Thursday, January 12, 2006

Hendu Do Metro

In a trade announced today, long in the tooth midfielder Chris Henderson was acquired by the Metro from Columbus, in exchange for teenage D Tim Ward. Both Lalas & Mo have experience playing with Henderson, who currently sits in second place in all-time MLS stars, and seventh place in all-time MLS assists.

How does this change the Metro? Well, Ward, the team’s first-round draft pick in 2005, played in 13 league matches last year, starting 11, and tallying three assists. Ward was sixth among defenders in on-field minutes last season, behind Leitch, Agoos (both gone), Mendes, Regan, and Parke. With the addition of Taylor Graham to the squad, and MoJo’s late season crush on Jason Hernandez, Ward was probably headed to the reserve team for the majority of his 2006 minutes.

What does Henderson bring to the SuperClub on the Passaic? The Good: Experience, along with history of creating quality scoring opportunities. The Less Good: Not a whole lot of speed at a wing position that demands it. As Johnston & Lalas said, though, the team is looking for players that want to play for Metro, and they could certainly have done worse than Henderson. Stay tuned.

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