Barnes bounces back

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – It’s fair to say that the 2010 MLS season could not end soon enough for Darrius Barnes.

Darrius Barnes has entered the preseason healthy after a difficult 2010. (Photo by CHRIS ADUAMA/aduama.com)

For the third-year center back, who enjoyed a solid rookie season in 2009, any hopes he harbored of avoiding a sophomore jinx were quickly dashed after last season became a high-speed train wreck of team struggles and injury issues.

Although he proved to be one of the team’s most consistent players (20 starts in 21 games), Barnes was bitten by the injury bug not once (right hip flexor strain), not twice (right foot sprain), but three times (sports hernia) within the course of the regular season.

“It was definitely tough,” said Barnes. “Especially coming off my rookie year, when I was fortunate enough to stay healthy and play every minute of every game.”

After registering maximum minutes during the 2009 regular season, it only stood to reason that Barnes would miss First Kick 2010 with the right hip flexor injury.

Athletes will tell you that one of the hardest parts of the job is to become the bystander. The inner drive of every athlete always points to “play.” After all, what good is a player when he can’t play?

“You just feel like you can’t do anything to help your team,” said Barnes, who missed two months of action between May and July of last season with the right foot sprain. “I’d never been in that position before where I couldn’t step out on the field to help my team, especially when we were struggling.”

Indeed, that concept – not being able to help his team – was something completely foreign to the former Duke Blue Devil, who played in all but four of the school’s matches during his four years in Durham. In fact, Barnes called it, “mentally mind-blowing.”

Instead of dwelling on the negative and allowing himself to become frustrated, Barnes eventually picked himself back up and turned the experience into a lesson. His resolve was tested. The role of spectator not only made him hungrier to return, but made him mentally stronger as well.

“It was a learning experience,” said Barnes. “It only helps you get better, it helps you develop that mental toughness lets you see the game from a different perspective.”

It was an experience that surely tested his patience, as well. The middle foot sprain that had sidelined him the early part of the summer could only be healed with mother nature’s cure-all: time.

“When I got hurt, I just wasn’t able to speed the recovery process up,” said Barnes. “It was just one of those injuries where you just have to wait it out and let it heal.”

Once his right foot healed in mid-July, he finally reclaimed his spot in the starting XI and immediately found himself surrounded by a merry-go-round of defenders as injuries forced manager Steve Nicol to shuffle his lineup on a regular basis. One night, Barnes was paired with Cory Gibbs. Another night, it was Emmanuel Osei. And another night after that, it was Pat Phelan. And so on.

All the adjustments inside the heart of the Revolution defense could’ve thrown Barnes wildly off his game. Combined with lingering pain (he underwent surgery immediately after the regular season ended to correct the sports hernia injury he sustained in the waning weeks of the season), his form could’ve faltered badly. And nobody could have blamed him.

However, excuses were the last thing Barnes was willing to reach for. He wouldn’t let something like lineup changes alter his focus on the task at hand. In fact, it was something Barnes simply took in the stride.

“It’s someting you just have to learn on the fly,” said Barnes. “You play with these guys every day in practice and so you just have to know how they play and you have to adapt your game a little bit and know what to expect.”

If there’s one thing Barnes has done particularly well during the early part of his professional career is adapt. Barnes’ quiet tenacity out on the pitch is what separates him from other center backs in the league. He isn’t a punishing, big-tackle showman, but rather, a fluid, cerebral athlete who rarely finds himself out of position. A silent assassin.

With the wreckage of the 2010 season behind him, Barnes enters preseason camp fully fit and ready to apply the hard lessons learned toward his game this season. Although a physically and mentally stronger Barnes would like to remain fit all season, he’s set the bar much higher than that.

“The ultimate goal’s to win a championship,” said Barnes. “But, we also want play an attractive brand of soccer and be a possession-oriented team. If we can do that, and make every other team chase us, I think we can be successful because we have the pieces for it.”

Few would argue that Barnes is one of the bigger pieces of that puzzle – a notion he’s quick to shoot down, like a silent assassin.

“I’m all about the team,” said Barnes. “If I can just go out there and be on that field to help my team win, then that’ll be a successful season for me.”