CASA GRANDE, Ariz. – “You’ve got to cook this thing. You can’t microwave it.”
Those words of wisdom came courtesy of Director of Youth Development Bryan Scales just days after the New England Revolution made then-15-year-old Diego Fagundez their first-ever Homegrown signing back in November 2010.
Fast forward more than five years (!!!) and Fagundez, who turns 21 in just two weeks, has developed into one of the most dynamic young attackers in Major League Soccer.
Since making his first-team debut at the tender age of 16 in 2011 Fagundez has amassed more than 100 professional appearances, notching 28 goals and 18 assists along the way. He’s the youngest in league history to hit both the 25-goal mark and the 100-appearance plateau.
But as he prepares to embark upon his sixth professional season, Fagundez is keeping his feet on the ground and his focus short-term. As in, he’s not letting himself look past preseason.
“To tell you the truth, I’m just trying to earn a spot,” Fagundez said of his objectives in 2016. “I’m just competing with everyone else. Everyone’s out here training for the same job, we’re all trying to get into the starting eleven. There’s still a long way to go.”
Fagundez is helped by the fact that he’s self-aware; he knows his strengths and his weaknesses. No one has ever questioned his attacking ability – he’s one of the league’s most dangerous players moving toward goal – but he understands the value of being a two-way winger in the Revolution’s system.
When he was dropped from the starting lineup early last season – he started just three games between late March and late June – Fagundez was forced to re-evaluate. In response, he doubled down on his defensive efforts, tracking back at every opportunity and working tirelessly to close down passing lanes.
The result was a return to the starting lineup, a spot he held from July through the end of the season.
“The defensive part of my game is something that I’m going to improve year after year,” Fagundez said. “There’s still a lot to learn and I think with this team we can definitely learn a lot.
“You have to be consistent playing defense, because if you’re not consistent with how you’re putting in your work, then another player behind you is always going to be trying to do that job for you.”
Consistency has always been a focus for Fagundez, even at the attacking end of the field. He scored six goals in 2015, but four of them came in consecutive games in early September. It was the fourth time in his young career that he put together a goal-scoring streak of three-plus games.
“I’ve always said as soon as that first one comes, then a lot of them come,” Fagundez said.
Unfortunately with the hot comes the cold, including long stretches in which Fagundez hasn’t been able to find the back of the net. But moving into 2016, he believes he’s found the answer to his inconsistency.
And it all comes back to his defensive work.
“If you have no goals, I think you get your head stuck in there and you’re not focusing on the good things that you’re doing; you’re focused on trying to score and that’s when you don’t do well,” Fagundez said. “This year I’m definitely going to try to focus on the positives and the way I’m playing defense, instead of focusing on trying to get goals.”
With his defensive work as a baseline, Fagundez is confident that he can keep his mind off the pressure of scoring goals – in the hopes that a clear mind leads to a free-flowing attack.
