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The battle for minutes just got a little bit tougher because Krisztian Nemeth has returned from international duty.
Nemeth missed two games for the New England Revolution in order to play for the Hungarian national team. During this stretch, the Revs collected a home tie against New York City FC and a road win against the Houston Dynamo. Nemeth found his own success, scoring in a loss to Kazakhstan.
Nemeth is now back with the Revolution, feeling good after his time away.
“It’s always good to score in the national team, after a long time [since] I [had] scored, so that’s a positive,” Nemeth explained. “Of course, it gives me a little bit more confidence.”
Nemeth didn’t travel to Houston last weekend, so that he could get some additional rest after international duty. The striker did watch the game, however, and he was impressed by what he saw.
“I watched the game of course and I saw we really played well,” Nemeth said, “So, I hope we’re going to continue like this and keep winning and stay always in the playoff position.”
In order to keep the momentum going, the players know that they have to work hard on the training field. Every moment matters as the Revs look to make the postseason after a two-year absence.
To help achieve this goal, Friedel has created a competitive atmosphere where everyone has a chance to play on game day.
“The way all the players are playing, they’re all fighting for their places and that gives us a very, very nice problem to have when we go for selecting who’s going to be the starting 11,” Friedel said. “Now, we’re getting to a point where we have very good players that we may have to leave out of the 18.”
The players understand what’s at stake and they’re pushing each other on a daily basis. Whether it’s a fitness exercise, passing drill, or scrimmage, the players are putting in full effort for the betterment of the team.
“If we fight for the positions...everybody is going to be improved and it’s going to be a benefit for the team, a benefit for the players,” Nemeth said. “We’re going to be better after that for sure.”