August 18, 2008
KC Grades are in
by Josh Vaisman
Watching the Rapids v Wizards match from 108, here’s how I saw it:
Burpo – Played a very solid game with no obvious mistakes. Quality distribution, good positioning and made some timely saves. The goal he gave up was more the defense’s inability to clear the ball then his fault. Grade = 6
Erpen – Although it feels a bit weird for me to say it, Erpen played a good game. He made some very solid plays on defense, maintained his position well and the “good-for-at-least-one-bonehead-move-a-game” seemed to take a one game vacation. I applaud him. Grade = 7
Gibbs – I’ll admit I was worried when I saw him in the starting XI considering his lack of first team time the past couple seasons but he impressed. I don’t think he played exceptionally well but he didn’t do anything poorly either from what I could tell and I think as he gets more fit and builds chemistry with the other defenders he’ll get even better. Grade = 6
Petke – It was nice to see Petke’s calm demeanor and great positioning back in the lineup last night and I think it helped. But he is a bit rusty and I’d like to see him get more minutes. Played well, if unspectacularly. Grade = 6
Burciaga – As with Erpen he played well on the wing but didn’t do much of anything special I could see. He did cover his side of the pitch well, pushing up to help in the attack and backtracking to defense when needed. Grade = 6
Peterson – As he does so frequently, Jacob did a heck of a lot of running and put himself in some nice positions to create on the attack. But, his lack of vision and a left foot proved detrimental in this match and his energy wasn’t put to full use. He had an open shot on goal that he wasted by spending time switching to his right foot – had he felt comfortable enough to shoot lefty we may have had 3 goals. Grade = 5
LaBrocca – LaBrocca seemed oddly lost the first third of the match and I saw many times where he was running closely beside Ballouchy or Pablo, bunching up when he could have spread out to create passing lanes. To his defense, he did come on the last 20 minutes or so and I’ll mark this down to a subpar match for him. Grade = 5
Ballouchy – This kid drives me batty. He makes runs, sees things and has obvious skill on the ball but he doesn’t consistently string quality play together and makes blunders someone who has been playing professionally for as long as he has shouldn’t. I think he played fairly well in this match but the difference in creativity and ball control between him and Christian Gomez is vast. Grade = 6
Cooke – Yes he is relatively one-dimensional, and yes he is mostly a “one trick dog” but he does that trick so well and sees things most other players on the pitch do not. He showed that vision and quality passing in this match. His cross to Casey’s head for the first goal was pure quality and he sent some long passes through that only he could have seen. I could be wrong, but I feel like he put a little extra energy into the match…I’ll let other’s wonder why. Grade = 7
Pablo – Pablo played like a man possessed last night. He was a totally disruptive force at defensive mid and his runs into the attacking third were brilliant. Was there an Italian scout in the crowd? Grade = 8
Casey – Despite what some others have said on the forums I think Casey played a truly quality match. His runs were decisive and intelligent and he displayed some good skills with the ball at his feet and distributed well (yes, he does have a rock hard first touch at times, but I do not believe it is as frequent as others profess). His first goal was excellent and the second goal was purely the result of his energy and “no-give-up” attitude. He was another one that seemed to play particularly hard and his fatigue showed the last 20 minutes of play. Regardless, excellent match for Casey. Grade = 8
SUBS:
Herc – Herc had some great passes and runs down the sideline but, once again, his lack of speed showed. He still tries to outrun defenders too frequently and I don’t think he has the speed he once did. Still, he played well and used his center mids intelligently. Grade = 6
Dalby – Wasn’t in on the action enough in his 10+ minutes of play. Grade – Incomplete
McManus – Was in for just a few minutes but it sure was great to see him out on the pitch again. Grade - Incomplete