Gustavo Bou Not Fully Training, Ruled Out of Matchup Against Philadelphia Union

“He has an injury. That's why he's missing. He’s not fully training.”

Photo By ©J. Alexander Dolan

After appearing in New England’s final game in April, Gustavo Bou will miss his third straight league game as he has been ruled out prior to the Revolution’s matchup against the Philadelphia Union this weekend.

While there isn’t a lot known about the injury, Bou is listed as having a left leg injury on the player availability report and Bruce Arena stated that the Designated Player wasn’t training fully with the team.

“He has an injury. That's why he's missing. He’s not fully training,” Arena said on Thursday.

So far in 2023, Bou has appeared in just six games and has tallied two goals and an assist. Almost all of New England’s strikers have dealt with injuries so far this season outside of Justin Rennicks who has failed to miss time due to an injury.

With the injuries at the position, Arena stated that it has been difficult to play in a two-striker formation in 2023.

“I am not quite sure over 12 games how many have we've played [with two strikers] but we have played with two strikers this year,” Arena said when asked by Boston.com’s Hayden Bird about potentially playing with two strikers. “I can't recall at the moment how many times we've done that, but we've had injuries to [Bobby] Wood, [Giacomo] Vrioni [Gustavo] Bou and [Jozy] Altidore. When you have all those injuries it’s harder to play two strikers, so that's part of the reason why you haven't seen it more often.”

While Bou hasn’t been on the field, players such as Wood have had to step up. The veteran striker is currently tied for the club’s golden boot with three goals this season and has been a quality target man up top for New England.

Wood has been able to win balls when going up against defenders and has made quality runs to spring the attack. Up until this point he has been the only striker who has successfully been able to play with his back to goal compared to a player like Giacomo Vrioni or Bou who are better at making runs and finding open space.

Young midfielder Noel Buck believes that the Revolution strikers have stepped up and that injuries are something that you just have to deal with in MLS.

“I mean, it’s obviously very difficult with a player like Gustavo [Bou] out,” Buck said. “I think our forwards have stepped up. I think Bobby Wood has been really, really good, he’s a good player. These injuries are going to happen throughout a season, and we’ve got to have players who can step up when they need to.”

So it remains to be seen when Bou will return. He has missed nearly a month’s worth of games and with the news that he isn’t fully training with the team, it will take some time to build fitness and be ready to play 90 minutes.

While Wood has stepped up to the plate, New England will also need fellow DP Vrioni to make up for Bou’s absence. The 24-year-old needs to start scoring (and hopefully make his way into the starting XI).

But for now, it seems like Revolution fans will need to be patient as Bou’s absence is extended at least another week.

UPDATE: Of course as soon as I hit send we get more info. Bruce Arena spoke to 98.5 The Sports Hub and gave more detail into Bou’s injury and timeline.

“He was out on the field the last couple of days doing running exercises. He had a minor calf injury. He looks like he’s up to full speed so he should be back on the field, I would think, next week and hopefully we’ll have him ready to play soon.

Bou also took to Instagram to discuss his injury