By any measure, it's been a spectacular year thus far for the New England Revolution (22-5-7): on Sunday night, they just wrapped up the best regular season in MLS history (73 points!) and they earned the first Supporters' Shield in franchise history. For all that, they get to endure perhaps the most absurd break in sports: they won't play another real game again until November 30 (7:30, FS1) when they host an Eastern Conference semifinal match at Gillette Stadium vs. the winner of NYCFC (14-11-9) and Atlanta (13-9-12). It is all set up perfectly for them to win their long-awaited first Cup since they would also host the Eastern Conference Final and the MLS Cup should they reach it. This being the cursed Revs, we will sadly believe it all when we actually see it happen. Keeping the good vibes going though, the team shared some great news this morning as they announced that they had re-signed one of their star forwards Gustavo Bou to a two-year contract extension which will keep him in a Revolution uniform through the 2023 campaign.
The 31-year-old Argentinian has been here for three seasons now and he will continue to occupy both a Designated Player and an international roster slot. In 30 games this season (25 starts), Bou put up 15 goals (2nd to Adam Buksa's 16) and nine assists (2nd to Carles Gil's 18). This is no question the best team that the Revolution have ever fielded with other greats like goalkeeper Matt Turner (who has morphed into one of the USMNT's top options), defender Andrew Farrell (former No. 1 overall pick) and midfielder Tajon Buchanan (one of the top players on Canada's national team) in addition to Bou, Buksa (rising Polish star) and Gil (expected to be named the MLS MVP this season). Plus they are led by head coach Bruce Arena-the all-time winningest coach in league history and a former U.S. men's national team head coach. In other words, they'll never have a better chance to end their 25-year championship drought than during this postseason.
Like the other Revs players that I just mentioned, Bou is so good that in the back of your head you always wonder how much longer he will choose to play here and not take his talents elsewhere to better leagues and more prestigious clubs. However, I guess that given his age and nomadic career before he came to MLS, maybe he is happy to settle down with the Revolution and he sees the makings of something special these next few years. You have never really lived anyway until you spend a winter in the Foxborough, MA area. In his brief time with the club, Bou has already solidified his place as one of the best to ever play for New England. In 62 regular season games, he has notched 29 goals and 14 assists. He also proved to be a stud in the playoffs as well last season as he scored three goals and added an assist in four games as the Revs reached the Eastern Conference Final. It will take all of these guys and many others to win the Cup but honestly, how can you bet against this group in 2021?
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