FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Right on time, the New England Revolution’s Juan Agudelo is at his fittest.
After enduring some major downtime while in limbo between clubs last year and a mid-summer knee knock this year, the Revolution forward is feeling fine and he and the club are enjoying the fruits of the hard work that it took for his return to complete health.
“I don’t think he ever hit full fitness,” Revs head coach Jay Heaps said. “We got him after a little bit of a sabbatical. He wasn’t ever able to fully get there. Even in preseason we pushed him and pushed him, then he took the knee injury after time with the national team. We almost got him there, but he dropped off after the injury in the summer.
"It was just one of those injuries that wasn’t terribly devastating, but it kept him from maintaining his full fitness and full physical ability. He’s definitely past that and you’re seeing now he’s hitting his full fitness and hitting stride and kind of coming together all at the right time.”
Agudelo picked up an injury to his left knee in June, the same knee on which he endured a meniscus tear back in 2012.
Fortunately, it was completely unrelated to that injury, and doctors informed him that it was merely fat tissue in the knee that would pinch and cause discomfort when making certain motions, including shooting.
Told that he could play through it, he did not miss any time with the Revs. But after possibly over exerting himself initially, he had to take a precautionary route to get to where he is now.
That meant serving the club in a different capacity, off of the bench, a role he fully accepted and learned from in the process.
“It felt like I learned a great lesson; to be patient at times when you’re not feeling 100 percent,” said Agudelo, who is second on the team with seven goals. “Also to be patient at times when your team’s actually winning and doing great without you.”
He also took notice of how others on the team handled the role, notably Teal Bunbury, another player who had once been a fixture in the starting XI and now impacts the game regardless of when he's called on.
“To have a team that has a guy like Teal coming in, it boosts the team so much in the second half,” Agudelo told MLSsoccer.com “That’s what I realized coming on as a sub, you actually do play a big part in the game although you’re not starting.”
This past Saturday saw Agudelo make his second start for the club in four matches, only this time he played the full 90 for the first time since June 21.
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Though the Revs would eventually fall to the Chicago Fire, 3-1, his header off of a Chris Tierney cross put his team up 1-0 in the first half, and his overall play from start to finish seemingly signaled his return to full fitness.
While most players are feeling the effects of a full season at this point in the year, Agudelo is feeling at an all-time best.
“Fitness-wise, I feel like it’s one of the fittest times of my career,” said the 22-year-old. “I feel like I ran the lengthiest I ever felt in that last game. I’m not sure what the stats say, but definitely felt like it. I felt good. I felt really good actually. It’s been a while since I’ve felt like 110-percent fit.”
