Sounders v Montreal Player Ratings
Mike Gspurning: No chance with the goal but saved a long range effort from Mapp just before half time. Left unprotected with the goal but otherwise solid. 6/10
DeAndre Yedlin: The second youngest ever player to start for Seattle found himself up against wily veteran Justin Mapp. He made a confident start as his side retained possession then made a good interception in 19 to dispossess Di Vaio.
Yedlin had an impressive debut
Photo: Brandon Bleek
Won a second challenge with the same player. Very impressive overall. Started second half with a great tackle on Di Vaio. One of few success stories in the night and it seems Adam Johansson may have serious competition. 7/10
Audio: DeAndre Yedlin talks about his Debut
Jhon Hurtado: Showed nice skill with a neat 1-2 to Martinez early. Great interception off an Arnaud through ball which would have left Di Vaio clear. Excellent interception to keep it at 0-1 in stoppage time.
It is good news for Sounders if Hurtado’s horror story of 2012 is forgotten and he can display this kind of form moving forward. 6.5/10
Zach Scott: Lost Di Vaio way too easily in 19 and was fortunate a striker of the Italian’s caliber fired over. There’s one advantage having a full back at centre half. He reads the game like a full back and covered well for Yedlin when he went forward. Sounders are still lucky to have Scott as a back up in all four rear positions but out of luck if circumstances demand 2000 regular season minutes in any one of them. 6/10
Leo Gonzalez: Way too slow covering Arnaud on the first goal. Martins had the entire green to lay up an easy putt for the Montreal midfielder who scored here for Kansas City in 2009. Off in 84’. 5.5/10
Andy Rose: He covered well when Gonzalez was caught well out of position in 10. Won an early duel with Pisanu, which augured well. Left in 62 with a left elbow contusion. Rose is a solid replacement for Alonso. 6/10
Mario Martinez: He looked good early on the right wing in the opening minutes which Seattle dominated. That bedded down though and a free kick straight at Perkins was his next best first half contribution. Struggles to get the same going after the restart. 5.5/10
Brad Evans: Booked early for a needless and uncharacteristic shirt tug in midfield on Felipe Martins which may have had more to do with memories of Martin’s roe in the 4-1 drubbing last year. Evans was otherwise ubiquitous, conducting, leading and making himself available. He nutmegged Brovsky beautifully in the second half. Unluckily hit the post in the second half. Evans remains an asset to this side. 7/10
Steve Zakuani: A quiet first half hour. Removed in 69’. Some decent tracking back but was given little opportunity for offense. 5/10
Mauro Rosales: A quiet first half hour. Dropped back to right mid when Ochoa came on. Nice work with Yedlin when he did move. Produced a decent service at a free to force Perkins to punch in stoppage time. Those who forecast that Sounders have seen the best of Rosales will have seen evidence to reinforce that view. 5.5/10
Eddie Johnson: Denied a shooting chance by a superbly executed tackle by Camara. Should have probably hit the target in 26 although he was under solid defensive attention. Then fired straight at Perkins on 29. Should have done far better than the cross bar when Caskey presented the ball on a platter for him. Given the plethora of opportunities, this has to be considered a bad outing for the striker. He can have no complaints about the quality of service even if the quantity could have been better. 4.5/10
Alex Caskey (62’): Set up Johnson wonderfully in 80 for the best of the many the US striker wasted. Sounders were a better side with him on the pitch. 6/10
Sammy Ochoa (69’): Left chasing a goal that the Impact defence had well protected by the time he came on. Nonetheless, his arrival freed up Rosales to an area where he is more effective. 5/10
Servando Carrasco (84’) – insufficient time to make an impact.
March 2, 2013 at 10:53 pm
Hurtado was a mess on the goal. Left Gonzalez with two men to mark (not that he effectively marked either of them)
March 3, 2013 at 7:25 am
Completely disagree with Rosales rating. He was the best player on the field all night. Work rate was huge. Leadership and possession were. Huge. Mario Martinez was caught in possession at least 5 times. Yedlin a beast. We kill that team at full strength any other day. Plenty of shots on goal. Zakuani didn’t look sharp, but was still dangerous in the final 3rd getting to the touch line.
March 3, 2013 at 11:21 am
Rosales once stated that he doesn’t like to shoot, so putting him up top seems like a waste to me, but I guess you have to pick your poison. If he’s put out on the wing then he can only affect half the field and the team loses speed on that side (one of our issues last season was lack of speed on the wings).
If you put him up top, he’ll service but doesn’t like to shoot so we’re playing more of a 4-5-1 (or 4-1-3-1-1, hehe). That would be fine if the striker can create his own shots, I’m not sure Eddie has really displayed that skill, so that formation doesn’t really work with the personnel used where they were, in my opinion. I would have liked to see Martinez up top or just behind so he has more chance to see the ball as opposed to the wing.
We’ll see, we just have to see how long it takes to adjust to life after Montero. But they can’t afford to flush points early on. Most teams are facing similar issues of new personnel, so that can’t really be an excuse.
I really liked what I saw from Yedlin, his closing speed was rather spectacular, if only we could clone him for the other side too.
March 3, 2013 at 7:27 pm
Leo had a bad day at the office. His crosses were terrible, one of which started the attack which led to the goal. He also played DA on side for the goal.