The New England Revolution brought in Cristian Penilla this past offseason with many not thinking twice about the signing. But now with the MLS season underway people are starting to take notice of Penilla’s play and are already considering him one of the best under-the-radar signings of the 2018 season.
In a list put out by MLS host Andrew Wiebe, the New England Revolution forward finds himself among one of the leagues best under-the-radar signings.
Wiebe credits Penilla’s ability to be another one of New England’s versatile attackers who was able to break out in both of the last two matches for the Revs. Penilla has played in all three games for the Revs but was pulled after just 27 minutes in the season opener after a red card was handed out to Antonio Delamea.
In his last two games though he has really shown immense potential for the Revolution. Penilla has two assists in as many games and has come very close to putting a few balls in the back of the net while breaking defenders ankles and making incredible passes to set up teammates.
Agudelo: “Huge dynamic. You could tell how scared some defenders are of his acceleration, so they give him space. Like on the goal [in the 63rd minute against NYCFC], he was able to get space and cross the ball. If they’re tight against him, he’s able to use his pace to get in behind, so it’s a good addition we have.”
Liga MX Failures Not Relevant To MLS Play For Penilla
Penilla was an relative unknown before coming to New England having had an unsuccessful stint in Mexico’s Liga MX but has logged over 200 appearances and 10,000+ minutes across eight years of professional play. He came to New England on loan from Pachuca on Jan. 23, 2018 with a transfer option for the 2019 season.
Coach Friedel: “We knew when we signed him what we were getting. It takes players a little bit of time to adapt to the new culture, a new language, and new surroundings, but it hasn’t taken him long at all. Outstanding player, very, very good with his right foot, and he’s got an incredible burst of pace about him. I know a lot of teams in MLS when they come play us, they’re going to have to scout him and they’re going to try to stop him, but he’s one of those players that I think you can scout multiple times and he’s still very difficult to scout. We’re expecting big things from Cristian [Penilla].”
Even with Penilla’s early success this season it is unclear what his role will be with this team both long-term and short-term with Brad Freidel having plenty of decisions to make in regards to his lineup card.
Turner: “Every week no one knows who’s playing. We go into every week of training [and] every single rep is very important — I’ve said that before. So, everybody’s ready to do the job on the weekend. All you can do is when your name is called, whether it be before the game, at halftime or in the 60th minute, all you can do is your job.”
Even with other options to go with if Penilla can keep this up there is a very good chance he could find himself in the starting lineup a lot going forward and is almost a certain to be slotted in for Saturday against the Houston Dynamo.
