Houston, TX - Recently acquired Houston Dynamo player Andrew Wenger has credited his fantastic early season form to one fan in particular of the Houston Dynamo.
"That guy that is always yelling where to go and what to do from the stand? Yeah, he has really helped me out this season," stated Wenger to The Nutmeg News on Wednesday.
Typically, players are loathe to admit they can even hear the fans only crediting a general noise or atmosphere, but Wenger has broken the mold and admitted that Juan Gonzalves of Katy, TX has been extremely influential for Mr. Wenger's play this season.
"I can always hear Juan yelling, 'VAMOS VAMOS VAMOS' and then I know to run or move faster to cover ground. The same way I can hear him yelling 'DERECHA! DERECHA!' if I need to move out to the right or 'Izquierda! IZQUIERDA!' if I need to move or pass to the left. It really has been an education for me and being able to hear his coaching ability from the stands has pushed me to a new level."
The Nutmeg News spoke to Mr. Gonzalves about this relationship with Mr. Wenger and he stated that it has been an unusual situation.
"I usually always yell things from the stands as my way of communicating what the players should do, but typically the players ignore my advice. With Andrew, he has really taken my random notions and general exclamations to a whole new level, and I think he is a better player for it. I frequently yell 'shoot.... SHOOOOOOOOOOOT!' during warm ups as well and he takes this advice without question."
The Nutmeg News asked Mr. Wenger how long he plans to keep taking Mr Gonzalves unsolicited advice and he had the following to say, "Well, I thought about dropping it for a moment during the last game, but I could hear Juan screaming, 'QUE ES ESTO?!... ANDREW... PULL YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASS!' and then I realized that I can't let go just yet."
The Nutmeg News will have more on this as Mr. Gonzalves watches tape to prepare some notes that he will subsequently scream at Mr. Wenger during the next home game.