When the New England Revolution come into Red Bull Arena on Saturday night, the New York Red Bulls will have an extra eye on Diego Fagúndez and Teal Bunbury.
“When you look at their offensive personnel, they create mismatches," Captain Luis Robles said. "Teal is a guy that, when he’s healthy, he’s been effective, he’s been a force and when he’s getting a consistent run, you see what he’s able to do. We have to be aware of him, he’s having a great season."
Bunbury enters the match with 10 goals in 20 games for the Revs, with Fagundez bagging seven goals of his own, along with his seven assists.
"To me, a lot of it runs through Fagúndez," Robles said. "I mean, this guy, it’s crazy. He’s 23- or 24-years-old, he’s like a nine year vet. It speaks to his quality as a player, and he continues to be the engine that runs this team and if we’re not aware of him, like he scored on us in the first game, he could punish us very quickly.”
Tyler Adams knows that marking Fagúndez is never easy.
"He is one of those crafty, unpredictable players that is super hard to defend," Adams said. "He is small, agile and those are the toughest players to play against, kind of like Kaku in a sense. Whether they are always on the move trying to make a difference. Just in general, whoever is around him on the day has to shut him down because it is that important. The less that he can create, the less that they create."
With the Revolution coming off a midweek loss to Minnesota United FC, and clicking under new Head Coach Brad Friedel, Robles knows they will be dangerous on Saturday night.
"We’ll be mindful of that knowing that they can strike pretty quickly and that we have to be aware, but I don’t necessarily think they’re going to reinvent the wheel against us," Robles said. "They’ve been committed to it, they want to play all season and in a way that is easy to game plan against, but it’s also tougher to stop because it works for them."
