Player Ratings: New England Revolution vs. Montreal Impact

Stephen McCarthy put in a decent performance in the Revs loss. (Photo: Chris Aduama/aduama.com)

After each match the contributors to New England Soccer Today will rate the performances of the New England Revolution players who made an appearance on a 1 to 10 scale (1 horrendous, 5 average, 10 perfection). This week Sean Donahue and Brian O’Connell contributed ratings for the New England Revolution’s 1-0 loss to the Montreal Impact.

Matt Reis – Average Rating: 5 (Brian 5, Sean 5)
For the second straight week, he’s left out to dry against a speedy attacker that breaks through the defense. Other than that, stopped the other two shots on goal, but another relatively quiet night. (Brian) … Hard to find much fault in his performance. Can’t blame him for the goal and nothing too difficult to do otherwise. (Sean)

Chris Tierney – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 5, Sean 5.5)
The set pieces are getting a little sharper, but the stuff from the run of play left a lot to be desired. Gave a little too much room to operate to Nyassi near the box. (Brian) … With the Revs use of inverted wingers and subsequent lack of width, Tierney is asked to do way too much for someone without blazing speed. Still, it was a solid showing from Tierney on both sides of the ball. (Sean)

A.J. Soares – Average Rating: 4 (Brian 4, Sean 4)
Like Reis, wasn’t really tested, but the 77′ yellow wasn’t the smartest idea in the world. Megged by Nyassi on the game-winner, but showed no signs of being slowed by the hamstring injury. (Brian) … Picked up a deserved yellow for a late challenge and was burned by Sanna Nyassi on the game’s lone goal. Otherwise it was a solid, if somewhat untested, showing, but unfortunately for Soares that one big mistake cost the team the game since they are currently incapable of scoring. (Sean)

Stephen McCarthy – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
One of the few defenders whose passing was actually on point (41 for 46), which probably had to do with the fact that he was primarily keeping it on the carpet. (Brian) … Another solid showing from McCarthy who has settled in nicely to his center back role. (Sean)

Kevin Alston – Average Rating: 4.25 (Brian 4, Sean 4.5)
Some really curious positioning gave way to a handful Montreal chances; was he right back, center back, right sided midfielder or withdrawn striker? Hard to tell. (Brian) … If Heaps is giving his fullbacks free reign to bomb forward, it needs to be coordinated better. How many times were both Tierney and Alston up – and Alston not even providing width or much of an outlet while up – with two defenders left alone in the back, such as on Nyassi’s goal? Too many. (Sean)

Lee Nguyen – Average: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
Seemed to spring to life after back-to-back quiet nights; passing was sharp, and shooting actually kept Perkins honest. Got kicked around a lot, which seems to suggest there isn’t enough off the ball movement around him to give him decent options. (Brian) … Tough night to rate because he played some fantastic passes to Sene and had some decent efforts himself, but his off the ball runs and positioning often left no width on the left and Tierney no outlets when he was carrying the ball forward, making some possessions much easier for Montreal to defend. Is that on Heaps or on Nguyen? (Sean)

Clyde Simms – Average Rating: 4.75 (Brian 5, Sean 4.5)
Kept it simple with short passes and staying within himself; but he needs to raise his game to compensate for Joseph’s absence. (Brian) … The Simms – Feilhaber partnership still isn’t working. Too many times Simms found himself ahead of Feilhaber. Part of the problem seems to be he has way too many responsibilities to compensate for the runs of the fullbacks, which stretches him all over the field. Doe Nyassi’s goal happen if Simms wasn’t stretched wide to cover for Tierney? (Sean)

Benny Feilhaber – Average Rating: 4.25 (Brian 4.5, Sean 4)
Another player whose positioning was suspect; seemed to drop behind Simms even though it was clear the attack needs him; perhaps it wouldn’t have made a difference, with his passing not as good as he’s capable of. (Brian) … Never really found a way to cause trouble against Montreal’s defense. Way too quiet of a night, odd positioning, and a few poor turnovers. (Sean)

Ryan Guy – Average Rating: 4 (Brian 4, Sean 4)
Passing not terribly great (65%), and seemed to never really find a comfortable spot with all the moving parts. The constant shifting is perhaps hurting his form the most. (Brian) … Guy has a decent cross and could seemingly be useful on the right. Instead he’s played just about everywhere else on the pitch and wasn’t especially successful at any of them on Sunday. (Sean)

Saer Sene – Average Rating: 4.25 (Brian 4, Sean 4.5)
Collected seven shots on the night, but only one went on frame. Still taking too many looks from outside the area; continues to look tentative. (Brian) … Might get credit from some for a shot off the crossbar, but the smart play there is to keep it low to the far post and frankly hitting the crossbar from that close is not a positive. Still, a great job getting open and heading on the fantastic pass from Nguyen and some good runs when he was up top, but looked lost at times on the right and gave away possession by arguing with the refs instead of getting onside.(Sean)

Jerry Bengtson – Average Rating: 3.75 (Brian 4, Sean 3.5)
Non-factor; 16 touches before he was subbed off on a night when the Revs needed him the most. (Brian) … Easy to forget he was on the field. After a great Olympics, he didn’t show up. (Sean)

(sub) Kelyn Rowe – Average Rating: 4 (Brian 4, Sean 4)
Did well to steer a Nguyen corner kick on frame late; but the passing and dribbling were not top shelf. (Brian) … Solid header off the corner, but his passing was poor and one run where he seemingly didn’t noticed the defender next to him until he picked off the ball kind of epitomized the Revs night offensively. (Sean)

(sub) Fernando Cardenas – Average Rating: 4.25 (Brian 4, Sean 4.5)
Passing inside the midfield was OK, but failed to make an impact off the bench. (Brian) … Played a fantastic ball to Sene that could’ve led to a last minute equalizer, but otherwise didn’t do enough with his fresh legs off the bench. (Sean)

(sub) Diego Fagundez – Average Rating: N/A

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