Arena on Penilla: “We’re getting nothing out of him and that’s disappointing.”

New England Revolution head coach Bruce Arena isn’t happy with Cristian Penilla’s output this season.

Nine games into the regular season, the Ecuadorian midfielder has contributed zero goals and two assists in 719 minutes. It’s a far cry from what he offered in 2019 (6 goals, 8 assists) and 2018 (12 goals, 7 assists).

“We’re getting nothing out of him and that’s disappointing,” Arena said after Penilla’s 90-minute performance on Wednesday. “He’s more capable of producing more for us. So, we need to get him to play better.”

Usually deployed as a wide midfielder so he run at outside backs, Penilla has recently been used a central attacking midfielder as part of a 4-4-2 diamond. His performances have been lackluster, though he did collect an assist against the New York Red Bulls.

This has left Arena scratching his head about where to play Penilla.

“He continues to be a player that’s challenging to position him in a spot where he can be productive,” Arena stated.