Player Ratings: New England Revolution at New York Red Bulls

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 Brian O’Connell and Sean Donahue contributed ratings for the New England Revolution’s 1-0 loss at the New York Red Bulls.

Matt Reis – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 6, Sean 5)
Bailed out his teammates early with a couple of early crucial saves. Distribution a bit of an adventure, however. (Brian) … Caught in no-man’s land on the goal, but made several big saves in the match to keep it close. (Sean)

Chris Tierney – Average Rating: 4 (Brian 4, Sean 4)
Out of his element when pitted against Kenny Cooper and Dane Richards. Combined well with Lee Nguyen, but his crosses were off. (Brian) … Delivery from set pieces and the run of play was poor. Cooper gave him issues all night. (Sean)

Stephen McCarthy – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
Left on an island on the Henry goal. Positioning was good and helped limited the NY attack in the second half. (Brian) … Put in a tough situation on the Henry goal with little support. Some well-timed slide tackles and smart passes in defense. Played particularly well after NY’s early goal. (Sean)

AJ Soares – Average Rating: 6.25 (Brian 6, Sean 6.5)
Good in the air and covered Cooper better as the game progressed. Admirable performance. (Brian) … Some big plays to shut down Cooper and some excellent tackles in recovery. Solid passing out of the back. (Sean)

Kevin Alston – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
Matched well with Richards and Cooper, stretched the field on the attack, but seemed slow to reaction to a few runs down the right. (Brian) … Looked reactive rather than proactive at times, allowing attackers to get a step on him, but managed to recover well each time. Some nice moves getting forward, though New York exploited the space left behind him while attacking on a few occasions. (Sean)

Lee Nguyen – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5)
Played some smart balls to his forwards, never shy to go forward; shots from distance left a lot to be desired. (Brian) … Tried to do too much at times, but also had some nice combination play going forward. Good late shot in stoppage time, but overall shooting was very poor. (Sean)

Shalrie Joseph – Average Rating: 5 (Brian 5, Sean 5)
Sent a perfect pass ahead to Feilhaber for the potential equalizer, and helped stabilize the midfield. Dumb yellow, though. (Brian) … Decent showing helping the Revs keep possession moving, but had to be careful after picking up an unnecessary early yellow card. (Sean)

Clyde Simms  – Average Rating: 5 (Brian 5, Sean 5)
Cleaned up a lot of balls in the back, short passes where there, but some of the ideas were questionable. (Brian) … Played within himself, but perhaps needed to stay further back early to aid the center backs against New York’s loaded attack. Didn’t add much offensively as the Revs were pushing numbers up late. (Sean)

Kelyn Rowe – Average Rating: 3.75 (Brian 3.5, Sean 4)
Never looked comfortable with Lindpere in his face. Seemed overly tentative against a backline that allowed 14 goals going into the game. (Brian) … Not his best night. Struggle to find space and break down the Red Bulls defense before being subbed at half time. (Sean)

Jose Moreno – Average Rating: 4 (Brian 4, Sean 4)
Combined well with Sene early, and did well to hold the ball up, but faded toward halftime. (Brian) … A few nice plays going forward, but struggled to get involved as the game dragged on. Looked a bit lost when pulled wide in the attack. Caught ball watching on a Red Bulls corner kick, giving Dax McCarty  a free shot that was only kept out by the post. (Sean)

Saer Sene – Average Rating:  4.5 (Brian 4, Sean 5)
Collected chances but failed to cash them in. Seemed to overthink, rather than shoot, once inside the area. (Brian) … Some fantastic moves to create space in the box, but finishing was lacking. Good defensive effort at times as well, but also some poor passes and giveaways. (Sean)

(sub) Benny Feilhaber – Average Rating:  4.75 (Brian 5, Sean 4.5)
Sharpened the attack with some room service balls, but set pieces were an issue. A couple of good shots could’ve put the Revs on level terms. (Brian) … Wasted several corner kicks by sending them right to the keeper. Needed to do better with his header. Some good plays going forward to be sure, but also looked a bit rusty. (Sean)

(sub) Bjorn Runstrom – Average Rating: 3.75 (Brian 3.5, Sean 4)
Three touches in 15 minutes? Probably not what Heaps had in mind. A non-factor during a crucial part of the game. (Brian) … Very few touches. Service to the striker was poor, but under the circumstances he needed to do more to get on the ball. (Sean)

(sub) Alec Purdie – Average Rating: N/A (Brian 5.5, Sean N/A)
Added to the attack even in limited minutes by providing support and good service. (Brian) … Not enough time to make an impact. (Sean)

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