Considering he played more than twice as many MLS minutes as he ever had before and was dealing with flu-like symptoms during the Philadelphia Union’s regular-season finale this past Sunday, you might expect Andrew Wenger to embrace a few weeks of rest.
But that’s not the case.
In fact, Wenger has a belief that might be an unpopular one with other players around the league: he thinks the MLS offseason is too long.
“In other leagues, you’re not getting 10 weeks,” Wenger told MLSsoccer.com. “You’re paid to be a soccer player. Some guys in certain situations need time off. But on the whole, if you’re healthy and feeling good about what you’re doing soccer-wise, you need to keep trying to get better – especially as a young guy.”
Wenger knows this is an important offseason for him. After struggling to find consistency during his first two seasons in Montreal and losing his spot in the starting lineup midway through the 2014 campaign in Philly, Wenger finally broke out over the last couple months.
Earning what he called “warranted, consistent playing time,” Wenger played all but 45 minutes over the final 10 games of the Union’s season, emerging as a dynamic threat on the left wing. But despite setting career highs in goals (6), assists (4) and minutes (1,834), the third-year pro knows there’s still another level he can reach.
“Personally, I think my season kind of followed that of the Union’s in a sense,” he said. “It was up and down. There were definitely some negative moments early on and even toward the end. But I think for me personally, I had one of my better years and was trying to show the glimpses of the potential that I have. Now it’s really about fulfilling some of that potential.”
One of Wenger’s biggest issues since getting selected No. 1 overall in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft has been finding the right position, one reason it was so promising to see him play well as a winger. But the native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania isn’t focused on whether he’ll get the opportunity to continue to grow into that position – at least not until the 2015 preseason begins. For now, he just wants to work on his fitness.
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“The offseason for me, first and foremost, is focusing on having a good physical base,” he said. “I think this will be a big offseason, because I’m striving to be a different type of fit. There were times this year when I wasn’t able to run the way I would have liked to from minute 1 to minute 90. So I’m going to talk to a guy like Sebastien [Le Toux] and figure out what he does, because he’s one of the fittest guys in the league.”
Wenger won’t be short of motivation as he works out over the next few months. All he has to do is think about how the Union finished in sixth place in the Eastern Conference while the five teams in front of them made the playoffs. That’s not a feeling he wants to have again at this time next year.
“I don’t think we’re really interested in being pretty close,” he said. “It’s a zero-sum game. Either we’re going to make it next year or we’re not. I think the point is that we have to make it.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
