Player Ratings: New England Revolution vs. Chicago Fire

Clyde Simms was our an of the Match on Saturday. (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 Brian O’Connell and Sean Donahue contributed ratings for the New England Revolution’s 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire.

Bobby Shuttleworth – Average Rating: 5.75 (Brian 6, Sean 5.5)
Hardly tested, but commanded the air well by snuffing out a pair of dangerous crosses in the first half. Easy save on Nyarko earned him his second shutout. (Brian) … Could his night have been any easier? Maybe not, but he did everything asked to get the shutout, though he was bailed out by Guy when he was beaten on a 51st minute corner. (Sean)

Kevin Alston – Average Rating: 6 (Brian 6, Sean 6)
The most active defender on the field (91 touches), stayed true to his defensive duties and helped shut down Chicago’s right flank. (Brian) … Another strong showing from Alston, who has found new life since moving to the left. Still, with how much he gets forward, it would be nice to see some better shots. (Sean)

Darrius Barnes – Average Rating: 5.75 (Brian 6, Sean 5.5)
Good communication with Soares and Simms to render Rolfe and afterthought; only qualm is that he’s capable of better distribution (60% pass completion rate). (Brian) … Solid showing, though distribution is usually better. (Sean)

A.J. Soares – Average Rating: 6 (Brian 6, Sean 6)
Passing out of the back was impressive (84.4% pass completion rate), and avoided the costly mistake. A performance to build upon. (Brian) … Error free showing with solid distribution, though the Fire attack didn’t offer much in the creativity department. (Sean)

Ryan Guy – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5, Sean 6)
Saw the most touches among all Revs players, likely a result of the overall defensive approach, oh, and Gonzalo Segares in his area of the field. To his credit, didn’t make any glaring mistakes. (Brian) … A couple positioning issues, but made some key plays, including a hugely important header after Shuttleworth failed to reach a corner, and overall put in a strong performance while clearly not playing his best position. (Sean)

Blair Gavin – Average Rating: 6.5 (Brian 6.5, Sean 6.5)
It wasn’t so much that he saw the ball a lot as it was what he did with it at his feet. Off the ball runs were sound, as well. (Brian) … There wasn’t anything too flashy from Gavin, but he put in a solid two way showing in the center of the midfield and that, perhaps more than anything else, made those around him in the midfield better. (Sean)

Clyde Simms – Average Rating: 7.5 (Brian 8, Sean 7)
Talk about the unsung hero; not only did he help bottle Rolfe and keep the Fire’s attack in check, but his 93.7% pass completion rate, and team-high 12 recovery runs unquestionably strengthened the Revs shape. (Brian) … Looked like the Simms who was so impressive at the start of the season when Shalrie Joseph was out there with him. It may have been his first time partnering with Gavin, but the pair seemed to function together as a unit much better than any other central midfield pairing the Revs have used over the past three months. (Sean)

Kelyn Rowe – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 5, Sean 5.5)
Displayed good vision and technique on assist to Diego, and became more involved in the attack than his previous three performances. (Brian) … Got the assist for Fagundez’s goal, and had a decent showing, though the offense was unable to generate many chances. (Sean)

Diego Fagundez – Average Rating: 6.75 (Brian 6.5, Sean 7)
High class goal decides the match early; still gets forced off the ball a lot, but out wide, it certainly wasn’t as frequent as it is when he plays centrally. (Brian) … Fantastic goal to win the match and should’ve had a late assist on a solid run if Bengtson had finished. Not much offense in the game, but Fagundez seemed to be involved in most of it. (Sean)

Dimitry Imbongo – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5)
Actually linked with his teammates pretty well (85% pass completion rate), but fired off an obligatory bad shot late. A quietly encouraging performance. (Brian) … His best passing night since joining the team and had some good moments offensively, but shooting and off the ball runs still left something to be desired. (Sean)

Jerry Bengtson – Average: 4.25 (Brian 4.5, Sean 5)
Confounding performance; forced off the ball often, passing accuracy barely over 50%, and missed another sure goal in the final minute. (Brian) … Worked hard, but the Revs didn’t get a DP to work hard, they got one to score goals and the one fantastic chance Bengtson got, he wasted. (Sean)

(sub) Juan Toja – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
His effectiveness seems to be waning as the season progresses; mediocre performance does little to aid the attack in the latter part of the game. (Brian) … Fantastic pass to spring Fagundez free on the play that led to Bengtson’s chance, but otherwise unable to spark a stagnant Revs offense to life. (Sean)

(sub) Chris Tierney – Average Rating: 5 (Brian 5, Sean 5)
Odd to see him so far up and central; didn’t do much to help the attack, though. (Brian) … Not sure what role Heaps wanted him to play, but he was all over the place and didn’t make much of impact off the bench, despite expending plenty of effort. (Sean)

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