New England Revolution Players Address Reports of Refusing to Train, Anger Over Lack of Clarity
New England Revolution Players Address Reports of Refusing to Train, Anger Over Lack of Clarity
"Sure, we wanted to know more but they gave us all the info that they could give us, and we want to move forward.”
With little information regarding the Bruce Arena investigation and happenings of the club being provided by the New England Revolution, soccer journalists on a national and local scale have been searching for answers.
Two major reports to come this week were that the Revolution refused to train on Tuesday and that players were upset over a lack of transparency from the club regarding the investigation into Arena. The Athletic were the first to report both of these key bits of information.
While Tom Bogert and Pablo Maurer do an amazing job and shouldn’t be accused of lying or poor reporting, Revolution players have pushed back on these reports.
Matt Polster issued a statement to The Blazing Musket’s own Seth Macomber where he stated that the Revs never refused to train.
TBM attended training on Thursday and asked club captain Carles Gil and club legend Andrew Farrell about the reports of players refusing to train.
“No, it was just we had a lot of meetings on Tuesday and it got late so we decided as a collective with the coaching staff and the management and the players that there probably was a lot on our minds and it wasn't the best decision to train,” the defender said. “I think as players we were happy that we made that decision as a collective.”
While also confirming that the players never refused to train, Gil also discussed the headspace that players were in after those meetings.
“We came in Tuesday, like a normal day, to have a meeting before we train,” the captain said. “And then meeting was longer and longer, so in the end, everyone would like to train and wanted to train, but obviously, we like to have good trainings to be ready and focused, and maybe it wasn't the moment for that. We preferred to go home and come back the next day and be ready and focused 100 percent.”
In terms of any anger over a lack of transparency, Gil stated that while players wanted to know more, they understood it is a “league matter.”
“No. We understand, obviously, it’s an investigation that's private,” the midfielder said. “The information just can't get to us. It's just not wise for us to keep going over it because it's private. It's a league matter. Sure, we wanted to know more but they gave us all the info that they could give us, and we want to move forward.”
When asked about the reports of anger from the players, midfielder Matt Polster echoed the sentiment of Gil saying “we got what we got.”
“Look, when the situation of investigating is going on, you want as much information as you can get. Unfortunately, we got what we got and we're focused on what we can control and that's all we have in our hands. So we have to move past it as a team and we have. This group is extremely unified. We've dealt with this for the past five weeks, and we've continued to put in good performances and that's all we want.”
With Farrell being a veteran of the Revolution locker room, he mentioned his trust for those in decision-making positions.
“Obviously it’s tough,” the defender said when asked by Gustavo Lopes about the social media chatter around the club and reports of anger from players over a lack of clarity from the club. “Like I said for us, we put trust in the people that make decisions. That stuff is out of [our] control. I've been here for a long time and the club has never done wrong by me. My trust is put in the club and I think they're going to do the best for the fans, for the players, for themselves because we want to be together as an organization. Obviously, we always, you know, want answers and stuff but we trust in the decisions that Curt made and the club has made and we're going to keep moving forward in that direction.”
So while it seemed like the Revolution were on the verge of revolt, the players seemed to dismiss that theory on Thursday. Prior to the departure of Bruce Arena, New England appeared to have one of the strongest locker rooms, while Clint Peay is now at the helm, that unity amongst the squad still remains.