MD 5 - Player Ratings link, quick thoughts

by Sounder At Heart on Apr 19, 2009 10:22 AM PDT in Major League Soccer Comment 2 comments

Prost Amerika asked me to do the player ratings again, and so I did. Some may find them a bit harsh, but these are my thoughts, and so here I am to defend them as necessary.

I will have my match analysis up late tonight or early tomorrow after I rewatch the game, but if you read those ratings you can likely figure out what I think the keys were. Quick version will be a refocus on my pre-match statistic concerning the Shots on Goal numbers for Sounders opponents, the starting lineup/formations and lastly the physical defensive posture that MLS is taking vs the Freddyain (two Freddies in Arabic). I may also write a bit about the quality of the pitch, not as an excuse.

Oh, and I wound up making an error in how I structured my statistics spreadsheet, which made it impossible to maintain. I am going to rebuild it so that it can be maintained over a 30 match season. I hope to have this done by Tuesday so that they can be referenced in the upcoming preview.

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The only real disagreement I have with your rankings is Ljungberg’s. He played well for most of the game, I agree, but his lazy/poor clearance/trap/whateverthatwas led directly to the own goal. It was a terrible giveaway. The situation that created the own goal should never have happened.

Did a lot of people get their wishes, that we would play like we did in the second half of the KC game? It seemed similar to me. Well, same result.

by Cornchops on Apr 19, 2009 12:07 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Dave, I actually agree with you on everything except James Riley. I thought he had a terrible game, but maybe I had better go back and watch it again with special attention to him. Getting caught up in the emotion of the game I may have just written him off because of the own goal.
It definitely became apparent that LeToux may have to be a more situational player depending on the type of team and surface we are playing, as you said, he is just not phsyical enough to give a full 90 against a team like Chivas.
Also, I liked the ratings on Nyassi and Zakuani, with some more first team minutes I think they will connect better with others. Zakuani is just a machine at creating runs for himself into the box. Although, we definitely sacrifice some defensive tenacity with those two on the field

by Jake Nelson on Apr 19, 2009 4:46 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs