FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – First impressions are everything, and although Adam Buksa is still five days away from his first preseason match and more than three weeks out from a potential MLS regular season debut, he’s already enjoying certain aspects of life with the New England Revolution.
Buksa, who spent the first five years of his professional career with a trio of clubs in his native Poland’s top flight Ekstraklasa, was pleasantly surprised when the Revs launched into passing drills just a few minutes into their first training session of the preseason, and he’s been delighted to see that trend continue through the first two-and-a-half weeks.
“I like the trainings,” Buksa said. “Most of the trainings, we play with the ball. We don’t have as many exercises without the ball like I’m used to, because in Poland, many times you spend the time during training without the ball (for) physical preparation, which is very important there.
“(That’s important) here, as well, but the trainings are really, really nice. Intensive.”
Buksa said he has particularly enjoyed working with head coach Bruce Arena and his staff as they’ve integrated him into the attack, and he’s made mention of the “very classy players” around him, including Carles Gil, Gustavo Bou, and Cristian Penilla.
That integration will take an important step this week as the Revs depart Thursday for an 18-day trip to the west coast, where they’ll play five games in total – two in Los Angeles and three in Portland, Oregon.
Monday’s preseason opener against the LA Galaxy will place a heavy emphasis on fitness, but as the Revs move towards the final three preseason tests in Portland, they’ll focus more on putting together a first-choice lineup to face the Montreal Impact on February 29 at Olympic Stadium.
Making sure that Buksa is ready to lead the line for that group will be a top priority.
“This will be already the final preparations for the first game in Montreal,” said Buksa. “It’s going to be a very important part that’s going to show us in which place we are at the moment, (both) as a team, and for me personally how I adapted in the team.
“Especially the tournament in Portland is going to be a really, really good test for all of us, and it will give us many answers before the first game. Right now we’re doing a lot of important work that has to prepare us for this tournament and the first game, so now we focus on it, but as soon as we get to California, we’ll focus on the games.”
New England’s preseason opener against LA is set for 2 p.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 10, and a full preseason schedule is available HERE.
