Player Ratings: New England Revolution vs. Seattle Sounders

Stephen McCarthy was one of our top performers for Saturday’s 2-2 draw between the Revolution and Sounders. (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 Sean Donahue contributed ratings for the New England Revolution’s 2-2 draw with Seattle Sounders FC.

Matt Reis – Average Rating: 4 (Brian 4, Sean 4)
Indecisive on second goal; never looked especially confident in front of his area. (Brian) … Came out for the cross on the second goal and didn’t get there. Nothing he could do on the first goal and had a fairly easy night otherwise. (Sean)

Chris Tierney – Average Rating: 4.75 (Brian 5.5, Sean 4)
Seemed slow to react on Johnson’s first strike; set pieces looked better and looked in sync with Nguyen early. (Brian) … Very active as usual, but caught ball watching, letting Johnson sneak in for the first goal and was turned by Johnson on the play that led to Osvaldo Alonso’s chance. Corners were too close to the ‘keeper. (Sean)

AJ Soares – Average Rating: 3.75 (Brian 3.5, Sean 4)
Not much to say other than it was another forgettable first half; lost on the two Johnson goals; communication with Reis is clearly off. (Brian) … Beaten by Eddie Johnson on the second goal, but otherwise had a fairly comfortable night. (Sean)

Stephen McCarthy – Average Rating: 6.5 (Brian 6.5, Sean 6.5)
Make that three  straight stout performances; made a few timely tackles (including one on Johnson in the 72nd minute). Smart ball to Cardenas in stoppage time led to equalizer. (Brian) … Did what was needed defensively – including some impressive saving tackles – and made smart passes out of the back, including picking out Cardenas on the play that led to the equalizing goal. (Sean)

Florian Lechner – Average Rating: 3.75 (Brian 4, Sean 3.5)
With Sene split out wide, Lechner didn’t get the chance to make much of a contribution to the attack; lax defending on the crosses that led to Johnson’s goals. (Brian) … Some sloppy giveaways and failed to close out on several crosses, including both goals. (Sean)

Lee Nguyen – Average Rating: 6 (Brian 6, Sean 6)
Another quiet, yet solid performance from the left sided midfielder. Completed nearly 86% of his passes and helped add life the attack in the second half. (Brian) … Nearly scored in the second half with a chip over the ‘keeper, but his headed away. Active on both sides of the ball, though we haven’t seen as much of the flashy dribbling to take on defenders as we saw earlier in the season. (Sean)

Clyde Simms – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5)
Passing wasn’t as crisp as it was last week, but put in work in the rear. Seemed a little lost with Feilhaber essentially freelancing. (Brian) .. Some good coverage defensively, particularly helping close out on the right flank in the second half when Lechner failed to, but otherwise positioning between him and Joseph seemed a bit off at times and wasted a decent chance with a poor shot. (Sean)

Shalrie Joseph – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
Battled well with Alonso, and made a few nice advances to sharpen the attack. Looked somewhat rusty, though. (Brian) … Solid return with some nice passing, including helping to spring the first goal, though at times the middle three didn’t all seem on the same page and was beaten by Alonso for a second half header. (Sean)

Benny Feilhaber – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
The Benny of old returned on Saturday; passing was good, but dribbled his way into trouble with alarming regularity. (Brian) … Set pieces have been getting better lately and Feilhaber had some nice passes in the attacking third, but when the Revs fell behind, he again seemed to try to do too much on his own at times. (Sean)

Saer Sene – Average Rating: 4.25 (Brian 4.5, Sean 4)
Easy finish on 12th minute goal, but saw a number of chances fade after some obvious finishing woes. Looked really uncomfortable out on the right. (Brian) He’ll want several of his chances back as he wasted many good opportunities. Easy finish on the first goal, but was lucky he didn’t waste that opportunity too by being in an offside position. Right midfield hardly seems like the ideal role for Sene. (Sean)

 Blake Brettschneider – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5)
Worked well with Sene; saw some good hold up play and almost slipped one through in the 37th minute. (Brian) … Great effort to set up Sene for the first goal and nearly snuck one in himself before halftime. Didn’t look entirely comfortable with his back to goal and despite a good work rate struggled to get on the ball at times. (Sean)

(sub) Kelyn Rowe – Average Rating: 4.75 (Brian 4.5, Sean 5)
Never seemed to get into a rhythm; ran out of ideas in the face of a defense that weakened late. (Brian) … Tried to take on too much himself at times, though he did put in a couple decent balls into the box. (Sean)

(sub) Fernando Cardenas – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
Sparked some good chances in the final third; may have gotten just a little lucky on his pass to Fagundez after a replay showed he may have originally targeted Sene. (Brian) … Spark off the bench. Kept most of his passes fairly simple and sent in the cross that led to Fagundez’s goal. (Sean)

(sub) Diego Fagundez – Average Rating: 6.5 (Brian 7, Sean 6)
Only recorded four touches, but one of them brought the Revs back from the brink; he was exactly what the Revs needed in crunch time. (Brian) … After coming off the bench sent one hider off target, but made no mistake on the final play of the game when he headed in the equalizer. Big impact as a late sub. (Sean)