Revs, Goncalves Seemingly Settle Differences
- Updated: March 22, 2014
Photo: Chris Aduama/aduamaphotography.com
FOXBORO, Mass. – It looks as though the Jose Goncalves saga has come to an end – for now.
After being completely left out of the gameday 18 last week in Philadelphia in the Revs’ 1-0 to the Union, Goncalves is back in the starting line up for the home opener against Vancouver and is wearing the captain’s armband
“He’s back, he’s back in the line up and he’s back serving as our captain,” Burns said. “We move forward and he’s ready to go.”
Goncalves, the reigning MLS Defender of the Year, has been the talk of the season thus far after first expressing his desire to play in Europe and then contract issues arose between him and the club.
The 28-year-old center back was the anchor of a defensive unit that posted a franchise-high 14 clean sheets in 2013, and led all MLS center backs by participating in 14 clean sheets.
After missing last week, Burns said the majority of the conversations he had was with Heaps and the coaching staff.
“It had been more conversations frankly with the coaching staff than with Jose,” Burns said. “There were many conversations that took place and we feel that we’re all at a much better spot now and we’re ready to put all that behind us and his focus now is to concentrate on helping us win games.”
Goncalves played the entire game in the Revolution’s season opening 4-0 loss at Houston before missing last week.
When asked how happy Goncalves is in New England, Burns said, “We think he’s very happy and we hope he’s very happy. We hope he’s going to be here for a while.”
As Burns continued, it appears the two sides have ironed out their differences.
“Sometimes you need to work through some things and get back to a better place for all and we feel we’re back there,” he said. “He certainly, we feel is back to the Jose that we know and are used to and accustom to having last year. For us, it’s in the past and we move on.”
As for a trade or movement of Goncalves, that does not seem to be in the equation.
“We’re not thinking or looking along those lines so it’s not anything worth entertaining at the moment.”
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