{"id":18469,"date":"2013-03-11T01:05:37","date_gmt":"2013-03-11T05:05:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=18469"},"modified":"2013-03-11T01:06:41","modified_gmt":"2013-03-11T05:06:41","slug":"player-ratings-new-england-revolution-at-chicago-fire-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/?p=18469","title":{"rendered":"Player Ratings: New England Revolution at Chicago Fire"},"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\u2019Connell and Sean Donahue contributed ratings for the\u00a0New England Revolution\u2019s 1-0 win over the Chicago Fire<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Matt Reis<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: 7.5<\/b> (Brian 7, Sean 8)
\nDenial on Dilly Duka’s blast was vintage Reis, and his confidence inside the 18 doused a pair of Fire attacks. What goalkeeper controversy? (Brian) \u2026 Made four saves \u2013 none netter than the fantastic diving effort on Duka\u2019s shot \u2013 for the shutout and did an excellent job preventing dangerous rebounds and being quick off his line when he needed to be. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Kevin Alston – <\/b>Average Rating: \u00a05.75 (Brian 5.5, Sean 6)
\nHeld it down on the defensive side, but was a rare sight going forward, likely attributable to playing behind Smith. (Brian) \u2026 Picked up where he left off at the end of last year when he was on the left \u2013 with a solid, conservative performance. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Jose Goncalves<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: 6.25<\/b> (6, 6.5)
\nCommunicated well with Reis and Soares, won some dangerous challenges, and even though he isn’t very speedy, his ability to anticipate a run or pass was evident. (Brian) \u2026 Read the game very well defensively, though his distribution out of the back wasn\u2019t great at times. (Sean)<\/p>\n

A.J. Soares<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: 6 (Brian 6, Sean 6)
\nA different – and improved – player when partnered with a skilled veteran. Showed good instincts and made a couple of game-saving tackles. (Brian) \u2026 After going through a bit of a sophomore slump last season, Soares showed well to start 2013 and it looks like he could form a good partnership with Goncalves. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Andrew Farrell<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: 6<\/b> (Brian 6, Sean 6)
\nAn impressive debut. A couple of glaring mistakes, but on the whole, he looked like a season pro. Explosive speed allowed him to make some solid recoveries, and picked his spots well going forward. (Brian) \u2026 Some excellent play that showed Farrell\u2019s huge potential, mixed in with a few rookie mistakes. Showed plenty of confidence, but perhaps too much at times on a couple of ventures forward where he dribbled too much and turned the ball over. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Donnie Smith<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: 4<\/b> (Brian 4, Sean 4)
\nAdmirable effort, but looked uncomfortable on the ball. Couldn’t get on same page with teammates and was burned deep inside his own end in the 27th minute sequence that saw MacDonald murder an open look. (Brian) \u2026 A forgettable debut for the rookie. After a promising preseason, Smith didn\u2019t quite seem ready for the speed of MLS regular season play and made a few mistakes that could\u2019ve been costly. Still, some positive signs in the attack. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Clyde Simms<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.75<\/b> (Brian 6, Sean 5.5)
\nQuietly consistent, aided the defense and stayed within himself, making short, safe passes. Complimented Cisse well. (Brian) \u2026 Typical Clyde Simms performance \u2013 easy to forget he was out there at times, but played smart, no mistakes, and for the most part it worked. At times the Revs needed a bit more presence in midfield. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Kalifa Cisse<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: 6<\/b> (Brian 6, Sean 6)
\nAdded bite to the attack, even though he should’ve done better on his 5th minute header. Gave the midfield some much-needed physicality. (Brian) \u2026 Some good runs early. Showed he could contribute to the attack, but the spacing between the central midfielders still needs work. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Lee Nguyen<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: 5.5<\/b> (Brian 5.5, Sean 5.5)
\nFlashed some fancy moves, and helped spear the attack, but some of his final passes were lacking. (Brian) \u2026 Didn\u2019t have the impact on the game he\u2019s capable of and struggled to find attackers with his crosses and set pieces. Still, looked dangerous when he had the ball. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Juan Toja<\/b> \u2013 Average: 5.75<\/b> (Brian 5.5, Sean 6)
\nCouldn’t put away a couple of dangerous chances, but he strengthened the attack nevertheless. Applied some high pressure, won back possession a few times and will probably do better given more time with his teammates. (Brian) \u2026 Seemed to find his way into the game as it went on with some great combination play in the attack. Contributed to the build-up of the goal and had a few chances himself that perhaps he should\u2019ve done better with. (Sean)<\/p>\n

Jerry Bengtson<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: 6.25<\/b> (Brian 6, Sean 6.5)
\nIt wasn’t a pretty finish, but ugly goals count for just as much as the pretty ones. Good holdup play and positioned himself well in the attacking third. (Brian) \u2026 It seemed like the Revs couldn\u2019t find him in the first half, but Bengtson kept working hard and made no mistake when he got his chance. (Sean).<\/p>\n

(sub) Kelyn Rowe<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: 6.25<\/b> (Brian 5.5, Sean 7)
\nCool chip to Bengtson helped seal the deal, but also won the poor Larentowicz clearance moments before. Could’ve had two assists had Toja converted his 56th minute chance. Tough to see him get beat up so much. (Brian) \u2026 A spark plug off the bench. Great chip to set up Bengtson\u2019s goal and Rowe\u2019s overall smart play after entering changed the game for the Revs. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Diego Fagundez<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: 4.5<\/b> (Brian 4.5, Sean 4.5)
\nNeedless yellow card, didn’t add much off the bench. (Brian) \u2026 Turned the ball over too easily after entering and picked up the Revs only yellow of the day. (Sean)<\/p>\n

(sub) Chad Barrett<\/b> \u2013 Average Rating: N\/A<\/b>
\nNot enough time to make an impact.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Matt Reis got the shutout and was our top-rated player on Saturday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15214,"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":true,"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\/09\/reisfeature12.jpg?fit=490%2C240&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18469"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18469"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18469\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18472,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18469\/revisions\/18472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nesoccertoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}