FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – With his first full month as a member of the New England Revolution coming to a close, it is safe to say that midfielder Alhassan Yusuf has slotted right into life at Gillette Stadium. Now with four appearances and two straight starts under his belt, the newcomer says he is eager to continue helping his team as the MLS regular season rolls into its crucial final month.
A dynamic midfielder like Yusuf can be hard to quantify, although the Nigerian did notch the first attacking return of his Revolution career on Saturday night against Nashville SC, earning a secondary assist for playing in winger Luca Langoni before the Argentine crossed to defender Brandon Bye for the game’s decisive goal. But beyond the numbers, Yusuf has put his talents with and without the ball on full display since joining the Revs, to the point that head coach Caleb Porter has found himself surprised by how quickly the new signing has integrated into the squad.
“You see with [Alhassan] Yusuf, he is a box-to-box mid,” Porter said on Monday ahead of the team’s midweek trip to face Houston Dynamo FC. “Like I said, he is very rangy and covers a ton of ground, wins balls, good in possession, as well, and helps our team really control games [on] both sides of the ball. He is a very well-rounded player, and for Luca and him both to be fitting in so quickly as international players is a really good sign, because a lot of times it takes longer. They are only going to get better and they are only going to get more comfortable. Those two guys, they have been great additions.”
Importantly, Yusuf is already feeling comfortable with his midfield partners, both Matt Polster on the defensive side of things and Carles Gil in attack. Assistant coach Pablo Moreira highlighted after Saturday night’s game how having a talent like Gil on the pitch can free other players to express themselves, and Yusuf said that he has already benefitted from that dynamic in his own play.
Speaking of Polster, Yusuf said, “It was good, playing alongside this kind of player who reads the game and understands. Especially for me, I like to move around. He is always there, covering my back. It’s really good to play with him.”
And with regards to Gil, Yusuf added, “With his quality, he’s the kind of player that you have to read where he is and to adapt. He can create magic every minute, so you have to give him the ball and then just move around. It’s that easy.”
Beyond just the teammates he gets to play alongside, Yusuf also said he was enjoying the level of competition he was playing against. And as someone who starred for his former club Royal Antwerp FC against the mighty FC Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, he would certainly know a thing or two about tough opponents.
“For me, the level is good, the intensity,” Yusuf said of his first month in Major League Soccer. “When you see the other leagues in Europe, maybe they have the media and stuff, they have everything … [But] I think from here most of the teams can compete with every team in Europe. I don’t have any doubt about that.”
Of all the things that are different between European club football and MLS, though, travel is an aspect that may not immediately come to mind, but is nevertheless one that any league veterans will know takes a toll of its own. In fact, while a trip from Antwerp to Barcelona may be a special once-in-a-season occasion by European standards, the 853 mile distance by road between the two cities is almost identical to the 835 miles one would have needed to drive to get from Foxborough to Charlotte, N.C. for last weekend’s matchup against Charlotte FC, just one of a laundry list of long-distance intraconference fixtures played twice every year.
Yusuf, however, said he was handling the adjustment well. “It’s hard, of course, from the beginning,” he said. “I think, sure, you’ll get used to it with time. For sure, from the beginning, especially for me, I was in Belgium for three years. It’s kind close distance to games [in Belgium]. So yeah, I’m trying to adapt.”
With the Boys in Gold out of the way, Yusuf said he was happy the team came away with the win, recognizing the importance of these final few games of the regular season for the team’s end-of-year hopes.
“We had a really good game in the first half,” he said. “Then in the locker room we were discussing how we were going to bring the goal. When you keep going and the goal comes toward the end, it’s kind of a relief. Especially at this situation that we’re at in the league, toward the end of the season. These are really important points for the team.”
