New England Soccer Today

Player Ratings: New England Revolution at Chicago Fire

Matt Reis put in a solid showing in net, despite 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 Julian Cardillo contributed ratings for the New England Revolution’s 2-1 loss to the Chicago Fire.

Matt Reis – Average Rating: 6 (Sean 6, Julian 6)
If not for Reis, the end scoreline could’ve been far worse. Looked in vintage form with some fantastic diving saves. (Sean) … Made some nice saves and nearly saved the penalty kick, but nothing he could do on the second goal. (Julian)

Kevin Alston – Average Rating: 3.75 (Sean 3.5, Julian 4)
A few nice runs early, but struggled mightily with Patrick Nyarko and lost his mark on multiple set pieces. With Cardenas – who doesn’t have great defensive awareness – in front of him, Alston took way too many risks on ventures forward. (Sean) … As always, good job of getting forward, but doesn’t get back in time. Poor job of marking MacDonald and Rolfe all night. (Julian)

A.J. Soares – Average Rating: 3.25 (Sean 3, Julian 3.5)
Nightmare game as he gave up the penalty – slide tackling in that area is always a risky proposition – and was beaten by Sherjill MacDonald on the second goal. Had trouble all night with Chris Rolfe and beating his marks to headers. Had a decent shot late, but passing out of the back wasn’t as sharp as usual. (Sean) … Passing out of the back was poor, so was his marking of Chicago’s forwards. Definitely a penalty kick, no matter what the commentators say. (Julian)

Stephen McCarthy – Average Rating: 4.5 (Sean 5, Julian 4)
Decent showing, some saving tackles and blocks but also had a few missed tackles and was caught forward a bit on the play that led to the penalty. (Sean) … Passing out of the back was marginally better than Soares, though he, like Soares, fell asleep on the second goal. (Julian)

Chris Tierney – Average: 3.75 (Sean 4, Julian 3.5)
Had no shortage of trouble with the Fire’s speedy and creative attackers, like the rest of the defense. Didn’t venture forward much, though set pieces were decent. (Sean) … Set pieces were lacking and he struggled for pace at left back. Didn’t really seem to fit in offensively or defensively. (Julian)

Clyde Simms – Average Rating: 3.75 (Sean 4, Julian 3.5)
Another sub-par showing from Simms after he was Mr. Consistency to start the season. Left Rolfe – and left Soares out to dry – on the penalty play and was often pushed further forward than his central midfield partner. Clearly needs work on his shooting. (Sean) … Many loose passes, some lapses, and a few ill-advised shots. Simms is definitely not looking like the seasoned veteran he was earlier in the season. (Julian)

Ryan Guy – Average Rating: 6 (Sean 5.5, Julian 6.5)
No shortage of effort – demonstrated by his late sprint back to cover on defense and prevent a third goal from the Fire. Still, though his performance was admirable, center midfield hardly seems his best position and some of his best work offensively came when he drifted to the right. (Sean) … His efforts earn him lots of praise as he tried to do whatever he could to help the team snatch a result. Maybe central midfield isn’t his true position, but he at least put his best foot forward. (Julian)

Fernando Cardenas – Average Rating: 4.5 (Sean 4.5, Julian 4.5)
Mixed night. Got the goal, which probably raises his rating a point, but was one of the players who seemed to fall asleep a bit on the throw-in leading to the Fire’s second goal. In general, defensive awareness wasn’t good enough and was unable to do enough offensively to make up for it. (Sean) … Yeah, good job getting the ball to go into the net, but he was stopped way too easily most of the other times he went forward. (Julian)

Lee Nguyen – Average Rating: 4 (Sean 4, Julian 4)
Fairly invisible night before being pulled at halftime. Perhaps slowed by injury. (Sean) … Really quiet night from Lee, probably due to injury. (Julian)

Blake Brettschneider – Average Rating: 5 (Sean 5, Julian 5)
Showed some strength in the hold-up play up top. Some decent passing and pressure up top, though he never had a shooting chance. (Sean) … Actually looked calm and confident. Decent runs, though he struggled to get his foot onto any pass or cross. (Julian)

Saer Sene – Average Rating: 3.75 (Sean 4, Julian 3.5)
Decent service into the box led to Cardenas’ goal. Otherwise passing was pretty poor and resorted to long shots while seeming too hesitant to shoot in and around the box. (Sean) … Someone explain to all of us what his position is. Forward? Midfielder? Winger? Saer, just get in the box and shoot. (Julian)

(sub) Benny Feilhaber – Average Rating: 5.5 (Sean 5, Julian 6)
Mixed night off the bench. Some good work and great effort defensively. Again, often stuck too far back, even behind Simms, and passing in the attack was too slow at times. Fire defense was able to read several of his passes to cut them out. (Sean) … A nice spark off the bench with some nice passes. Seemed to do better to avoid being fouled and kept his cool reasonably well. (Julian)

(sub) Jerry Bengston – Average Rating: 5 (Sean 5, Julian 5)
Some positive glimpses, but also some signs of fatigue from his crazy playing/travel schedule. (Sean) … Just too tired to be that involved in the attack. (Julian)

(sub) Kelyn Rowe – Average Rating: 4.75 (Sean 4, Julian 5.5)
Passing was poor and was run off the ball far too easily. (Sean) … Some nice ideas, but his final pass was definitely not killer. (Julian)

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