Arena Looks To Ease Draftees into the Fold

Prior to the 2011 MLS SuperDraft, manager Bruce Arena and the Los Angeles Galaxy acquired a pair of forwards in Adam Cristman and Chad Barrett. This allowed the club to focus its attention on bolstering the midfield.

As a result, the G's took Uruguayan international Paolo Cardozo and local product Hector Jimenez in the first and second rounds.

Arena said that he will be patient regarding the maturation process of the team's selections.

“These are two players we think are promising and we’re going to have to be patient, but we’ll work with them to see if they can develop into good players,” Arena said in a conference call. “We’re not expecting young, inexperienced players of this nature to step on the field immediately and have an impact—and I don’t think that’s, oddly enough, the case of any of these players that were taken today.”

While not as high-profile as Victor Estupinan or John Rooney, the brother of Manchester United superstar Wayne Rooney, Cardozo's impressive performance in the midfielder at the MLS Combine made him a pick worth taking.

“(Cardozo) is a player we liked in the Combine and think he’s a young kid with a lot of promise,” Arena said. “He’s a creative, quick, good-passing midfielder, a player with a good work rate. We believe he’s the type of player we don’t see too much in our country and is worth the time and investment.”

As for Jimenez, his work with the California Golden Bears earned him a chance to don another team with blue and gold as its main colors.

“We know him from his days at Cal and again [he's] a player we thought had a good combine,” Arena said. “He was a player we didn’t think was going to be available that far into the second round so when the time came in the second round and he was available, it was pretty natural for us to select him.

“We’re going to be patient. We think they’re good players and will have a good future. We’ll see how they pan out. Right now, we want to be smart about this and not have tremendous expectations.”



More Matches for Bob Bradley's Crew


After the Jan. 22 friendly with Chile, the USA men's national team will take on some more South American sides, as well as a team from Africa.

The USA takes on Egypt in an international friendly on Feb. 9. The Stars and Stripes will then host a friendly against Argentina on Mar. 26 at the New Meadowlands Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, before clashing with Paraguay on Mar. 29 at LP Field in Nashville, Tennessee.

"Argentina continues to be one of the most talented teams in the world, and we are excited to have the opportunity to compete against them," said USA manager Bob Bradley. "When you talk about the best players around the globe, the Argentines certainly contribute a lot of names to that list.

"Paraguay showed during the World Cup that they are a creative and organized team capable of being very dangerous in the attack. Both of these matches give us a chance to continue to raise the bar for our team, and it will also be a great part of our preparation for the Gold Cup."



Talks with JP Ongoing

Discussions were still ongoing regarding a contract for former New York Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel.

“We’re moving forward with our discussions,” Arena said. “We’re hopeful we can reach a conclusion over the next week and have him in for preseason.”

If a contract is signed, Angel could be available by the start of spring training camp at the Home Depot Center.

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