A late goal saw Nashville SC’s eight-match road trip to start the year finish with a 1-0 loss against the LA Galaxy Saturday.
Below are our player ratings.
Each member of the Speedway Soccer crew gives each player that saw the pitch a rating based on their match performance. Below is a quick guideline for our evaluation process.
- A rating of 6 denotes an average performance. Each player starts out with a 6 and their performance either adds or subtracts from that rating.
- Scores are determined after re-watching the match and looking at the stats, and are the averaged total of each Speedway member’s ratings.
Joe Willis – 6.8: Dealt with a couple of Chachirito shots well, including one on a free kick. Ultimately conceded the match-winning goal, but wasn’t really at fault there.
Dan Lovitz – 7.3: Won all of his duels on the night, but only completed one of his seven long ball attempts. He did have a potentially goal-saving slide tackle though.
Dave Romney – 6.5: Romney had a great opportunity on a header to put Nashville ahead. Also contributed six clearances, a tackle, and a blocked shot.
Walker Zimmerman – 6.3: Zimmerman was named Budweiser Man of the Match, but was uncharacteristically beaten in the air on multiple occasions (1/5 in aerial duels), including missing the header which led to the match-winner.
Jack Maher – 6.5: Had a potential penalty shot that could’ve been called against him, but it was eventually determined the contact was non-incidental. Did complete 90% of his passes as well.
Sean Davis – 7.3:  Won three tackles and 80% of his duels. He also had a decent attempt with a high volley early on into the match.
Anibal Godoy – 6.8: Godoy certainly bailed out the defense on a few occasions with 10 recoveries. He also had the highest passing percentage of Nashville at an astonishing 97%.
Alex Muyl – 6.8: Had some decent passes from the flank, including a couple of successful crosses, but was 1/3 on his tackle attempts.
Hany Mukhtar – 7: Mukhtar was clever as usual with his weighted passes, but really had a few opportunities where he should’ve taken a shot one time instead of taking an extra touch. Those cost him any looks on goal, as he did not attempt a single shot.
Randall Leal – 7.5:  Leal was not only working hard on the offensive side with a shot, a few successful dribbles and accurate long balls, but he also contributed defensively with three tackles and eight recoveries.
CJ Sapong – 6: Sapong attempted zero shots on the night, but obviously appeared a bit tired on the night, as his runs on balls through were a bit off the pace. The extended road trip seemed to have taken a toll on him.
SUBS
Brian Anunga (on ′77) – 6:  Only completed two passes in his four touches on the ball and was more brought on with the idea of preserving the 0-0 draw.
Luke Haakenson (on ′87) – 6:  Haakenson continues to be one of Smith’s late substitution options off the bench, but hasn’t contributed any true meaningful minutes during his time on the pitch so far.
Ake Loba (on ′87) – 6:  Brought in late after the LA goal but was not involved at all in the match. An introduction earlier into the match might have been more beneficial.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 6.3: This seemed like the blueprint for a classic Gary Smith draw in the works. The squad absorbed a ton of pressure in the second half, even though the match seemed fairly open for extended periods. Smith also waited fairly late to bring on his substitutions, his first being defensive-minded. Unfortunately, the problem with sitting back and playing for the draw is there can be a breakthrough, which was the case there. Fortunately, the extended road trip is over and now the Boys in Gold can begin hosting matches in their backyard, starting this Sunday.
What say you? Do you agree or disagree with our match ratings? Feel free to reach out to us on Twitter and let us know your thoughts.
