On maintaining the energy from that win on March 10 through a bye week: Delamea: "I think we just transfer the mentality from training to the games and that's all we need to do. We've been training very hard, very good for the past bye week. We just need to transfer this to a game and to show to ourselves, to the fans that we're capable of beating anyone."

On defending against New York City FC's attacking group: Delamea: "We know their strengths, we know their weaknesses. We'll try to outplay them. First, we'll try to play soccer with them - try to keep the ball, to play possession. We know we need to be sharp to win duels, especially in the midfield. This is where their strength is coming from. If we can cut their midfield off, that will do almost half of our job."

On playing his first home match of the season: Delamea: "It's always something special for us, also for me, to play in front of our fans. It's always a good atmosphere. Even if the stadium is not full, the Fort always makes a good atmosphere out there. I'm just looking forward. Like I said before, I want to prove myself. I want to show I'm still the old, good Antonio Delamea."

New England Revolution Defender Gabriel Somi

On how he is feeling after sustaining a head injury on March 10: Somi: "Thankfully, I am feeling great. The first few days [were] a bit tough, I had a bit of a headache, but other than that, these couple of days I've been progressing really well and finally I can train with the team."

On if he had dealt with head injuries in the past: Somi: "Actually, it's the first time that I got a concussion, so it was all new to me."

On if it's difficult to remain patient while recovering from a head injury: Somi: "Of course, you know it was the first home opener, of course you want to play in front of our home fans. Stuff like that happens, but we continue."

On how eager he is to get back on the field: Somi: "Of course, I'm looking forward to these upcoming games, especially now we play New York [City FC] next game. I'm very excited and can't wait to play."

On the upcoming match against New York City FC: Somi: "We are looking forward for it and it will be a challenge, but we know we are strong at home and hopefully we go out and try to take three points in all of our games."

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