Player ratings for week 1, 4-12-2003 [R]

Nick-2
Nelson-6.5
Petke-7.5
Namoff-5
Dema-5.5
Olsen-8
Chino-4 (credit for playing defense as a midfielder)
Convey-4.5
Etch-5.5
Earnie-6
Tino-7
Curtis(84th minute) - 5

 

Nick-3
Nelson-6
Petke-6
Namoff-5
Dema-6
Olsen-7
Chino-4
Convey-6
Etch-7
Earnie-6
Tino-6.5
Curtis - NR

 

Rimando - 3 Worst game I've seen from a DC keeper since that 3-1 Tom Presthaus loss to Dallas on 3 free kicks.
Nelsen - 6 Solid in the middle, showed some ability to come forward at times.
Petke - 6.5 I was pleased with his play. He seemed in no danger of being overmatched at any time, and he had better ball control that I expected. He looked better for us than I ever saw him play for the Metros.
Namoff - 4.5 I didn't think he stayed with Klein very well, and not just on the goal. I saw a lot of crosses coming in from his side until Convey started dropping back.
Kovalenko - 5.5 Besides that lame challenge of Preki at the start, he seemed to do a good job keeping him out of the game.
Olsen - 6.5 Very effective all day long. Kept KC on their heels on the rigth side. Several good crosses, some nearly good crosses.
Alegria - 5 Was getting beat some. I don't like him on defense. He does seem to learn fast, though. His clearances need help.
Convey - 5.5 Was OK on defense. Looked dangerous with the ball.
Etcheverry - 7 Good vision, great passing. Pass led to first goal, great cross on the second. Keep the ball and controlled offense for long periods which gave our shaky defense a break.
Stewart - 5 Was making a lot of good plays that were out of synch with those around him. I think when other players get used to him, we could improve a lot. From one game, this looks to be our best chance for a surprise step up.
Quaranta - 6 Great goal. The cross he got was excelent, but there was only one place for him to hit it, and he did. Otherwise, he seemed to disappear for long stretches, but I guess that's what strikers do. Stikers are weird.
Curtis - NR I don't like rating people who only play a few minutes. I liked the challenge he put on Tony, though.
Hudson - 5.5 Good starting lineup, could've used more subs. We looked gassed from about the 85th minute on, and we had two unused subs.

 

--Rimando - 3 - terrible, no way around it
--Nelsen - 5.5 - our best defender, I'd keep him there even when IG is back. His talent stands out
--Petke - 6 - the goal helps, but he and Nelsen MUST do a better job organizing
--Namoff - 4.5 presumably responsible for Klein, who scored one and set up the winner
--Kovalenko - 6 tidy and industrious, I thought he had a good game running in support of Etcheverry
--Olsen - 8 - one of the best match performances by a United player in a long time. I'd forgotten how good he could be, by far our best player last night (and probably overall)
Alegria - 5.5 - decent job, nothing down his side that I remember
Convey - 5 - almost invisible offensively
Etcheverry - 6.5 - I'm still waiting to see, but Ray may be right in surrounding him, Pibe-style, with a bunch of running, hard-working mids. He had a good match and the play leading up to the Quaranta assist was the Diablo of old. If we get this sort of stuff from him every week Hudson will look like a genius
Stewart - 5 - must have been hanging out with Convey, I hardly saw him
Quaranta - 6 - pretty good match, probably suffered from being alone up top, finished his chance

At the end of the day though, we lost an opener on the road in OT. Just like last year. This team has got to man up and find a way to get a point and it's pretty worrying that this happened again.

 

Here are my grades and comments:

Rimando: 5 {He made several very good saves but he had real trouble holding onto
balls and has to take a fair amount of the blame for Preki's goal. He looked bad on that
one}

Namoff: 5 {He played solid with the very obvious exception of Klien's goal, where
he broke a cardinal rule of defense by letting Klien get behind him}

Nelson: 6 {Solid play, one or two forrays forward}

Petke: 6 {Nice to see him get onto the scoring sheet and would have rated him a 7
but he has to take some of the blame on the game winner as he was guarding a man and then
guarding space}

Alegria: 3 {Pushed around, beaten up and continually exposed playing as far back as
he did. Then on the gamne winner he was caught backing into his own net while his man got
the loose ball and scored. This is why IMHO Stokes instead of Alegria should have been
out there and also why when his exempt status runs out at seasons end he will not be
back}

Kovalenko: 5 {Two errors on goals, first when Preki schooled him and last when he
joined the defenders in the middle guarding space. Aside from that he did mark Preki out
of the remander of the match}

Convey: 6 {Created some nice combos. Came up and back and helped on both ends of
ther field}

Etcheverry: 7 {Created plenty of chances and on Tino's goal he made a good cross.
He also held the ball too long on occasion and on the first goal Ben saved his poor cross
to setup Petke's goal}

Olsen: 8 {Despite what Rongen and the TV crew said Olsen was the Man of the Match.
He was constantly getting fouled, an indication that KC considered him the most dangerous
player. As stated above he bailed out Etch on the first goal and deserved an assist on it}

Stewart: 6 {Looks as if he is still trying to find his niche within the team. He
was non exsistant in the first 15-20 minutes but found his sea-legs and then became
dangerous}

Quaranta: 6 {Scored the second goal and worked hard until subbed for}

Curtis: 5 {Was never really dangerous during his time}

Hudson: 5 {Have to grade him here based on the Algreia decsion which was clearly
a bust, also only one sub with a tired group not in his favor. True the bench was short
but Stokes would have come off my bench and seen second half action to preserve at least
1 of the ponts that were out there}


KC should feel grateful to come away with 3 points. They looked as if they were already
counting a win after Preki's goal and almost got bit in the a$$ for being too cocky. [/B]

 

Rimando - 2
Nelsen - 5
Petke - 7
Namoff - 5
Kovalenko - 6
Olsen - 8
Alegria - 4
Convey - 5
Etcheverry - 6
Stewart - 6
Quaranta - 7
Curtis (84th minute) - 5

I don't think there's much need for explanation, just look at the tape. Oh, and if I might

Hudson - 3

 

Rimando-3.5 At fault for two of the three goals we gave up. Even if Brown wasn't marked that well on the final goal, if Rimando does anything other than flap at the ball, there's no goal there. His worst match in MLS.
Alegria-5.5 Not too bad considering people were already expecting KC to get 10 goals taking advantage of him. Played it conservatively, and had a knack for getting to loose balls (though his clearances weren't the best). Benefitted from playing behind Olsen tremendously.
Nelsen-7 KC's forwards were poor all game long, and Nelsen gets a good amount of credit. I hope Ivanov is just as good so we can move him up to defensive midfield.
Petke-7 Got a poacher's goal and did rather well alongside Nelsen. Much better than at Richmond.
Namoff-5 Decent all game long aside from a momentary lapse in letting Klein past him. Still learning the trade back there, but not discouraging.
Olsen-7.5 Just like the Ben we know and love. Made himself a constant pain in the ass, and won the battle with Diego Gutierrez on that side. Good cross on the opening goal.
Kovalenko-6.5 Should have been tighter on Preki before the first goal, but other than that was good. Very active and it was his run that gave us the free kick that led to the first goal.
Stewart-6.5 Rather anonymous, though I'll give him a good amount of credit for our generally good possession game.
Etcheverry-7.5 A little vintage Marco. The dribbling and cross for Tino's goal were just like anything he would have done back in the day. Last season this would have been as good a game as he had.
Convey-6.5 See Stewart. Didn't help Namoff as much as Olsen helped Alegria on the other side.
Quaranta-7.5 Played better than I expected as a lone striker. Well taken goal, and did plenty of running off the ball. This is what we should expect from Tino.

Subs:
Curtis-NR Rating him would be unfair. 7 and a half minutes wasn't enough time for him to get into the flow of things.

Hudson-6.5 Great game plan to make up for our makeshift lineup. He had us playing to take the air out of the game and keep KC from getting momentum, and we did just that. Tactically he outdid Gansler, who seemed to have no idea what adjustments to make. Should have sent on Quintanilla for Etcheverry after about 75 minutes. I won't fault him for not making more subs because we didn't have much to send on.

 

Rimando – 3 Really had an off night, got caught wrong footed on Preki's goal, last year he made half a dozen saves on shots like Kleins goal, but the worst he saved for last. Why on earth did he try to catch the ball one handed instead of punching it out of danger. Besides the goals he was shaky a few other times and couldn't catch the ball.

Namoff – 4 fooled me, right when I thought he and Convey seemed to have Kleins number he goes and torches him. But face it, Klien is much better than Namoff.

Etcheverry – 6 The trailing forward position seem to suit him well. He did pretty well tonight and wasn't asked to do much defense but was in the correct position to save a goal off of the line - one put there by Chino. Also almost stole the game with the clever corner kick when KC didn't cover the post.

Olsen – 6.5 Nice to have you back Bennie. Still my favorite player to watch.

Dema – 5 Hard worker and made his presence know to Preki by way of hard fouls after he got left behind on the goal. He is a good player and someone we need on our team.

Convey – 5.5 Asked to play defense and provide cover for Namoff. Actually had a really good game.

Steward – 5 Tends to disappear for stretches of the game just like he does for the Nats. However I thought he was going to get one that got blocked. Did allot of the central defense work.

Petke – 6 Welcome Wanker. great start to the season. Love the guy when he is on our team. Keep up the good work in central defense and the occasionally score and I will forget you were once my most hated metro scum.

Nelson -6 fine outing and great header off Olsens cross that Petke finally put in goal. Control the middle really well.

Tino – 5 tough to be the lone striker yet had an excellent goal.

Chino – 3.5 played like what he is - a goat. He really shouldn't be on this team.

Hudson – 4.5 Tough game when your defense on the trainers table. We almost took it. Maybe should taken out Chino and put Olsen back there with Q2 in front of him. Otherwise can’t fault him for going defense and we had our chances offensively.


- The Far Side

 

Rimando - 2.5 HE lost the game
Nelsen - 5.5 Solid match as per usual
Petke - 6.5 If he keeps playing like this, it will be the pickup of the offseason
Namoff - 4Got burned the few times I heard him mentioned all night.
Kovalenko - 5 except for being used by Preki on the first goal, he was pretty solid.
Olsen - 5.5 See Nelsen
Alegria - 5.5 Better than i expected thus the better than average rating.
Convey - 4.5 He needs to step up, last night was below average
Etcheverry - 7MOTM. Amazing corner
Stewart - 5 So-so, i expect more, if he does this again I'd give him a 4.5
Quaranta - 6Dangerous a few times and a nice goal.
Curtis (84th minute) - 5 Would have given him a 9 if he clocked Meola.

 

Rimando - 3
Nelsen - 5
Petke - 6
Namoff - 4
Kovalenko - 5
Olsen - 6
Alegria - 3
Convey - 4
Etcheverry - 7
Stewart - 5
Quaranta - 6
Curtis (84th minute) - 4

 

Rimando - 4
Nelsen - 6
Petke - 7
Namoff - 5
Kovalenko - 6
Olsen - 7
Alegria - 5
Convey - 6
Etcheverry - 6.5
Stewart - 5
Quaranta - 7
Curtis (84th minute) - 6

My ratings might be a bit higher than other folks but I'm using my many years of Championship Manager experience.

Ratings like 2.5 and 3 just don't seem realistic to me. The guy would have had to score an own goal on purpose and gotten ejected or something to warrant rating like that. Well, that's my opinion on it anyway.

 

Rimando :: 3
Nelsen :: 6
Petke :: 6
Namoff :: 5
Kovalenko :: 6
Olsen :: 7
Alegria :: 4
Convey :: 6
Etcheverry :: 7
Stewart :: 6
Quaranta :: 6
Curtis (84th minute) :: 5

 

Santino - 5.5
Excellent finish, good positioning on the header, and nice way to make your first professional header. Where was this aerial prowess the last two seasons? Decent job as a target forward. Excellent job controlling his temper and sustaining a decent work rate for 90+ minutes.

Etch - 6.5
Great dribbling. Good mix of quickly starting the counter attack and controling the flow of play without stagnating the attack. Great cross for Santino's goal, nice passing all day.

Stewart - 5
Mediocre game. Turned his back to Preki as Preki wound up to shoot the first goal. Uneventful game, but that was the only glaring misstep. Still learning his teammates tendencies.

Convey - 5
Fair job helping on defense. Decent job making attacking runs, but not enough creativity or overlapping to have much effect. Needs to make sure he's involved more in the play.

Olsen - 6.5
Stupendous. Best individual play of any player, but didn't have as much of an impact on the game as Etch did.

Dema - 5
Major gaffe after Preki juked Dema initially, Dema failed to recover. Preki's first goal was imminently stoppable if Dema attempts to recover. Otherwise a decent Dmid job and his surging run late led to the spot kick that ultimately ended up scoring.

Namoff - 4.5
Looked very good in spots, but still prone to be exploited by experienced players. Tired late. Better suited for midfield, and handcuffed by not being allowed to venture forward.

Alegria - 5
Decent defense, decent distribution, came very close to a 2nd yellow a few times, should have been subbed out late. Not a bad game, but nothing stellar. NOTE: I downgraded him from 5.5 to 5.0 upon reviewing the tape.

Nelsen - 5.5
Very good game organizing a makeshift defense with little time to prepare. Extremely dangerous on set pieces and would have had a perfect opportunity to score if Olsen's cross had been a little lower. Petke got Meola's rebound anyway.

Petke - 5.5
Average central defense performance. He made quite a few very good plays, but the occasional blunder caused problems. Goal raises his rating.

Rimando - 3
Horrible game. Let in 3 extremely soft goals. Last season's Nicky would have posted a clean sheet. I suggest he burn the KC tape and use the time to review last season's tapes ... any of them. Watching him both physically and psychologically, he's obviously not fit. I wonder how long until he is?

I cannot wait to see Ivanov and Prideaux added to this defense. The speed and recovery instincts should allow Nelsen to play in midfield (closer to goal offenisvely) and cover for Petke, allowing him to venture forward more often.

-Digital

 

Rimando - 3.5
Nelsen - 6.5
Petke - 6.5
Namoff - 4.5
Kovalenko - 5
Olsen - 7.5
Alegria - 4.5
Convey - 5
Etcheverry - 7
Stewart - 5
Quaranta - 6.5
Curtis (84th minute) - NR