Picture this.... you are to coach of the Metro, and as the regular season approaches, you realize that you have to cut Kenny Arena! Could mean the end of a friendship, and perhaps the end of your chance to one day coach the Nats!
I seriously doubt that Bruce would be pety about such a thing. After all, Bruce has a good enough eye for talent to know that Kenny is not talented enough to be garanteed success at this level. My impression is that Kenny has a 20% - 30% chance of developing into a solid utility player n MLS and a maybe 5% chance of being an above average MLSer. But from the (admittably few) times I've seen him play and the second hand reports of others he's not a huge prospect and I'm sure Bruce knows that. Maybe he's got blinders on for his own kid. Reasonable, but to suggest that it would ruin their friendship is Bradley cut the kid is ridiculous. Furthermore, Bradley's shot at Nats coach won't come until Bruce leaves. Coaches usually don't quit a coach for their national team, they are replaced after a string of bad results (ie. WC '98, or a failure to qualify for '06) and in such situations they have little or no impact in the choice of their successor. edit: on the other hand I like your handle. Made me laugh.
Hasn't it already been made clear that Bruce Arena doesn't believe in preferential treatment for any player. None.....................except for Richie Williams.
"Picture this.... you are to coach of the Metro, and as the regular season approaches, you realize that you have to cut Kenny Arena! Could mean the end of a friendship, and perhaps the end of your chance to one day coach the Nats!" This not a youth team, but I would imagine Ken will be given every chance to make the team above others perhaps even better players. But eventually if Arena game is just not there he will be cut. Richie
What the hell is the big deal about this? Maybe an anti-Bradley clique, those who are disappointed so many superstars have been removed from our roster, are trying to play this up to tar Bradley. Forget it, it's nothing. Move on.
Exactly. If I was the coach, not only would I cut the kid, I would tell him to try a different sport or stick to academics. Or maybe even to watch his dad a little bit closer so he could improve. There just isn't room anymore for "average" players in MLS.
Take it Easy I think this thread and most comments regarding Kenny Arena are made in jest. Those who aren't joking are just haters who refuse to believe that Kenny Arena has earned anything he's attained in the sport. That's just not the case. The kid has some tools and Bradley has known him since he was a kid. Now, when it's time to trim the roster you can believe he will go with the player he knows inside out over the unknown commodity. There's nothing wrong with that.