Post your player grades here. Averages will be calculated on tuesday. Warren Ivanov Petke Nelsen Prideaux Quintanilla Kovalenko Convey Martins Cerritos Stoitchkov Namoff Eskandarian Alegria
Oooohhhh, this thread ain't gonna be pretty: Warren- 3.5- Some decent play doesn't make up for the 1st and 3rd goals allowed. Ivanov- 4- Just not a defender, esp. w/ Chino. Petke- 6 MOTM Nelsen- 5 Prideaux- 4- Beaten on the game winner. Quintanilla- 4.5 Quiet. Kovalenko- 5.5 Didn't deserve the yellow Convey- 5.5 Good runs- again often unnoticed by the team and poor shooting. Great feed of Hristo for the PK Martins- 5.5 Lots of effort Cerritos- 5.5 I though he did a good effort managing the game. Wynalda's observation that cerritos had a difficult job because hristo kept drifting back to the midfield (leaving only Martins up top and making Cerritos move forward) but wouldn't defend (causing Cerritos to run back a lot) was very astute. Stoitchkov- 5. Some good play with a lot of bad. pathetic flop. Namoff- 5.5 Nice header to Convey for an open shot. Eskandarian- 1- should be shot. Alegria- 2- Nice serve to Petke keeps him from being shot. Should be tortured though for allowing West to create the 2nd goal.
Warren 5 (aside from the first goal he was solid) Ivanov 1 (got beat way too many times and was stagnant on his offensive runs) Petke 5 (solid, don't blame him for first goal, was great on our second goal) Nelsen 5 (solid as usual) Prideaux 4 (solid, but ineffectibe on his offensive runs) Quintanilla 3 (didn't do anything great, just average (for him)) Kovalenko 5 (solid, hustled well, consistently came back to defend) Convey 4 (lots of spirit, but gave ball away often) Martins 5 (solid, did well in the first half, should have scored a goal, will only get better) Cerritos 4 (disappeared in first half, came on strong in second, despite playing out of position) Stoitchkov 4 (showed offensive flare, but gave away ball and complained way too much) Namoff 5 (solid for the time he was on) Eskandarian 1 (what the hell was he thinking? stupidest sub we made (why not Stokes or Caroll if we're going to defend) Alegria 3 (played decently and had an assist, but also backed off players and gave them too much room)
Warren -5,0 Ivanov- 5,0 Petke- 6,5 Nelsen-5,5 Prideaux-5,0 Quintanilla5,0 Kovalenko-6,0 Convey 5,0 Martins 6,0 Cerritos 6,0 Stoitchkov 7,0 Namoff - 5,0 Eskandarian -4,0 Alegria- 5,0
Warren 4 (no communication and that really hurt us) Ivanov 2 (pull up on a break away, wtf?) Petke 6 (MOTM, I have almost forgiven him for playing for the Scum) Nelsen 6 (showed he deserves to wear the armband today) Prideaux 4 (aside from getting beaten for the game winner, played well) Quintanilla 4 (hustled, or at least seemed to) Kovalenko 6 (he was my MOTM until Petke scored) Convey 5 (has started to come back into form, had good chances, but was just a step off sometimes) Martins 5 (I think he will soon become one of the most hated men in the league, he just keeps going, throws elbows, and always fights) Cerritos 4.5 (did well once he figured out where is is suppose to be playing) Stoitchkov 4.5 (attacked well, but forgot about the other half of the field) Namoff 5 (played well, probably should start in place of Invanov) Eskandarian 0 (WTF, I thought people from UVA were smart) Alegria 3 (don't you have to go to a player if you are going to defend?)
Warren 4 a couple of miraculous saves, but needs to communicate with teammates better Ivanov 1 Absolutely awful. Namoff ought to be out there instead. Petke 2.5 Nice goal, but otherwise terrible Nelsen 5 Prideaux 4.5 Quintanilla 4 Kovalenko 5 Convey 5.5 Worked hard in 2nd half but teammates didn't find him Martins 4 Hard to be the lone striker Cerritos 4 Tired at the end, not linking with teammates well Stoitchkov 4.5 Namoff 5 Eskandarian 0 Just plain dumb Alegria 4
In general I think Ursula hit the nail on the head, but I gave a little less generous grades to some. Warren - 3.5 At fault for all 3 goals (at least partially). 1=No communication, 2=Footrace with West rather than forcing brick-foot to make a shot, 3=Failed to deny the near post on a very slight angle shot. This game screamed rookie. Ivanov - 4 Consistently poor defender. Petke - 6 MOTM Nelsen - 5 Spotty. Had some good and bad play, which is generally a very bad thing for a defender. Prideaux - 4.5 Beaten on game winner, but played fairly well most of the game. Quintanilla - 4 Had some heady plays, but generally too ineffective. Kovalenko - 4.5 Did many good things, but as a Dmid you cannot concede the center to the opposing team so much. Lack of tactical discipline brings down his final grade. Convey - 5 Showed a lot of heart and made about a dozen good plays, but numerous horrible touches and overdependence on negative balls preclude a good grade. Martins - 4.5 Did some nice things, but in the end just wasn't dangerous. Cerritos - 5 Excellent at holding the ball and probably the best of the midfielders overall, but wasn't at home in central midfield, didn't create much, disappeared too often, and must take a lot of responsibility for our ineffective offense. Stoitchkov - 4.5 Really, if not for the comical acting for the PK and the clinical finish on the PK, I'd have said that Hristo deserved a 3, because he roamed everywhere, drew a yellow card, lost possession, and generally did nothing positive. Of course, drawing and scoring a PK changes all that. Namoff - 5 Did some nice things, but not overly impressive. Eskandarian - 3.5 I don't fault him for the double yellow, although both were silly plays. He shouldn't ever handle the ball, and a slide tackle was a very poor decision in that circumstance, but didn't warrant a second yellow. I give him the low rating because he did nothing offensively. Alegria - 3 Great cross despite being give a ton of time to find a streaking Petke, but he played an eye-opening game of matador defense. I like Chino, and I always root for him, but, sadly, I think he'll be lucky to find work in the A-League next year, as he'll be an SI. If there is one guy I'd like to see catch on with Chivas, it would be Chino. Today, he was abysmal. Hudson/Trask - 3 Poor tactics to play for a draw (from the opening kick!), poor player-use to put Cerritos as the creative midfielder and Hristo as the roaving forward, poor discipline to allow your Dmid (Kovalenko--who should have been an attacking midfielder) to stray out of the center most of the game, poor bench control to let Hristo chirp at the refs all game, poor management to pair Alegria and Ivanov on the same side as West and Cunningham, poor form to allow McBride to be marked on consecutive overtime set pieces by Ivanov and Prideaux. -Digital
Some of the ratings on this thread ... well, you'd think we won this match. Warren - 5 Yes, rookie mistakes. But he also kept us in the game quite a bit too. He was solid for 95% of the game and I don't fault him as much as some for the goals. Ivanov - 4 Why is he on this team? Petke - 6 If only for him I wish we won the game. Nelsen - 5 Prideaux - 5 Quintanilla - 4 Kovalenko - 5 Convey - 5 I don't expect him to score goals but at the same time I wish he knew how to shoot. Martins - 4 Just not effective Cerritos - 4 Out of position and not effective Stoitchkov - 2 He's a disgrace. I said it in the post match thread and I'll say it here again. That dive was so classless that it actually made me hope that we didn't get rewarded in the end. I don't care that he got the PK goal. We didn't deserve the PK to begin with. That son of a bitch should have gotten a yellow card for the dive, which would have meant his ejection. That, frankly, would have been just. And other than that disgrace he did nothing but roam and moan and get a yellow. Namoff - 5 Eskandarian - 2 Oy vey ... Alegria - 4 Hudson/Trask - 1 You played for a draw and it bit you in the ass. Go back to Florida.
Your entire club deserves a zero rating in this match for keeping the Crew alive in the playoff race.
Warren 4 - hopefully he'll learn from this and revert to form next week Ivanov 3 - bad Petke 6 - first goal not his fault, that's Warren's to call him off or let him play it back Nelsen 6 - solid Prideaux 4 - can't give McBride an inch of space, Chief Quintanilla 3 - it's called a right foot Kovalenko 5 - solid Convey 4 - in and out Martins 5 - ok, wish he could have scored at the end of the first half Cerritos 4 - in an out Stoitchkov 3 - a disgraceful human being Namoff 5 - was fine Eskandarian 0 - um, D3? Alegria 3.5 - oy
Warren = -3 Ivanov = 0 Petke = 0 Nelsen = 0 Prideaux = 0 Quintanilla = 0 Kovalenko = 0 Convey = 0 Martins = 0 Cerritos = 0 Stoitchkov = 0 Namoff = 0 Eskandarian = -4 Alegria = 0
Warren - 4.5 rookie mistake not waiving off Petke Ivanov - 3.5 trips over the ball, loses his mark repeatedly, nice free kick Petke - 6 nice comeback goal Nelsen - 5.5 steady Prideaux - 6 nice hustle Quintanilla - 4 you have a right foot, use it sometime! Kovalenko - 6 never say die attitude and pushing the ball forward gave us some life. Convey - 5 took charge in the second half, still too many giveaways Martins - 5.5 time to put one in the back of the net Cerritos - 5.5 did what he could in an unfamiliar role. Stoitchkov - 5 retire Namoff - 5.5 Eskandarian - 3 could he even turn out to be worse than Albright? lets hope we scout the draft a little better next year. Alegria - 5 Got an assist, West speed killed him and everybody else
Warren - 3.5 Deer in the Headlights look all game Ivanov - 2.5 Maybe he should play forward since he can shoot but not defend Petke - 5 Grade would be a 4 if not for the game tying goal. Despite Warren being mostly at fault he did head the ball into the goal mouth, cardinal mistake Nelsen - 5.5 Solid leader Prideaux - 4.5 Played fine until McBride beat him Quintanilla - 3 aside from a couple of cut back moves he was asleep at the wheel the rest of the game Kovalenko - 5 Did not play well as a D-mid but he did contirbute to the attack Convey - 5.5 When will someone other that Stewart understand that a wall pass requires two passes, [b[ give Bobby the ball back when he makes that run[/b] Martins - 5 solid but did not score when the chances came Cerritos - 5 He is not a attacking mid Stoitchkov - 5 some creative balls and a PK Namoff - 5 Solid effort in a tough situation late Eskandarian - 4 I still have not seen what the cards were for Alegria - 5 Great pass to Petke Hudson/Trask - 2 You have to put you players in a postion to succeed, they did not do that. That onpening lineup was not a recipe for success, despite the injuries and suspensions poor desicions were made.
As an uninvited guest I'll be brief: Warren- 1 was terrible; TV showed Petke still cursing at him 2 minutes later. And look at a replay of the West foul (like anybody needs to foul West anyway)- Warren misses the ball completely, takes two more steps, lowers his shoulder and levels Westie. Keepers have been taking out strikers since Noah landed, but that was clumsy and obvious. Petke - 7 What a horse. Forget the goal, he was absolutely huge back there. Anytime you'd like to trade him for Mark Williams, let us know. Prideaux - 6 The game winner just was not his fault. Chacon had all freakin day to line up and deliver a perfect ball to an absolutely World Class ball-header who can leap like a gazelle and has at least three inches on him to start with. A better question would be "Why was he marking McBride in the first place" Quintanilla -3 When you see talented young players and they show you flashes of good stuff, you think "Boy, he's really gonna be something". Problem with him is he keeps showing those flashes, but not a lot else. He needs a coach. Convey - 4You really seem to get the good and the bad with this guy. Does he try to do too much? I've always loved the guy, and nobody works harder, but he has to play within himself and not try to carry the whole team. Stoitchkov - 2 It's sad that a former Wolrd Player of the Year is reduced to flopping, jawing and cheating. What's worse is that, aside from the low comedy, the guy contributes nothing to your efforts. Eskandarian - 1 Another player who needs a coach. That was not simply "rookie" stuff, that was "stupid" stuff. And the icing for him was that, before he got tossed, he contributed nada. Alegria - 0 Ugh. Possibly the most exciting MLS game ever. Pity it had to be the worst officiated game too.
I'm getting a bad feeling about the playoffs. Warren- 1.5 Truly awful, responsible for all three goals. Ivanov- 3 Nelson- 4 Prideaux- 4 Petke- 5 Nice goal. Kovalenko- 5 Quintanilla-4 Convey- 1 Why he is rated so highly by DC United and US Nats is beyond me. He blew two sitters and is more responsible for the loss than the keeper. Cerritos- 3 Stoichkov- 4 whiner. Martins- 3 needs to score real soon. Namoff- 4 Eskadarian- 1 a couple of bad mistakes. Alegria- 2 needs to lay off the cerveza. He's getting quite a gut.
Warren - 4 Ivanov - 4 Nelson - 5.5 Prideaux - 5 Petke - 5.5 Kovalenko - 5 Quintanilla - 4 Convey - 5 Cerritos - 4.5 Stoichkov- 4 Martins - 4.5 Namoff - 5 Eskadarian - 1 Alegria - 4
Warren - Ivanov - Nelson - Prideaux Petke - Kovalenko - Quintanilla - Convey - Cerritos - Stoichkov- Martins - Namoff - Eskadarian - Alegria - whole team *#*#*#*#*#*#in' sux... the only reason we were even in the game is because of a penalty kick that an old veteran got for us... piss poor..
Warren - 4 Ivanov - 4 Nelson - 5.5 Prideaux - 5 Petke - 5 Kovalenko - 5 Quintanilla - 4 Convey - 5 Cerritos - 5 Stoichkov- 3 Martins - 4 Namoff - 5 Eskadarian - 3 Alegria - 4.5
Warren 4 Ivanov 5 Petke 6 Nelsen 5 Prideaux 5 Quintanilla 4 Kovalenko 5 Convey 4 Martins 5 Cerritos 4 Stoitchkov 4 Namoff 5 Eskandarian 2 Alegria 5
I assume that when you say you "have not seen what the cards were for" you mean that you visually have not seen the game or highlights (or lowlights) of the game, as opposed to meaning that you did see the game but you cannot understand why the ref would have carded Esky on either play. Assuming it is the former, I will describe both cards for you: 1. A Columbus defender (Clark?) is on the right side of the field about 25 years behind midfield and plays a low pass to a teammate; Esky is standing about 10 yards in front of the passer and as the ball goes by him on his left, he sticks out his hand, about knee height, and deflects the ball. The ref correctly (even this idiot ref couldn't miss this one) gives Esky a yellow. 2. About 1 minute after the frist yellow, at about the same spot on the field (exept maybe more towards the right touchline), a Columbus defender (again, maybe Clark?) attempt to play a long ball up the field. After the Columbus player plays the ball, Esky comes flying in, studs up, and clips the Columbus players leg. The ref immediately (and again correctly) stops play and gives Esky his second yellow, although he could have been given a straight red for such a flagrant and absurdly stupid foul. Each card was well-deserved. Each play, in a vacuum, was stupid. The 2 plays together were moronic, considering neither play, in and of itself, was about to cause DC any danger. When you consider that Esky did it in about the 93rd and 94th minutes of play in a game that DC needed to simply defend for another 6 minutes and they're in the playoffs, the level of stupidity reached such a magnificent level that words cannot describe.
Warren 1 (reason why we lost) Ivanov 4.5 Petke 6 (MOTM) Nelsen 4.5 Prideaux 4.5 Quintanilla 4.5 Kovalenko 6 Convey 4 -and he was supposed to play the EPL?- Martins 4 -will he score? ever?- Cerritos 4 -out of position- Stoitchkov 4 -out of control and position- Namoff 5 -good effort. should have started- Eskandarian 1 (retarded. trade him for a pack of gum) Alegria 5 -good effort. should have started- Ray Hudson 1 -not offensive enough. players did not look inspired or in the right positions. no clear organizer on the team.
Both calls were along the left sideline, from my veiw behind the goal. I had no angle to see either and my vcr screwed up and cut off around the 72 minute mark, so I had no idea what happened. Thanks for the details.
No problem. I sat at midfield behind the benches in the first half, but I got cold (I know, I'm a p$ssy), so I made my group move at halftime to the other side (behind Barra Brava) so we could sit in the sun. That turned out to be a stupid move, b/c the sun was right in our eyes for most of the 2nd half. When the sun went down, we were just as cold on that side as we were in the first half. Nonetheless, I had a perfect view of both of Esky's acts of stupidity.