Adam Buksa: “This is the work rate we need to keep up every game”

The New England Revolution were in dire need of some scoring during their four-game MLS losing streak. Designated Player Adam Buksa was able to get the club back on the scoreboard on Saturday.

Buksa scored via a header in the eighth minute. Brandon Bye sent a cross into the box and the striker was able to tally his first goal of the 2022 MLS season.

Scoring so early establishes control of the match and Buksa said that the Revs were looking to have a good start against Charlotte.

“We wanted to start very hard and wanted to press them up high,” he said. “We knew there are qualities they can play, they can build up from the back. They’re very good at it. But, we could not let them play. That was the basic thing we were applying for the game. It worked out because we scored an early goal and it kind of set the tone.”

Head coach Bruce Arena was also pleased with his striker’s performance.

“It was good,” Arena said. “This Charlotte team is a very good team, and they really press frontrunners really hard, and I thought Adam [Buksa] did a great job of holding balls up tonight in a game that was real difficult. And the first goal was a goal that, Adam, we’ve seen score a number of times. Great service by Brandon [Bye] and obviously Adam did a great job getting at the end of that ball and putting it in the back of the net. That was a real positive. He had a really good workmanlike performance tonight.”

It wasn’t just Buksa who put in a hardworking performance. Matt Polster, Justin Rennicks, and Ema Boateng all had quality, hard-working performances for New England.

Buksa said that the work rate that the Revs had on Saturday evening was how they should be performing in every match.

“This is the work rate we need to keep up every game, because every team that comes to play us knows our qualities,” he said. “We won the Supporters’ Shield last year and we were probably the best team in the league, even though we did not win the MLS Cup. We were a very efficient team with high quality up front and also in the back. Now, we also need to add something extra to start winning game by game. I think today we showed the commitment besides the quality that we need every game and that was setting the basic thing that we brought into the game, but we have to build on it.”

That’s the question for New England after snapping their losing streak. Can they maintain momentum and string some wins together? If they continue to work hard as they did against Charlotte, the answer is likely to be yes.