First "half" player ratings compilation

Season long ratings show that Seattle Sounders FC are getting strong performances from their Designated Players as well as Frei, Marshall and Pappa. Two members of the Ideal XI prior to the secondary transfer window opening are struggling - Pineda and Neagle.

Here are Realio's first half ratings.

As you may know, I have done ratings posts for the entire season. After 20 games completed we can get fairly decent idea of how the team is playing based on these results. These are from prior to the loss to the Rapids. You can rate that match here. My ratings will be up later this week.

Now, presented with all this information there are some pretty easy conclusions to draw. First off, the best ratings are being earned by our DPs. This is a good sign that the team is both signing quality DP level players and they are producing. It also clearly represents how dependent on these players the team is, and there is a severe lack of role players stepping up to fill the void when given the chance to excel.

The second thing that I noticed is Stefan Frei has had an awesome year and has earned the second highest ratings average. He has only had 4 games rated "MLS average" with all the rest being above average showings. He has no down games and continually comes up big when asked to raise his level of play to keep the team in a game. This is a big reason for the Sounder success and I would call him the greatest surprise on the year.

The third rating that jumps out at me is the rapid decline of Lamar Neagle. Earning a ranking well below average for the season is something obviously undesired from a player expected to be starting the majority of games. He had 2 games where he played great (Colorado 4/18 and Dallas 6/13) earning 8's. If you remove these 2 games his score drops to a 5.111 - OUCH. Even with the two high scores, he is still producing at less than MLS average and as a Sounders fan this is just unacceptable. Gonzalo Pineda has struggled as well (6.000)

Some more thoughts:

GK: 6.829 (combined)

We have had really nice keeper performances this year with high level keeping by both players rated.

Defense: 6.5721 (combined)

Wow, this is a really nice score for an entire group of 6 players.

Chad Marshall has had some ups and downs but has slowly moved up the ratings to be a top 5 rated player. Tyrone Mears (6.684) has also had a very good season with only one below average outing to his name.  It looks like the move to center back has worked out well for the team as Brad Evans, even though posting the worst rated game of the year, (2 rating for his performance against San Jose early) averaged a 7 for the rest of the season which would put him ranked 3^rd on the team.

Midfield: 5.9245 (combined*)

Marco Pappa continues to produce at a high level (6.800), coming in just below the DPs and some guy who has won 3 DPOY awards. Andy Rose has more above average ratings (five) than Azira, Scott, and Roldan combined (one each).  Pineda has been up and down but has averaged a dreadful 5 rating for his last five matches combined which is only barely below Neagle during the same stretch. Azira has been consistently below average. Ozzie Alonso has had a suspension and injury plagued season, but still has managed to maintain a high average rating throughout. Recent addition Thomas Bedinelli has earned an average or above average score in all six appearances but never higher than 7. Cristian Roldan has under performed after a good start, earning a 5.692 average.

Forwards: 6.1742 (combined*) - 5.429 without either Oba/Clint

My ratings illustrate how the offense is the two DPs and a bunch of nobodies through twenty games. The consistently highly rated Martins and Dempsey (nearly 7.5 combined) show just what a drop off there is from them to the replacements. When neither of these players are in the game the Sounders forwards average even worse: a 5.000 rating (18 appearances). What is perhaps even more disheartening is other than the 7 I gave Barrett against D.C., no one has scored higher than MLS average up front in the absence of the DP strikers. No one has stepped up to be the scorer this team needs while Clint and Oba are missing.

Bench:

The best bench option continues to be Leo Gonzalez, who averages a very impressive 6.667 rating over 6 appearances. Thomas has been a pleasant addition as an above average MLS player (6.167). Troy Perkins has shown the ability to fill in for Frei ably, posting a 6.5 rating over two appearances. Andy Rose (6.294) continues to push for minutes. No one else on the bench has averaged above MLS average ratings for the season.

* I got lazy and included Lamar at both Forward and Midfield. I can cut him out or go back and adjust for games he played specifically at each if there is really demand.

FOR THE FUTURE:

Lets not forget we were a great team as recently as a few months ago. The average of all players likely to be in our most first choice 11 (pre Friberg) is  6.688. That is a very solid score for an entire team. For a guy like Neagle who is playing poorly, his average goes up from 5.4 to 5.6 with the addition of either of our star strikers. This is a very capable team that is severely under performing but has shown the ability to play well when highly rated players are involved in games.

I am happy the ratings seem to display correctly what we are seeing on the field. The defense has been strong, the offense weak without the DPs, Pineda and Neagle are struggling etc.  If anyone wants any more specific stats or comparisons, feel free to let me know I will do my best to get you that info.