Player Ratings: New England Revolution at Montreal Impact
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 Montreal Impact.
Bobby Shuttleworth – Average Rating: 6.25 (Brian 6, Sean 6.5)
Skirted a couple of shaky moments, including the Di Vaio shot that squirted through and hugged the goal line. Made up for it by making some heady saves, including Di Vaio’s 82nd minute free kick. However, distribution remains an issue for the second straight week. (Brian) … Overcame a couple of miscues with some fantastic saves. Seems afraid to play the ball short to his defenders, however, which has been hurting the team’s possession game. (Sean)
Kevin Alston – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
Looked sharp on the left, and made some nice tackles inside the box; like the rest of his fellow defenders, sent a few aimless balls upfield that the Montreal midfielder were happy to take back. (Brian) … When he was in the back, made some strong plays defensively. Too slow to get back at times when he pushed forward, however, giving Montreal numerical advantages on a couple of their better opportunities. Found teammates on less than half of his throw-ins. (Sean)
Darrius Barnes – Average Rating: 6 (Brian 6, Sean 6)
Made a couple of plays inside the area at the 33rd and 56th minutes; good in the air and actually had a decent day with distribution (73%) (Brian) … Settled in after some shaky passing early to put in a solid defensive performance. Got forward in the 39th minute for a corner and helped set-up Bengtson’s weak effort on frame. (Sean)
A.J. Soares – Average Rating: 6.25 (Brian 5.5, Sean 7)
Overcame an anonymous performance in the rear to slip the game-winner through late; passing wasn’t sharp, and wasn’t particularly strong inside the area; made a nice run forward in the 24th minute before his passing let him down. (Brian) … Made some big last ditch clearances and blocks to help bail out his fellow defenders. Recovered well when Alston was caught forward. Good header on the game-winner. Only sub-par passing kept it from being a better showing. (Sean)
Ryan Guy – Average Rating: 5.75 (Brian 6, Sean 5.5)
Easily the most active defender, likely due to his inexperience; however, provided good cover for Barnes and Soares, and improved as the game progressed, and picked up the foul that led to Tierney’s game-winning cross. (Brian) … At times beaten two easily down the left flank, but effort was there and did well to earn the dangerous free kick leading to the game winner. (Sean)
Chris Tierney – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
Struggled to get his crosses to teammates in the attacking third, but made the most of his 88th minute free kick; from the run of play, though, it was obvious that Tierney wasn’t in top form. (Brian) … Passing was subpar, but put in a dangerous free kick leading to the game winner. Made a couple of key plays defensively. (Sean)
Benny Feilhaber – Average Rating: 5.75 (Brian 5.5, Sean 6)
Made the passes he needed to, but struggled to find the trademark key pass through with Montreal winning the midfield battle; even so, helped the Revs’ efforts when they advanced. (Brian) … Misplayed a couple of passes in the offensive third, but overall was one of the few Revs to have a decent passing night. Also made some big plays defensively, particularly defending set pieces. (Sean)
Clyde Simms – Average Rating: 6.25 (Brian 6.5, Sean 6)
Put out a number of fires in between the midfield and defending third; short passing game on point, as usual; provided a steadying presence even with Di Vaio lurking. (Brian) … Quietly had a very solid night with some important recoveries defensively. Few giveaways and had some good moments in transition, helping to spark counterattacks. (Sean)
Fernando Cardenas – Average Rating: 5 (Brian 5, Sean 5)
Looked dangerous early with some nice runs, combined with Fagundez to create some decent chances, but stop me if you’ve heard this before: his finishing and decision making in the final third leave a lot to be desired. Squandered a fantastic chance in the 28th minute. (Brian) … With better finishing, should’ve had a goal. A couple of flashes of brilliance, but faded and final product was lacking. (Sean)
Diego Fagundez – Average Rating: 5.5 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
Played some good balls in the final third, passing was impressive (82.6%), but definitely seemed gassed after tracking back often on defense time after time. (Brian) … Connected well with Cardenas, but seemed a bit off after an early knock, despite strong passing accuracy. (Sean)
Jerry Bengtson – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 5.5, Sean 5)
His hold up play was noticeably better this week, and tested Perkins with a pair of shots before the interval; didn’t get a ton of touches given that the Revs played so many numbers behind the ball. (Brian) … Some poor first touches let him down and went down under pressure a bit too easily at times. Wasn’t helped by a lack of numbers in support in the attack. (Sean)
(sub) Blair Gavin – Average Rating: 5 (Brian 5, Sean 5)
Anonymous effort off the bench until he denied Arnaud’s open look following the 86th minute Di Vaio corner. (Brian) … Hard to believe he was on the field for 26 minutes with how little he saw of the ball, but made an important goal line clearance. (Sean)
(sub) Kelyn Rowe – Average Rating: 4.75 (Brian 4.5, Sean 5)
Primary effort was devoted to clock-killing in stoppage; made a couple of good passes inside, but didn’t add much to the attacking effort. (Brian) … Unable to make much of an impact off the bench. (Sean)
(sub) Dimitry Imbongo – Average Rating: 4.5 (Brian 4.5, Sean 4.5)
Obligatory wild miss in the 83rd minute; still lacks the refinement required to sharpen the team’s form going forward. (Brian) … Struggled to keep his footing and came nowhere near the target with his one shot. (Sean)
8 Comments
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About Sean Donahue and Brian O'Connell
Sean Donahue has been covering the New England Revolution since 2002 for various publications. He hosted Revolution Recap, a weekly radio program covering the New England Revolution and U.S. Men's National Team from 2005-2008. He is a member of the North American Soccer Reporters, and can be reached via e-mail at nesoccertoday@gmail.com. Brian O'Connell has covered the New England Revolution since 2006, and has written extensively for the Associated Press, Revsnet.com, and New England Soccer News. He is a member of the North American Soccer Reporters, and can be easily reached at BOConnell21@aol.com.
Chris B
October 28, 2012 at 11:44 am
Interesting difference of opinion on Soares. I, like Sean, would give him around a 7. I don’t get why Brian thought he was “anonymous”. I noticed him all game and I believe the goal perfectly complimented his no-nonsense defensive effort, which we rarely saw all year. I’m not aware of his passing stats but I’ll believe you both if you say it wasn’t good.
Brian O'Connell
October 28, 2012 at 6:42 pm
For Soares, I thought he wasn’t all that great inside his own box. There was a 22nd minute corner, I believe, in which he just got shoved aside by Camara. Then, in the 56th minute, he gets turned by Di Vaio, which granted, he recovered and got a piece of the subsequent pass. But Marco Di Vaio, who’s like 74 yrs old, shouldn’t be faking anyone out at this stage of his life, nevermind football career. That’s just me though.
Chris B
October 28, 2012 at 7:47 pm
I guess that’s fair. I think Camara is overly physical and Di Vaio, while old, has tons of experience and a great soccer brain. Those aren’t excuses for A.J though but he at least recovered for some of his mistakes and we kept a shutout.
Thanks for responding as always!
Brian O'Connell
October 28, 2012 at 10:13 pm
My pleasure, Chris. Thanks for reading – and, of course, for commenting, which opens the door for some good ol’ fashioned banter.
W Peter Jones
October 28, 2012 at 5:39 pm
Hi there ,I am wondering if we will be getting a END OF SEASON Player rating from you or Bentmusket??? The Globe & Herald do a end of Season Ratings for the other sport teams but nothing for the Revs????? you should also give us, who will be staying and who will be shown the door for 2013— For me the break out player for 2012 the Stud is Lee ,the Dud is Benny they should bring in another Goalkeeper draft or a MLS player–To me Guy is a better defender than Tierney at least Guy playes both sides of the field ie overlapping in attack and tracks back to help in defence
Brian O'Connell
October 28, 2012 at 10:15 pm
Hey Peter, I know we have the numbers for end-of-season player ratings, which I’m sure we’ll have up sometime soon. Also – we’ll definitely have a “who’s staying, who’s going” feature up this week as well. We’ve got ya covered!
W Peter Jones
October 29, 2012 at 9:18 am
THANK YOU Brien
rick sewall
October 29, 2012 at 1:45 pm
Tierney has gotten beaten by quick, skillful forwards too often this year. Guy should practice his free kicks. He already has done one great cross, so his basic kicking can’t be too bad . If he can raise his level of play just a little he should be considered a possible replacement for Tierney.
I too was worried about Heap’s attacking philosophy he preached at the beginning of the season. All you have to do as a coach is to talk about playing attractive soccer as much as possible with the idea of winning as many games as you can. Also, attacking effectively requires good shooting technique, something the Rev team as a whole couldn’t do. Seemingly, the problem was more or less ignored all season long. I thought it was obvious. Maybe the staff didn’t.