24 Under 24

24 Under 24: #17 Perry Kitchen, DC United

24 Under 24: #17 Perry Kitchen
<span style="font-size: 12px;">Tale of the Tape</span>
Matches played: 22
Matches started: 21
Goals: 1
Assists: 0


<span style="font-size: 12px;">Related Content</span>
<ul><li><strong>WATCH:</strong><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/videos?catid=1916&amp;id=18349">Kitchen on <em>Rookie Life</em></a></li><li><a href="/news/article/2011/09/06/rookie-report-kitchen-playing-above-his-age-dc-united" target="_blank">Rookie Report: Kitchen plays beyond his age</a></li><li><a href="/news/article/commentary-where-should-kitchen-play-dc">Commentary: Where to play Kitchen?</a></li></ul>
<img src="//league-mp7static.mlsdigital.net/mp6/imagecache/player_profile_headshot/players/head-shots/24under24_kitchenSMALL.jpg" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; width: 140px; height: 200px;"><h1> #17. Perry Kitchen</h1><strong>Pos: D | D.C. United | Age: 19</strong><ul style="margin-left: 140px;"><li><strong>Last year on &quot;24 Under 24&quot;: N/A</strong></li><li><strong>Fan Ranking: #15</strong></li><li><strong>Castrol Index (Aug): #121</strong></li></ul><p>Little would Kitchen have imagined that he&rsquo;d be manning the right back spot for D.C. United when they drafted him with the No. 3 overall selection in the 2011 SuperDraft. A central defender and holding midfielder prior to going pro, he has showcased every bit of the skill and personality that made him a prized talent in the SuperDraft. He has quietly become a fixture of DC&rsquo;s starting lineup, only missing time for USA Under-20 World Cup qualifying. It remains to be seen if manager Ben Olsen will decide to move the steely 19-year-old to his more natural position next season.</p><p><strong>What the TDs and coaches say:</strong> &quot;&ldquo;Solid player. He&rsquo;s gotten better as the season has gone on and he sees teams for the second time. Shown good mentality and that he&rsquo;s not afraid. Earlier this year he scored an own goal that hurt his team and came right back and played well the next week &hellip; Right back has been a good spot for him because he has more time on the ball &hellip; Sitting midfielder is perhaps a better spot because of his passing and his ability to read the game &hellip; Good leadership abilities, and at 20 there&rsquo;s a lot of time left for him &hellip; Competitive. He doesn&rsquo;t get rattled too much and he doesn&rsquo;t back down from a challenge. I think he&rsquo;s good with the ball and with his age he&rsquo;s only going to get better.&rdquo;&quot;</p><object data="data:application/x-silverlight-2," height="267" type="application/x-silverlight-2" width="420"><param name="source" value="http://mls.neulion.com/mlsvp/scripts/mls.xap"><param name="initParams" value="catid=112,id=15314,shareembed=true,server=http://mls.neulion.com/mlsvp/,pageurl=//www.mlssoccer.com/videos?id=15314&amp;catid=112"><param name="background" value="Transparent"><param name="minRuntimeVersion" value="3.0.40624.0"><param name="autoUpgrade" value="true"><param name="Windowless" value="true"><param name="enableHtmlAccess" value="true"><a href="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=149156&amp;v=3.0.40624.0"><img alt="Get Microsoft Silverlight" border="0" src="http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=108181"></a></object>
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