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So a little slow on player ratings for this one, apologies. Better late than never? The good thing is, that gave me a chance to re-watch much of the game, but the bad thing is that a re-watch didn't really add any more insight. Overall there were some good spells and some bad spells and it seemed like gunning for a 0-0 draw, even after Aurelien Collin's sending off (which I feel was an incorrect call, but the referees position and his quickness to his pocket make me think he saw it as worse, and I won't fault him too much for not having the benefit of a TV camera angle view and replay). It seems another classic case of Sporting Kansas City playing down to their opponent's level and is frustrating for a team that seemed to be hitting it's stride and putting out a real strong starting XI.
And perhaps some day I'll dig into the stats and find out just how often players traded away wind up scoring against us on their first meeting, but, honestly, it feels like it happens a lot. So I'm going to say I wasn't honestly surprised to see that it was Teal who sealed the deal (triple rhyme!).
Still, very frustrating to not come away with a point from that one. I'm of the mindset that a road point is always a good thing, and an early road loss isn't killer, but still.
At any rate, here's automated player ratings for this one. Collin's score is harsh due to his red card, otherwise, not a whole lot to say about anything. Uri Rosell probably lucky not to get sent off as well in all honesty.
Shuttleworth |
6.0 |
Soares |
6.3 |
Farrell |
6.0 |
Tierney |
6.3 |
Barnes |
7.7 |
Nguyen |
6.7 |
Fagundez |
6.0 |
Kobayashi |
4.9 |
Dorman |
4.9 |
Caldwell |
4.2 |
Neumann |
4.2 |
Bunbury |
6.3 |
Davies |
4.2 |
Bengston |
4.2 |
Team Average |
5.6 |
|
|
Sporting Kansas City |
|
Krongberg |
4.2 |
Collin |
3.9 |
Besler |
4.9 |
Sinovic |
4.9 |
Myers |
4.6 |
Olum |
3.9 |
Feilhaber |
4.9 |
Zusi |
4.9 |
Zizzo |
4.2 |
Uri |
4.9 |
Martinez |
4.2 |
Peterson |
4.2 |
Dovale |
4.2 |
Dwyer |
4.2 |
Team Average |
4.4 |
I suppose another question would be could Eric Kronberg have done more on the goal? I think maybe a great keeper makes that clearance, and I don't think Kronberg is a particularly great keeper, but over the course of the (admittedly young) season so far, I think he's shown to be serviceable enough in MLS. Will we settle for serviceable? I'd rather not, but I don't know that we really have other options at this point. I'd like to think Kempin is next in line for the throne and that there's potential for greatness there, but I can't speak for what the technical staff is planning.
Long story short, I don't think Kronberg is great, but I think he's good enough, and I don't fault him for the goal, but wish he made that clearance. Oh well. Onward and upward and so on and so forth.