{"id":15754,"date":"2012-09-30T02:04:39","date_gmt":"2012-09-30T06:04:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=15754"},"modified":"2012-09-30T20:03:32","modified_gmt":"2012-10-01T00:03:32","slug":"player-ratings-new-england-revolution-at-houston-dynamo-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=15754","title":{"rendered":"Player Ratings: New England Revolution at Houston Dynamo"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0New England Revolution\u2019s 2-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo<\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bobby Shuttleworth<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.5<\/strong> (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
\nHad some strong moments, and coped with the wet surface fairly well. Defense let him down on Garcia strike while the Clark goal was pure skill on the midfielder’s part. (Brian) \u2026 Made some big saves, but also gifted the Dynamo a chance with a botched clearance. Not much he could do on either goal. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Kevin Alston<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.75<\/strong> (Brian 5, Sean 4.5)
\nAnother effective performance out on the left; contained Carr for the most part and helped out his fellow defenders inside the area; chipped in the obligatory wild shot for good measure. (Brian) \u2026 Had a solid first half defensively, but didn\u2019t do enough to close in on Brad Davis before the cross on the first goal and was caught ball watching allowing Warren Creavalle to run in behind him on the second goal. Didn\u2019t create much offensively other than a wild shot. (Sean)<\/p>\n

A.J. Soares<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.25<\/strong> (Brian 4.5, Sean 4)
\nSigns of a sophomore slump continued on Saturday night. Won some key challenges, but positioning on Clark’s goal wasn’t exactly textbook. A so-so night, but his biggest mistake doomed the Revs. (Brian) \u2026 Seemed to be caught ball-watching on the first goal, letting Clark sneak in behind him. Needed to communicate with Rowe on the second. Passing out of the back wasn\u2019t great and tried too much route one ball hurting possession. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Stephen McCarthy<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.25 <\/strong>(Brian 5.5, Sean 5)
\nAdded some much needed aerial presence with Brad Davis ready to put some passes into the area. Strong challenges kept it scoreless for 76 minutes, but let a half-chance fall by the wayside in the first half. (Brian) \u2026 Some good defense, including a sliding block to stop one dangerous shot in the second half. Seemed like there may have been an error in communication with Soares on the Clark goal and looked gassed tracking back on the second, leaving the Revolution a bit shorthanded in defense. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Darrius Barnes<\/strong> \u2013 Average: 5<\/strong> (Brian 5, Sean 5)
\nLast week, he quipped that he told Heaps he was a target forward. If only, right? Indecisive on a golden chance in the 19th minute, but defensively, fought through a few hiccups to deliver a decent performance. (Brian) \u2026 He\u2019ll want his 19th minute chance back, which should\u2019ve given the Revolution an early lead. Decent night defensively, despite being under a lot of pressure in the first half. Only connected on 1 of 8 long throws. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Fernando Cardenas<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4<\/strong> (Brian 4, Sean 4)
\nThere’s a lot to like about his skill set – pace, passing ability and shiftiness. But rare is the time when he puts it all together, and Saturday’s performance was another example of that inconsistency. Put a great ball over to Bengtson at the far post, but aside from that, it was another quiet night. (Brian) \u2026 Should\u2019ve had an assist on the chance he created for Bengtson, but otherwise he wasn\u2019t able to create much offensively. Defensive awareness is an issue for him as a starter \u2013 essentially left Alston covering two men while he was in no man\u2019s land on the first goal and there were other occasions as well where he failed to track his man, giving Dynamo advantages going forward. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Benny Feilhaber<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.75<\/strong> (Brian 4.5, Sean 5)
\nI’ll never get why he’s saddled with additional defensive responsibilities; staying back and trying to orchestrate the attack is clearly not helping him, nor the team. Set piece stuff was more of the same, which was not good at all. (Brian) \u2026 Free kicks improved, though his corners were still far below par. Created two of the team\u2019s best chances in the first half, but was much less involved offensively after Toja came on. Some decent defensive effort. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Clyde Simms<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4 <\/strong>(Brian 4, Sean 4)
\nAside from an ambitious shot that barely tested Hall, it was another silent (re: ineffective) showing for Simms, whose presence on the field did the Revs few favors in the first half (31.8% possession). Obvious candidate to come off for second half, with his calf perhaps holding him back. (Brian) \u2026 Pretty invisible match from Simms outside of one shot testing Hall. That said, the team looked much shakier defensively after his exit. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Kelyn Rowe<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 3.25<\/strong> (Brian 3, Sean 3.5)
\nDon’t think I heard Brad or Jeff say his name more than three times during the broadcast; seemed hesitant to involve himself, other than helping out defensively (or at least trying to in the case of Garcia’s goal). (Brian) \u2026 Unable to get anything going offensively and needed to help more on defense, particularly when much of the Dynamo\u2019s attack came down the left flank through Brad Davis in the first half. Communication with Soares seemed nonexistent on the stoppage time goal. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Dimitry Imbongo<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 3.25<\/strong> (Brian 3, Sean 3.5)
\nSix games may be a small sample size, but Saturday’s performance proved that some trends aren’t in danger of ending. Those trends: launching wild shots, indecisiveness, and getting the ref’s attention on immature challenges. (Brian) \u2026 Had one decent effort from outside the box, but otherwise passing, shooting and decision-making has to improve. Got behind the keeper on one occasion only to stop and hesitate before sending a pass across, allowing a defender to get back and clear. Seemed to get involved in every fracas, picking up an unneeded yellow. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Jerry Bengtson<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4<\/strong> (Brian 4, Sean 4)
\nLooked to be a force early, despite the limited opportunities. Came up short on the far post Cardenas cross, which he uncharacteristically slid wide. Seems to be having trouble finding a rhythm with a revolving door of forwards beside him. (Brian) \u2026 Needed to finish off Cardenas\u2019 cross, which actually may have been the only time he touched the ball in the box all match. After an active start, he struggled to find the ball in the attacking third. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Juan Toja<\/strong> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.25<\/strong> (Brian 4.5, Sean 4)
\nFitness still an issue, but wasn’t afraid to mix it up and set some semblance of tone in the Revolution midfield. Yellow card wasn’t at all necessary, but looked like he may have picked up a knock late, limiting his effectiveness with full time approaching. (Brian) \u2026 Not a great showing from Toja, who still doesn\u2019t seem fully fit. Looked a bit slow at times, picked up a reckless yellow and continued to take risks with fouls after being cautioned. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Blake Brettschneider<\/strong> \u2013 Average: 3.25<\/strong> (Brian 3, Sean 3.5)
\nCame off the bench to hand Houston a few more turnovers, it appears. Completely out of sync with his teammates, and his presence didn’t do much, if anything, to help the Revs in crunch time. (Brian) \u2026 Held possession on six occasions \u2013 turned it over four of them and the other two were back passes in the Revolution\u2019s half. Not a good showing with the Revs looking for an equalizer. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Diego Fagundez<\/strong> – N\/A<\/strong>
\nNot enough opportunities to measure his performance. (Brian) \u2026 Unable to see much of the ball in his short stint. (Sean)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Few Revolution players put in good performances in Saturday’s loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":13493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[20,3],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nesoccertoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/BobbyShuttleworth.png?fit=475%2C255&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15754"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15754"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15754\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15758,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15754\/revisions\/15758"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15754"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15754"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15754"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}