Top Stories

Arguez enjoying career revival

USMNTU20MB100209133

Photo by Max Becherer/ISIphotos.com


By FRANCO PANIZO

LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. — Bryan Arguez has a lot to be excited about these days.

In the past two months, Arguez has gone from playing in the NASL with the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, to getting signed by the Montreal Impact, to getting called into his first camp with the U.S. Under-23 men's national team.

It has been a run of good fortune for the 22-year-old Arguez, who has endured his share of disappointments, but it's also been a process that has made him more appreciative and hungry.

"It's been exciting to go from where I was in the beginning at the highest level, going down to NASL and now getting another opportunity," said Arguez, whose nickname is Mooki. "I'm excited about it, and I'm excited to take advantage of every opportunity I get."

One of the opportunities Arguez has received in recent weeks is the move to Montreal. That came about when head coach Jesse Marsch — who was at the U.S. U-23 men's national team's practice on Tuesday, and will be for the remainder of the camp — attended a Strikers game earlier this year to mainly observe Strikers forward Gerson Mayen.

Arguez did enough in the game, however, to catch Marsch's eye, with that eventually leading to him being signed by the expansion club on Nov. 25.

If that wasn't enough good news, what came next surely was. A couple of weeks after signing with the Impact, Arguez received a call-up to the U-23 camp by head coach Caleb Porter, a call that cemented his return to the U.S. program. 

Seeing Arguez's name on the roster after he had practically vanished from the U.S. youth national team set-up was surprising to some, but Arguez has made the most of his chance so far. He's looked solid in camp in his defensive midfield role, breaking up attacks and linking up with attackers while also showing his usual grit in the center of the field.

Regardless, Arguez, who last played for a U.S. youth team at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, still has stiff competition to make the roster that will attempt to qualify for the Olympics in March.

"It's a higher level than what I've been used to in the past year, but it's been good," said Arguez. "I've been adapting to it pretty well. It's challenging my ability to play soccer, and it's making me a better player."

The Impact will be hoping that's the case as they enter their first season in MLS in 2012. While not completely new to the league, Arguez will have to adjust as he's never played in an MLS match. He was drafted by D.C. United in 2007, but he didn't make any league appearances in his only year in MLS prior to trying his hand in Europe.

Arguez is eager to take on that challenge, though there's one that he's been pleased to have avoided thus far.

"I'm pretty excited about the fact that we're not going to have be (in Montreal) the first two months (of the year) because it's freezing," said Arguez. "I'm pretty excited about going to Mexico, L.A. and Orlando with the team, and probably even Vancouver. Then (go back) when it's more of my temperature, because I'm more of a Miami guy. I'm excited."

Should Arguez continue to ride the wave of good fortune as well as he has in the past couple of months, then there's likely a lot more excitement to be had, both at the club and international levels.

Comments

  1. I realize we’ll probably see a 4-3-3 but this is the 4-1-3-2 I would like to see:

    Boyd-Altidore
    Shea-Diskerud-Gyau/Gatt
    Williams
    F Johnson-Brooks-Gonzalez-Chandler
    Hamid

    Johnson and Gonzalez are overage though…

    Reply
  2. id say hamid in goal, potts at left back, Morales and Agbousoumbe at CB Chandler at right back, daniel williams at cdm with diskerud playing infront of him. shea at left mid, gatt at right mid, and Altidore and Agudelo up top.

    Reply
  3. Yeah but Arguez didn’t bolt to Europe choosing not to play or even try to stay in MLS with DC who drafted him. He was sold in a trasnfer to Hertha Berlin. Thus the whole drafting of him and his rights is pointless as he is returning as a discovery player who later found himself playing in NASL

    Reply
  4. I think its pretty ridiculous that a team that drafts a player looses their draft rights after two years.

    It makes much more sense to have the MLS team that drafted a player who bolts to europe to be able to have the first option for that play, similar to the NBA.

    The only thing i’d change is that a team who have to forfeit the players rights if they had no interest in signing a player.

    Reply
  5. Trying his hand suggests he was out of contract at the time or was waived/released by DC, neither of which is true. It’s likly he would have seen more playing time in his second season, but the transfer offer from Hertha Berlin was too good to pass up.

    Reply
  6. ????

    “He was transferred after a training stint”…with Hertha Berlin. Isn’t that trying his hand in Europe? Unless you’re saying he tried his feet, not his hand..in which case, you’d be more correct.

    Reply
  7. why would he go through the allocation process? He is not an ex-full time player like (Lee Nyuong) or a player MLS tried to sign but was spurned. Arguez was sold by DC to Hertha Berlin and because of that I believe all rights to him were lost so he was able to come back as a discovery claim. I can’t think of a comparable situation but it must be the reason he was a discovery as to oppose to a allocation guy like Arnoux or Veeder.

    Reply
  8. come 2018 every player between the ages of 20-28 will be born post 1990, meaning that in their lifetime the US has always been in the World Cup finals as well as had the opportunities to be apart of an actual pro system (something that some current players didn’t have when they were coming up) — the impact of this has yet to be seen…

    Reply
  9. Ives, just to clarify Arguez didn’t have to go thru the allocation because he signed and played with an NASL club since last season correct?

    I remember you saying that Montreal had 1st dibs on NASL players, is that the reason for him not going thru the allocationn?

    Reply

Leave a Comment