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8. <a href="/players/perry-kitchen">Perry Kitchen</a></h1><strong>Pos: M | D.C. United | Age: 20</strong><p>Perry Kitchen is finally in his element. After showing uncommon rookie steel in manning a right back position for the first time in his career last year, he’s been able to stick to his more familiar role at d-mid in 2012. The move has liberated Kitchen to impose his will all over the field, bossing the midfield for D.C. United. Once the club settle on a system and he has some time to work with a regular cast, the calls for a look on the national team surely won’t be too far behind.</p><p><strong>What the TDs and coaches like:</strong> “Definitely has a lot of leadership qualities … He’s very vocal and has a lot of experience especially with the youth national teams … A leader on the field with good technical ability, good vision and his passing range is good … A natural leader on the field … Alert enough that he understands what to do in a turnover situation ... Efficient, clean player ... Good athleticism, good tackler ... Solid player … He’ll be a good player in the league for a long time, but don't know if he is going to be a star … Clean and reliable player. Makes very few mistakes … He’s got good knowledge of the game and reads the game very well … He can get around the field well … I think his confidence has grown … He’s a very, very intelligent player and he has worked out how to succeed in the league.”</p><p><strong>Where coaches and TDs want improvement: </strong>“I think physically he has to get a little bit stronger with the league, but he will … From a physical standpoint, he just needs to get stronger. If he’s playing the deep guy, the No. 6 spot, he’s got to have the ability to be from a defensive standpoint, more of a guy that’s going to help the team a lot more without the ball and being the deep guy that’s going to organize the game from that spot."</p><p><strong>Opta Says: </strong>Of MLS field players under 24, Perry Kitchen has the fifth-most ball recoveries in the league (145).</p><object classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" height="226" id="cf277b6oi" name="cf277b6on" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://p.mlssoccer.com/SAu5a/video/1160570/league_2012-09-12-171310.640hq.mp4"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="226" id="cf277b6ei" name="cf277b6en" src="http://p.mlssoccer.com/SAu5a/video/1160570/league_2012-09-12-171310.640hq.mp4" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></object> |
<span style="font-size: 12px;">Tale of the Tape</span> |
Last Year in 24U24: #17 |
Fan Ranking: #19 |
Castrol Index (as of 9/14/12): #212 |
<span style="font-size: 12px;">2012 Stats</span> |
Matches played: 25 |
Matches started: 25 |
Goals: 0 |
Assists: 1 |
<span style="font-size: 12px;">Related Content</span> |
<ul><li><strong>WATCH:</strong><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/video/2012/04/02/power-5-sophomores-perry-kitchen-takes-5" target="_blank">Power 5 sophomores - Perry Kitchen</a></li><li><strong>WATCH:</strong><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/video/2011/06/20/dc-selects-perry-kitchen" target="_blank">Kitchen selected in 2011 SuperDraft</a></li><li><strong>READ:</strong><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2012/03/07/kitchen-readies-permanent-role-defensive-midfield" target="_blank">Permanent d-mid role for Kitchen.</a></li><li><strong>READ:</strong><a href="//www.mlssoccer.com/news/article/2012/02/03/kitchen-has-lofty-goals-sophomore-campaign-dc">Kitchen's lofty goals for 2012</a></li></ul> |
What do you think of Perry Kitchen? Tell us in the comments below.
