Player Ratings: New England Revolution vs. Columbus Crew

Center back A.J. Soares played a pivotal role in Saturday’s 0-0 shutout against Columbus. (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 Sean Donahue and Julian Cardillo contributed ratings for the New England Revolution’s scoreless draw with the Columbus Crew.

Matt Reis – Average Rating: 6 (Sean 6, Julian 6)
Good distribution, dealt well with some questionable back passes, but had a fairly easy night thanks to good defense in front of him and some amazingly poor finishing from the Crew. (Sean) … A couple nice stops, nice job organizing defense throughout game. (Julian)

Kevin Alston – Average Rating: 4.75 (Sean 5, Julian 4.5)
Went forward a lot, but unable to add much to the Revs attack. Made a few nice defensive plays, but also had a lot of help from Shalrie Joseph and the center backs when he was caught out of position. (Sean) … Drifted forward way too much and had nothing to show for it. Relied on too many people to cover his position too often. (Julian)

Stephen McCarthy – Average Rating: 6.75 (Sean 6.5, Julian 7)
Battled hard all night, but came up especially big late in the game, sacrificing his body to get in the way of Crew attackers in the Revs box. Only blemish was his 56.8% passing accuracy. (Sean) … Worked well with Soares and Reis and shut down Crew attack with slew of good tackles. (Julian)

A.J. Soares – Average Rating: 6.25 (Sean 6, Julian 6.5)
Made several key interceptions and did well both organizing the backline and man marking when the Revs outside backs pressed forward. Won several headers when the Crew tried some long balls. Played smart after picking up an early, unnecessary, yellow card. (Sean) …  Did well with McCarthy and cleaned up some messes at the back. Good job to get forward on corners. (Julian)

Chris Tierney – Average Rating: 4.75 (Sean 5, Julian 4.5)
Mixed night for Tierney. Got the job done defensively, when he stayed back, but pressed forward a lot without much luck on his crosses or set pieces. Passing percentage was just 67.6%. (Sean)  … Service on set pieces was barely adequate and looked slow on the attack. (Julian)

Shalrie Joseph – Average Rating: 6 (Sean 6, Julian 6)
What we’ve come to expect from the Revs captain – smart passing (though 72% accuracy today is a bit below his normal standards), clogging the opponent’s passing lanes and put in a lot of work covering when the outside backs got forward. (Sean) … Cleaned up a few messes in midfield and did what he could to connect with the attackers. (Julian)

Fernando Cardenas – Average Rating: 5.5 (Sean 5.5, Julian 5.5)
Solid passing and some smart runs, but had less of an impact in the second half before being subbed. Denied a goal by some excellent goalkeeping. (Sean) … A few nice shots and passes in the first half, but faded in the second half. (Julian)

Lee Nguyen – Average Rating: 5.5 (Sean 6, Julian 5)
On a night marred by sloppy giveaways, Nguyen quietly led the team in passing accuracy, completing 79.4% (27) of his 34 passes. Had a late shot denied by Gruenebaum and sent a couple of shots, including a free kick wide, but faded in and out of the game while his teammates struggled to get him the ball at times. (Sean) …  Didn’t look very involved. His speed seemed to be nonexistent. (Julian)

Benny Feilhaber – Average Rating: 5.5 (Sean 5.5, Julian 5.5)
Did a lot of good in the first half with some great through balls, thought he needed to put his early chance on frame. Struggled to have the same impact in the second half and ended the match having completed just 57% of his passes. (Sean) … A few great passes and runs in the first half but faded in half two. Should have done better with chance in first minute. (Julian)

Jose Moreno – Average Rating: 4 (Sean 4, Julian 4)
Botched a great breakaway, completed just 50% of his 12 passes attempted, and picked up a needless yellow card before leaving at halftime with an ankle injury. (Sean) … Needs to do better on a breakaway. Poor touches and didn’t do well with Sene and Revs midfield. (Julian)

Saer Sene – Average Rating:  5.25 (Sean 5.5, Julian 5)
Nearly scored a fantastic goal, but was denied by the crossbar. Great awareness to set up Feilhaber for his first minute chance. Did well connecting with his teammates, but like the rest of the attack, contributions faded significantly in the second half. (Sean) …  A few nice passes and lay-offs in the first half and unlucky to have long range blast hit the bar, but was nonexistent in the second half. (Julian)

(sub) Blake Brettschneider – Average Rating: 4.25 (Sean 4.5, Julian 4)
Worked hard on both ends of the ball after coming on, but Revs got very little going offensively in the second half – and when they did, Brettschneider wasn’t on the end of it. (Sean) … Didn’t add too much to the attack, just some pace. But the effort was there. (Julian)

(sub) Kelyn Rowe – Average Rating: 5.25 (Sean 5.5, Julian 5)
Provided a spark off the bench and made a great run through the defense only to be blocked by the last man back. (Sean) … Made a few good runs, but was easily dispossessed. (Julian)

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