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On Saturday night the New England Revolution were unable to secure a point, but there were some reasons for fans to be pleased. One of them has to be the continued quality from Henry Kessler on the backline.
Kessler is wise beyond his years. As a center back he is someone you can rely on to not make mistakes. For a rookie that can sometimes be rare.
When going one-on-one with attackers, Kessler knows exactly when to dive in and cause a turnover. Even in his own box he knows how to stay calm and make the right play.
After the draw on Saturday, Bruce Arena was very complimentary of Kessler while still saying he has some work to do.
“Well, he’s getting better. It’s not been one of his strengths,” Arena said about Kessler’s on the ball abilities. “We’ve been working on him with it. Tonight, it was better. He made some mistakes in the first half turning the ball over and one towards the end of the game. But overall, he’s improving. Defensively, he’s consistently been our best defender this year.”
With a back four consisting of defenders such as Andrew Farrell and Antonio Delamea that is quite the compliment.
Kessler has earned Arena’s trust with his consistent play. He has started nine out of the 12 games he has appeared in this season.
New England’s defensive efforts as a whole have been great. Entering their matchup against NYCFC they were allowing a goal per game. This has the club tied for fourth in all of MLS.
When told of Arena’s praise, Kessler once again showed his wisdom as he mentioned he still needs to improve.
He said, “I actually haven’t heard that. That’s the first time I’m hearing it now. It’s very good to hear. It means a lot to me to hear that. It’s very kind of him to say. I try to do my best to keep the opponent off the score sheet, but that’s only part of the job. There’s still plenty I have to work on like on the ball and what not, building, there’s still other things I need to improve on.”
Kessler has been one of the best players for the Revolution this season. He doesn’t just have the skills he has the mindset to be a great player. There’s no doubt that the Revolution got a gem in the 2020 SuperDraft.