Kenny Arena [R]

Discussion in 'New York Red Bulls' started by okcomputer, Jul 17, 2004.

  1. okcomputer

    okcomputer Member

    Jun 25, 2003
    dc
    Watching this game tonight this guy can not make a pass to save his life. I have never seen a worse ball distributor in pro soccer. He is really bad.
     
  2. WishHoustonHAdATeam

    WishHoustonHAdATeam New Member

    Jun 3, 2004
    Houston Texas
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    Thats why he plays in defense
     
  3. PSsoccer123

    PSsoccer123 New Member

    Jul 22, 2003
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    He played defensive midfield today though. He is a good defender and a hard worker, and the position of his father couldn't have hurt either. :)
     
  4. BillyManutd

    BillyManutd New Member

    Nov 17, 2003
    NYC
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    Arena did make some good passes, but unfortunately more bad passes than good. He rarely moved forward and after he was substituted the Metros really played a good attacking game. He might not have the skills to play but being the son of the USNMT coach is a point in his favor.
     
  5. pepe_pupu

    pepe_pupu New Member

    Feb 4, 2003
    Arizona
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    Kenny has a lot of heart and really stepped up last week when we needed him. I thought the defense played better with him in there. He's fighting his life away for a position and he's doing fine. Tonight wasn't his best match - but that's not his normal position. I think his physique and will to work hard will take him far and he could pull off a Leitch next year. Leitch has stepped it up his game and now he's starting. Kenny could be next. We still need a much more organized defense, though, and Pope doesn't say a "peep" all game long!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
     
  6. Re: How is Arena a pro?

    Easy. His father is the coach of the national team. He is clearly not skilled enough to be out there. I've seen many better defenders than him in the A league.
     
  7. MLS SupaStr3

    MLS SupaStr3 New Member

    Jul 2, 2003
    NJ
    Re: How is Arena a pro?



    i thought that he played d-mid in college?
     
  8. kpaulson

    kpaulson New Member

    Jun 16, 2000
    Washington DC
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    He's clearly one of the weaker players in MLS, but I think the guy is probably a coach's dream in terms of team play and coachability because of how his father's taught him, rather than who his father is. He definitely plays harder than the average player in MLS.

    I could be wrong-- maybe Bradley is trying to curry favor with Arena (though as Arena's almost-annointed successor, it's tough for me to imagine that he'd need to).

    It's also tough for me to imagine that Arena will have serious input into his successor-- of course, they'll consult him, but isn't carrying a weak player on your roster a high price to pay just to please a guy (who already likes you) that might possibly at some point be able give a little input into your next career move?
     
  9. Peretz48

    Peretz48 Member+

    Nov 9, 2003
    Los Angeles
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    Influence will only help you go through the door. But since there are a lot of marginal players trying to get noticed, it certainly helps to be named Kenny Arena. If he is equal in talent to someone coming from Podunk U., he'll get the opportunity. Once inside, it should be totally up to him. With expansion, Arena may get picked up by SLC this next season or the following
    year with other expansion teams. With his work ethic and the added teams, he may be able to hang around the fringes of MLS for a few more seasons. But if he weren't named Arena, he would not have gotten as close a look and would now be in the A-League or elsewhere.
    may be able to hang around for a few more years.
     
  10. jamison

    jamison Member

    Sep 25, 2000
    NYC
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    Really? Can you name the 5 defenders in the A league willing to play for $ 24k a year that are better?

    And if his name is Kenny Phillips, no one starts this thread and he gets picked on about 10% as much as he does now. If you want to say that his dad got him into MLS, then you have to also admit that he gets wailed on because of who he is more often than anyone on Metro. He played a pretty good game last week in a shut out- something that's been pretty damn rare for Metro this year. No one started a "Hey, Kenny, good job" thread. But today we let up 1 goal on a weak swing by Pope that cut Raplh loose on goal, and people jump all over him for his passing. Whatever. Clark, who I like a lot, had a play in the ninth minute where he dribbled into 3 players, turned around and hit a 30 yard backpass to Walker that turned into a through ball over the top for Ralph, who was one player away from scoring off of that brutal turnover. Where's that thread?

    He was bad last year. No doubt about it, he wasn't ready. This year he has improved, and is now "solidly average" but not terribly impressive. If Gilberto had not been hurt, he'd be playing instead, but we can't change that.

    Kenny playing as a central defender has looked decent this year. Tonight, in the D-mid spot, he didn't look great, but he didn't look as terrible as the "Jump on Kenny" gang would have you believe. A lot of metro players made horrible passes today, and Gaven was glaringly off his recent form, Woly was pretty "blah" for 70 odd minutes, but it's Kenny that gets the new thread.

    I don't think Kenny is an amazing player, but he isn't that terrible. A lot of people jump on him because it seems like the cool thing to do, and no one wants left off the bandwagon.
     
  11. Wabbit67

    Wabbit67 Member

    May 19, 2002
    Avon-by-the-Sea, NJ
    I agree that Arena has looked improved over last year. Still, whiffing on a ball in midfield when no one is within five yards of you (like he did last night) is not going to lead to positive comments, especially when you have his past.

    Also, without knocking Arena too much, it is hard to understand why he is in the starting lineup last night. I thought Magee had been playing very well lately and it is hard to swallow the fact that he was left out of the starting 11 for Arena. Yes, I know Bradley was looking for a more defensive alignment, but I still can't accept that if it means that Arena is selected ahead of Magee.
     
  12. Metrosuccess

    Metrosuccess Member

    Jan 6, 2000
    NJ
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Arena definitley helped getting to loose balls and also competed on air balls. Did a good job of working hard and i thought we were much better than with Vaca .A physical prescence.
     
  13. Vistula

    Vistula New Member

    Jul 2, 2001
    Garfield
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    Kenny probably dreams of $24k.

    He's a DP, making $850 a month.
     
  14. Red Card

    Red Card Member+

    Mar 3, 1999
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    Kenny is a support player. He fills in here and there when a starter is unavailable. He probably won't ever become a starter. I don't see the point of subjecting him to the same scrutiny that a starter gets. The guy works hard, does his best, and most importantly, has shown improvement.
     
  15. Metros Striker10

    Metros Striker10 New Member

    Jul 7, 2001
    Planet Earth
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    He did what I've been asking for them to do, foul a player in the midfield during a counter attack. What's more to ask? He's tough and isn't afraid of anybody. Not even of that ref who proved the Metros will forever be the side that gets the bad calls in a Metros vs. Chicago game.
     
  16. sregis

    sregis Member

    Nov 5, 1999
    Hoboken, USA
    the guy simply doesn't belong in mls. fine, so kenny can use his name to play pro ball, but that pro ball should be A league at best.
     
  17. Deuteriumoxide

    May 27, 2003
    Rockville, MD
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Kenny doesn't need to be in the midfield. I don't mind him at centerback because all he really needs to do is win the ball and clear it.

    If Kenny Arena wins the ball and never makes a pass to a midfielder but kicks the hell out of the ball into the other end of the field I'll be happy with him. He is going to give the ball away so i'd rather he gives it to the other teams goal keeper.

    win and kick kenny... win and kick.
     
  18. jamison

    jamison Member

    Sep 25, 2000
    NYC
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    Yes. I meant we'd be paying a replacement defender/d-mid $ 24k, which I doubt half of the Paolo Maldinis currently biding their time in the A-leauge would jump ship for. I should have been more clear.
     
  19. Hugh DeMann

    Hugh DeMann New Member

    Dec 20, 2001
    <Not even of that ref who proved the Metros will forever be the side that gets the bad calls in a Metros vs. Chicago game.>

    The Metros got the bad calls??? You don't think Zaidie deserved a second yellow? Was that really a clear-cut hand ball in the area?

    If you think the refs are biased against the Metros, you're nuts. They make lousy calls in every MLS game I watch, regardless of teams. Let's face it, it is a very hard sport to ref.
     
  20. sccrhound

    sccrhound Member

    Oct 8, 2002
    CT
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I was killing him last year, but he has made huge strides this year. Is he a star, no but I don't cringe when I see him in the lineup now.

    Every team in MLS needs role players and that is what he is.

    If you think a defender can make a simple mistake. Watch the Euro England game, weak back pass....
     
  21. Haig

    Haig Member+

    May 14, 2000
    METROSTARS
    Club:
    --other--
    Put my name up there with everyone who notes that Kenny Arena has picked up his game since last year. Yeah, he was dire in a couple appearances in 2003, but he played then only because of desperate circumstances. He's no first choice in 2004, either, and you can see why. He makes plenty of mistakes, but he doesn't put himself in situations where a bad pass or weak touch or misreading a defender is a catastrophe.

    Chris Armas is a good model for a player who starts with a limited skill set, learns to play in such a way as to give himself more time, and slowly strengthens the weaknesses in his game until he's utterly reliable. Maybe Arena will never be Chris Armas, but he's on the right track. "Barely adequate" is still adequate, after all, and we're getting more out of our 24th roster player than anyone else in the league. After all, we're not building a team around him.
     
  22. terp fan

    terp fan New Member

    Nov 21, 2000
    Fact....Kenny started two games at CB recently those were the Metro's best defensive games of the year. Remember NY has the worst defensive record in the league so picking on poor Arena won't help Johnny Walker and the rest of that pentiful back four play any better. Here's a tip to Bradley, get a really holding midfielder (a destroyer) instead of using four attacking MF's in the middle. Kenny Arena is the least of the Metro's problems.
     
  23. Metros Striker10

    Metros Striker10 New Member

    Jul 7, 2001
    Planet Earth
    What? The Metros are always getting bad calls versus the Fire and just about every game this season. They've only had a few breaks this season. The Fire ALWAYS play dirty versus the Metros and the refs don't do anything. FINALLY, the Metros have understood that they have to match that intensity.

    Glen? Your saying that everytime that he got the ball he fouled a defender, because that's what the ref thought. Ziadie should have gotten a red, but hey, if C.J. Brown and Jim Curtin and beat up anyone as they please, why shouldn't Ziadie be able to?
     
  24. JerzyRebel

    JerzyRebel New Member

    Sep 18, 2002
    Land of Paulie Walnuts
    That ref was horrendous in the first half, called almost everything against the Metros. Does that mean he balanced things out in the second half? Perhaps, I don't think he did, but some will say he did. Fact remains that it was a handball and the one before it was a handball as well.
     
  25. metroflip73

    metroflip73 Member

    Mar 3, 2000
    NYC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Re: How is Arena a pro?

    What are you, his agent?
     

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