On Friday night New England Revolution midfielder Lee Nguyen appeared in his 200th career appearance with the club and became one of 11 players to hit that milestone. 2020 has been quite the year. It saw MLS shutter for months on end due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the return of Nguyen to New England.
The 34-year-old vet spent the first six years of his career with the Revolution and in that time became a fan favorite and one of the club’s stats leaders. Then Brad Friedel and the 2018 MLS season rolled into town. Nguyen found himself out of the match-day squad and then was traded to LAFC on May 1st. The then expansion club used Nguyen in 25 matches with 20 starts and the savvy veteran was productive scoring three goals and tallying five assists.
Following the 2018 season, Nguyen did appear in 23 matches with LAFC in 2019 but averaged just 50.9 minutes per outing and had four assists but no goals. In the MLS expansion draft David Beckham‘s club Inter Miami scooped up Nguyen but he didn’t vibe with Miami’s Head Coach Diego Alonso. Nguyen appeared in just five matches for Inter Miami and averaged just 18.4 minutes per appearance. For the second time in two years, Nguyen found himself out of favor with his head coach.
Back to the Revolution
With Miami not utilizing Nguyen’s services his agent reached out to the Revolution in Early September and just like that a club legend was coming home. Fast forward a month and a half. Nguyen has appeared in nine matches with eight starts and has tallied one goal and one assist. At one point Nguyen started six consecutive matches. The first time he had accomplished that feat since 7/26/18-9/22/18 when he started nine consecutive matches with LAFC.
What Nguyen has been able to do for the Revolution goes beyond the traditional stat-sheet. Since he came on-board the Revs attack has looked dynamic and filled a void that had been left by the previously injured Carles Gil. In Friday night’s 1-1 draw with Nashville SC, Nguyen had 90 touches, two interceptions, one clearance, and completed 71 of 78 passes.
Nguyen in his first nine matches back in New England he has become the inaugural member of the 50-50 club. Becoming the first player in club history to score 50 goals and 50 assists. In that timeframe, he has also been credited with 21 key passes which is good for the top ten in MLS since September 12th. Nguyen had back-to-back matches with five key passes (9/23 & 9/28). He is the first player to do that in 2020.
With star midfielder Carles Gil returning on Friday as a substitute it does create some minutes competition. It’s unlikely Nguyen will be the one being displaced, his play has earned him that much. On Wednesday if Nguyen is in the Starting XI it will be his 225th start in his MLS career. So does Nguyen still “have it”? No doubt about it. And was bringing him back worth it? For $50,000 in General Allocation Money and a Fourth Round pick in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft the trade is already looking like a home run.
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October 25, 2020 at 09:56PM
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Revolution Midfielder Lee Nguyen Has Had a Career Revival In 2020 - Trifecta Sports
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