Bruce Arena stays mum on Diego Fagundez and Alexander Buttner

The New England Revolution were narrowly able to escape with a victory over the Montreal Impact on Friday night. Gustavo Bou slotted home a goal in the 95th minute to ensure that the Revs advanced to the next round of the MLS Cup Playoffs. Bruce Arena’s selection of players might have had something to do with the team’s struggles.

There were numerous absences from the lineup. Alexander Buttner was unavailable and so was Brandon Bye. The Fox Sports broadcast team indicated that Bye had suffered a hamstring injury while no explanation beyond being unavailable was made for Buttner’s absence

This forced Tajon Buchanan to have to play the game at right back. Buchanan performed well but was taken off due to an injury early in the second half.

Another notable missing piece was Diego Fagundez. The midfielder who is tied with Sharlie Joseph for the most regular season appearances in Revolution history was watching the game from the stands.

Fagundez’s absence comes on the heels of a source telling The Bent Musket that Fagundez has received offers from clubs in Liga MX and La Liga as well as other MLS clubs. The Bent Musket also learned that Fagundez has received a contract extension offer from the Revs.

After the win, Bruce Arena was asked about his decision to leave Fagundez and Buttner out of the lineup and didn’t exactly have a lot to say.

He said. “Coach’s decision. Period. They will hopefully be available for the game against Philadelphia.”

New England doesn’t have a lot of time to prepare for their next matchup. They will play the Philadelphia Union on Tuesday and it will definitely be an interesting matchup seeing that the Union and Revs have faced each other a lot in 2020.

When it matters most will the Revs be able to pull out a win? We will see what happens on Tuesday.