Re: How is Arena a pro? I thought Kenny's defense was great. He worked very well until we fell behind. His passes forward sucked - too often, someone else made a back pass to him and he seemed to feel an obligation to play the penetrating ball instead of getting it back to Guevara or Gaven. Bringing in Vaca was better for the comeback attempt, but if Vaca had been out there at the beginning of the game, we might be bitching about Beasley getting too much room to operate on offense.
Plays tough, plays hard. That's what we needed and that is what he did. Very much improved over last season where he seemed to get Razov'd every time he was in.
He's a weaker back thats been playing half way decent this season. He's a non factor in the METRO's under achieving this season though He is alright in a fill in type role and much better than last year..
Look, I can't stand Metrostars. But when I watched Kenny Arena playing versus the 'Quakes two matches ago - I was impressed with his tenacity and reliability in defence. He absolutely owned Jamil Walker and Dewayne Derosario on all of the 50-50 headers and he was very rarely out of position on passes into the area. He played well positionally and was even in good position for a couple chances on goal on free kicks and the like (one time very open, but the service was too short to him). Arena looked like a traffic cone last season. At this point, his vision is much better as a defender. I don't think he will ever add much in the midfield, but he is definitely a good value on Metrostars. Its not like their first team defense has been able to keep the ball out of the back of the net. On the few occasions that Kenny Arena has started (particularly in defense), the Metrostars have gotten good results. What more can you ask for?
Kenny "the Llama" Arena is still young and costs nothing. He seems to be improving, to the point where the last major "in over his head" moment I can remember is Razov schooling him last year. I'm not yet to the point where it's a personal affront as a fan when he takes the field like some guys that have been in MLS in the past. I'd take Arena over Prideaux right now, and I can't recall Kenny being compared to an orange traffic cone on these boards yet (though that player comparison was in the context of the National Team).
Metro "Over-achievers" in '04: Over-achieving in a sense of playing well relative to expectations and pay. 1) Parke 2) Arena 3) Gilberto 4) Gaven (rated low because he's paid well and expectations were high) 5) Wolyniec That's about it. If we had two or three more guys over-achieving, we'd have a bigger lead. My way of saying, Kenny Arena in '04 is nearly the last thing we need to be complaining about. He's playing hard in games and practice, has earned our respect as a defensive backup, showed decently but not particularly well at d-mid (an experiment that I heartily endorsed on this board before I knew it would happen, and I'm disappointed that it didn't go better). If we were getting an All-Star performance from Walker like we think he can deliver, or performances from guys like Glen and Galvan Rey who seemed to think they would be All-Stars, things would be great.
Ditto. Right now he's learning and becoming a better player. You're right, what more do you want from him? Never plays, comes in, and finally gives the team a defensive presence. It's a very good sign that he's improving...he could have retired like the other guy did, but instead he's working his way up. If he continues to improve, he'll be a great Metro.
Why pick on Kenny? It's not like we could waive him and get another SI. You wanna pick on an underacheiver who's been a detriment since he came to Metro pick on Pope. His play with the Metro has been subpar and the team has been better without him. I'd like to see hime sent to SLC next season because think Kenny and Parke will be as effective. Pope has flat out sucked, he's always hurt and when he's not he's on duty with the Nats. I appreciate him playing for ther nats but don't sacrifice your game with your club. I'd rather Lalas come out of retirement than Pope right now for the Metro.
I see what your saying, but the problem I have with this is that we aren't guaranteed that Arena will develope into a great player. If they can lose Pope and replace him with Arena and Arena does his job...why not? Pope has done some magic in the back line. He has the skill to run behind a forward and take the ball away from him without the other guy falling. He messed up on that goal, but he did make that nice play like 5 minutes earlier.
I hardly think Pope deserves this. Despite a mistake or two, and everyone makes them, he's been pretty solid for the Metros. Hind sight is 20/20. On replay it looks like he would have been better off trying to run and shoulder or slide Damani off the ball, but If he had made any contact on that everhead ball this wouldn't even be an issue. We'd have seen posts about what a great play it was. Remeber, Parke and the rest of the D are still pretty young. Who better to teach them the position than Pope? I do agree that he seems better with USMNT, but I think that's a result of the national team being better position for position, and the fact that Pope is not the organizing vocal leader in the D. Against Poland, it was Bocanegra and Timmy that where calling the shots. As has been pointed out time and again, our D overall is pretty much on par with the rest of the league talent wise, if not slightly better than most. What we need more than talent is vocal leadership.
There was a groan from the Battery fans when he came off...He was easily their best player. He is not of MLS quality.
Re: How is Arena a pro? Thats what sad about this kid, he's only on this team because of his father's position with nat'l team. It helps too to know that Bradley was an assistant under his Bruce. Well at least they're giving him time to at least develope, which is more to say for other young players coming in this league.
Re: How is Arena a pro? Maybe last year, you could argue that he was lucky not to be cut. This year, he's far improved from last year's "worst player in the league" candidacy. Before the Kenny-back-to-Dmid experiment, most people were happy with Kenny as a CB backup this year.