Player Ratings: New England Revolution vs. D.C. United

Revolution midfielder Shalrie Joseph may not have put his name on the scoresheet on Saturday, but his distribution and urgency to push forward helped the Revs come back from a 0-2 deficit at the half. (Photo: Kari Heistad)

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 Ryan Lanigan contributed ratings for New England’s 3-2 loss to D.C. United.

Matt Reis – Average Rating: 4.25 (Brian 4.5, Ryan 4)
Shaky first half performance gives way to a stronger second half. But on the whole, it was another unremarkable night. (Brian) … As much as the defense was at fault for the first two goals, Reis could equally share the blame. Not much he could have done on the winning goal. (Ryan)

Chris Tierney – Average Rating: 5 (Brian 4.5, Ryan 5.5)
Aside from his cross on the Soares goal, the set piece stuff was sub par. Struggled to contain Najar. (Brian) … Finally was able to find someone on a set piece and almost got his second assist in the final minutes before Hamid’s wonder save on Rowe’s header. (Ryan)

Stephen McCarthy – Average Rating: 4.25 (Brian 4, Ryan 4.5)
Lost his mark on Santos before the Brazilian scored the game-winner; positioning and awareness remain an issue for second straight week. (Brian) … Caught out of position on the winning goal, didn’t stand out too much. (Ryan)

A.J. Soares – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 5, Ryan 5.25)
Nice flick to equalize, but looked way too casual on the McDonald goal. (Brian) … Great goal from the center back and a couple of solid challenges, but he was beat on the first goal. (Ryan)

Kevin Alston – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 5, Ryan 5.5)
Good to see him make more runs into the attacking third, kept pace with DeLeon, but questionable defending on the Boskovic cross that led to Jackovic’s goal. (Brian) … It won’t show up on the stat sheet, but Alston did pretty well overall. Wasn’t much help behind him after he went forward and Cardenas turned it over for the third goal. (Ryan)

Lee Nguyen – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 5.5, Ryan 5)
Did well to combine with Sene and Tierney, but lacked the bite to force the issue. Helped out Tierney with Najar particularly well. (Brian) … His offense struggled as he was continually helping out defensively. (Ryan)

Shalrie Joseph – Average Rating: 6 (Brian 6.5, Ryan 5.5)
Excellent distribution (88% success rate), and settled the tempo after the McDonald goal. Early runs forward injected life into an attack that was slow to start. (Brian) … It’s starting to show how much Sharlie is missing Simms. (Ryan)

Ryan Guy – Average Rating: 4.25 (Brian 4, Ryan 4.5)
Looked overwhelmed early before finally settling down somewhat. Unfortunate to pick up an injury midway through first half. (Brian) … He was running around trying to make up for some mental mistakes. Tough to see him go down hurt. (Ryan)

Benny Feilhaber – Average Rating: 4.88 (Brian 5, Ryan 4.75)
Fired a cannon on Hamid that led to Sene’s goal, passing was sharp, but his mental gaffe on the Boskovic cross led to goal. (Brian) … He did well to get the shot off early in the second half that resulted in the first Revs goal, but other times struggled. (Ryan)

Saer Sene – Average Rating: 5.75 (Brian 5.5, Ryan 6)
Slow start, but good effort on the first half chance that Hamid barely steered wide, and good follow-up on Feilhaber’s rip. (Brian) … It wasn’t his best effort of the season but kudos for him to go a full 90 in the weather and continue to make strong runs throughout. He should have had two goals though. (Ryan)

Blake Brettschneider – Average Rating: 4.25 (Brian 4, Ryan 4.5)
Largely ineffective all night; seemed hesitant to involve himself the in the attack. (Brian) … It would have been nice to see Brettschneider net one against his old team but it wasn’t his best game, which led to him being subbed out. (Ryan)

SUBS
Fernando Cardenas – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 6, Ryan 4.5)
Nice through pass to Sene and nice chip in 76th minute; added a hint of creativity to the attack. (Brian) … A couple of decent ideas but failed to keep control of the ball in key situations.

Kelyn Rowe – Average Rating: 4.88 (Brian 5, Ryan 4.75)
Chipped in on the attack late, and nearly steered a potential equalizer through in the 90th minute. (Brian) … He was barely around after he came in until he almost tied it in the final minutes. He did well to get himself in good position and got a solid header onto it, but Hamid made a great save. (Ryan)

Jose Moreno – Average Rating: 4.75 (Brian 4, Ryan 5.5)
Fired a weak shot on frame in the 78th; looked rusty and lost in his first action since May 2. (Brian) … His first touch was nice but he will need more time to get things going. He seems to want to control the attack when he’s out there. (Ryan)