Bruce Arena: “I think we made a mistake with his rehabilitation”

Gustavo Bou made his first start since July 16 on Wednesday but Bruce Arena thinks he should have been back sooner.

Bou played all 90 minutes on Wednesday after playing 45 minutes in New England’s 2-1 loss to the LA Galaxy. The striker had 45 touches, three shots, and two chances created.

After the match, Arena was asked about the striker and told the media that Bou was out longer than he should have been.

“Well, he [Gustavo Bou] has been off way too long,” Arena said. “I think we made a mistake with his rehabilitation. He should have been back on the field a lot sooner and it’s now not easy to have to come in at this point in the year, without a lot of training and games behind you. So, it’s challenging. Gustavo is being a warrior. He’s battling through it. He played 90 minutes tonight and I’m sure he’s going to feel it over the next couple days. But he’s just missed too much training over the last month or so.”

Bou missed just over a month with what was described as a leg injury. Still, he currently leads New England in goals with seven on the season.

The Revolution will need Bou once again when they face NYCFC on Sunday. If New England wants to have any chance at making the playoffs they need all three points against the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season and went on to win the MLS Cup.