Recharged Daniel Gazdag Ready To Chase Trophies On Multiple Fronts
Daniel Gazdag is recharged after his fantastic 2022 season and ready to help the Philadelphia Union contend on all fronts in 2023.
The sense you get from Philadelphia Union players in the first week of preseason training is that the offseason was refreshing.
Daniel Gazdag and many other players took the two months off to recharge and put last season’s heartbreaking MLS Cup loss in the past.
“It was a long season last year,” Gazdag said on Wednesday. “It was bad at the end. I do think that everyone needed the off season. You can see it with everyone because now everyone is ready to go again.”
Gazdag finished his offseason by signing a new contract with the club that makes him a Designated Player and keeps him with the club until at least 2025.
“It means a lot. I’m really happy that I signed my new contract with the club,” Gazdag said. “My family is really happy because they like to be here. We’re looking forward to staying here for a little bit longer.”
“I said had some opportunities,” Gazdag said. “I had a good season last year. Some teams were texting me, but I’m really happy here and that was my first thought to sign a new contract here.”
The continuity within the Union squad was one of the reasons why Gazdag inked his new contract.
“After the success of the last seasons, it was important to keep this group together and it was good that they were able to do that. I think that helps a lot,” Gazdag said.
“I could feel that everyone around the club wants to be successful and that was really important for me because I want to do big things here.”
Gazdag earned his new deal after scoring 22 goals and 10 assists in his first full season with the Union.
Gazdag’s success from 2022 will be expected to carry over to 2023. But his 2021 campaign could also help him as the Union embark on a busy schedule.
The midfielder played 53 games between the Union and Honved in Hungary from August 2020-December 2021.
“Of course. I experienced playing a lot of games in the past. There are also some other guys with more experience than others and can help the younger guys a lot,” Gazdag said.
The Hungarian got a small taste of the CONCACAF Champions League two years ago, when he was available for the semifinals against Club America.
He is focused to help the Union go far in that competition and get back to MLS Cup.
“Every competition is really important to us,” Gazdag said. “We want to be as successful as we can in all competitions. Champions League is one of the biggest things in the whole world. I was really lucky because I experienced the semifinals the last time we were there and it was huge for us. That helps this year because we can go as far as we can.”
“Our goal was to win MLS Cup last year,” Gazdag said. “We didn’t do that unfortunately. So this is our goal for the season right now and we will do everything to win it.”