Buchanan, 22, could be foundational piece for Revs

FOXBORO — At 22 years of age, Tajon Buchanan looms as an important piece of the foundation for the future of the New England Revolution.

“I think just having that flexibility is ultimately going to help me in the long run,” Buchanan said of his roles after practice Tuesday. “I’m open to playing right back or outside back, wherever it is.”

The native of Ontario was raised in the Denver area and played two seasons at Syracuse before becoming a first-round MLS Draft pick by New England, the No. 9 player taken overall in 2019.

Moreover, Buchanan’s speed, litheness and versatility endear him to playing in a variety of roles entering his third MLS season.

“Likely in the midfield,” Revolution coach Bruce Arena said of stationing Buchanan as an outside back, on either the left or right side. “We know he can play in the outside back position as well, but right now in preseason we’re playing him in more of an attacking role in one of the wide midfield positions.”

Buchanan has appeared in 33 MLS matches over two seasons, with 15 starting assignments. He has made four starts, at right back, in four MLS Cup matches as well.

During that span of 1,475 regular-season minutes, Buchanan has scored two goals and has been credited with four assists.

Buchanan played in all 23 matches for New England during the abbreviated 2020 season, the most among MLS players with Canadian citizenship.

During his two seasons at Syracuse, Buchanan played in 33 matches for the Orange, scoring 12 goals and being credited with six assists, and received All-ACC acclaim in both.

“I know obviously my natural position is winger,” Buchanan added. “I’m comfortable there. So wherever they put me this season, I’m going to just keep working hard and trying to achieve a lot more than I did last season, just keep improving, and trying to help the team as much as possible.”

Buchanan is departing the Revolution training camp until April 1 to train with the Canadian under-23 national team; he was named Canada’s Youth Player or the Year in 2020. “So that’ll be a little bit difficult and challenging for us,” Arena said of his absence.

“We just have to keep working day-by-day and do what we’re used to doing,” Buchanan said after practice Tuesday. “If we just keep improving every day in training, when the games come, I think we’ll be able to achieve a lot this year and achieve those goals that we want to.”

Arena foresees Buchanan taking on a large leadership role with the Revolution.

“It’s important that the coaching staff does a good job in that area,” Arena said of developing confidence, character and leadership in young players such as Buchanan. “I do think the character and the leadership in team is very good.

“If you could think about when we started in May of 2019, to have a group of guys turn a corner the way they did. From being really, you could argue the weakest team in the league at that point, and then go on and complete 2019 in good fashion and then having some more success (Eastern Conference title match) in 2020, “It speaks highly about leadership qualities, and I think we’re going see more of that (from Buchanan).”

At 5-foot-11, 150 pounds, Buchanan knows that he has much room to grow physically and as a player.

“I think just the whole off-season and not knowing when the season was going to start, I think guys just started early working on their craft,” Buchanan said.

“I know there’s a lot of there’s a huge group of guys that came in early and was working every day here at the facility. So there’s been a huge improvement on that, and it just makes training a lot easier because guys are much fitter than we were last year.”

“I’m going to just keep working hard and trying to achieve a lot more than I did last season, just keep improving, and trying to help the team as much as possible.”

— Revolution midfielder Tajon Buchanan