Player Ratings: New England Revolution at Seattle Sounders

Bobby Shuttleworth put in a great performance to get the shutout for the Revolution on Saturday. (Photo by 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 0-0 draw at Seattle Sounders.

Bobby Shuttleworth – Average Rating: 6.75 (Brian 6.5, Sean 7)
Bailed out the defense more than a few times; good in the air, but was forced to launch up the field far too often. (Brian) … Easily the Revolution’s man of the match. Saved the defense from its blunders on numerous occasions with key saves (especially the 15^th minute rocket he tipped over and didn’t get credit for) and being quick off his line. Distribution was perhaps his only fault, though his teammates share in the blame for that. (Sean)

Chris Tierney – Average Rating: 4 (Brian 4, Sean 4)
Subpar return to the starting XI; passing (20 for 39) was poor, and the Sounders exploited his lack of pace by utilizing the right side of the Revolution end. (Brian) … Looked dangerous early with a cross leading to a corner, but it was downhill from there with his later crosses generally nowhere in the vicinity of a Revolution attacker. Picked up where some of his teammates left off in past games, finding a teammate with just 40% of his throw-ins. (Sean)

Jose Goncalves – Average Rating: 5.25 (Brian 4.5, Sean 6)
Made a potential game-saving tackle on Zakuani, and actually tried to play out of the back; however, failed to hold onto the ball inside his own end a few times. (Brian) … A few gaffes, but decent passing out of the back and bailed out his fellow defenders on multiple occasions with key tackles. (Sean)

A.J. Soares – Average Rating: 3.25 (Brian 3.5, Sean 3)
Lucky that his miscues didn’t lead to two Sounders goals; awful service along with his propensity to make a mistake under pressure made it a game to forget. (Brian) … Not his night. Turnovers and slips led to three great Seattle chances in the first half alone. Complete just 41% of his passes out of the back. (Sean)

Andrew Farrell – Average Rating: 4.75 (Brian 4.5, Sean 5)
Played decent balls to teammates, but didn’t do anything spectacular; with the midfield in disarray, didn’t get many opportunities going forward. (Brian) … Great energy, but a few dangerous giveaways and rarely got the chance to go forward. (Sean)

Lee Nguyen – Average: 4 (Brian 4, Sean 4)
Collected a pair of terrible missed shots; tracked back and aided the defense, but offensively, he was a non-factor. (Brian) … Wasted several good set pieces, crossing was poor and couldn’t get anything going offensively. (Sean)

Kalifa Cisse – Average Rating: 3.75 (Brian 3.5, Sean 4)
Hard to believe that this was the player Heaps and Burns were so anxious to sign during the winter; made a habit of losing the ball, and against the player he essentially replaced; didn’t seem comfortable playing on turf. (Brian) … Rusty perhaps – distribution was poor and too many turnovers, but made five interceptions and showed some flashes of his skill. (Sean)

Clyde Simms – Average Rating: 4.75 (Brian 5, Sean 4.5)
More low-risk, low-reward stuff from the skipper; made the short, simple passes and fortified the defense, although he too was guilty of a few dangerous giveways. (Brian) … Bailed out by Shuttleworth after he nearly gifted the Sounders a chance with an ill-advised backpass. Made just one interception in trying to clog the passing lanes. Played it safe passing. (Sean)

Kelyn Rowe – Average Rating: 4.25 (Brian 4.5, Sean 4)
The energy that we’ve seen him bring off the bench was M.I.A. in Seattle; slow and lacked bite on the occasions he managed to hold onto the ball. (Brian) … Came into the game a bit in the last few minutes, but otherwise it was a subpar performance in which he offered little to the attack. (Sean)

Juan Toja – Average Rating: 3.5 (Brian 3.5, Sean 3.5)
Hard to figure out what the heck he was doing; a lot of flailing and throwing himself into random plays; clearly played his own game, which didn’t benefit anyone in a Revs uniform. (Brian) … Free role clearly is not working. At times seemed to get in other players way and didn’t get much going offensively. (Sean)

Jerry Bengtson – Average: 3.75 (Brian 4, Sean 3.5)
Hard to be effective when you’re not getting chances; however, this was the kind of game the Revs needed him to create something out of nothing inside the area and he failed to do so. (Brian) … Chances were few and far between, but struggled to hold up the ball and had two great opportunities at the end that he couldn’t get on frame or in one case didn’t even get a shot off. (Sean)

(sub) Andy Dorman – Average: 4.75 (Brian 4.5, Sean 5)
Brought more to the table than Cisse; linked with teammates and actually won possession; interestingly, he was better on his longer passes while he struggled on the short ones. (Brian) … Actually brought something to the offense from the center midfield position. (Sean)

(sub) Saer Sene – Average: 4.25 (Brian 4, Sean 4.5)
Hard to fault him for looking rusty, especially with the surface; the ideas were there, but the execution failed him. He’ll be better next week. (Brian) … Clearly not 100% and passing was off, but still brought some needed life to the attack late. (Sean)

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