Nashville SC began it’s two-match stretch out west with a 2-2 draw against San Jose Earthquakes.
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: Gave up a tough free kick that he should’ve easily been covered by Willis, but made a slight move near post that caught him going the wrong direction, and could not stop the set piece going to his far post. The second wasn’t necessarily his fault, but the first was easily preventable.
Dan Lovitz – 6.5: Had two excellent tackles, but his distribution was a bit off on the night with a 65% passing accuracy. Also picked up a yellow card on his only foul of the night.
Dave Romney – 6.5: Another Romney long throw provided a goal for Nashville, but he had poor header on the corner kick clearance that set up San Jose’s second goal.
Walker Zimmerman – 6.3: Had the least amount of touches of any outfield player that played 90 minutes, but did contribute six clearances, including three header clearances.
Jack Maher – 6.5: Won 75% of his duels on the ground and his lone aerial duel. Maher might have secured the right center-back starting role, but he’s still young and learning on the job.
Sean Davis – 7:  Davis missed a couple of tackles in the midfield, which is a bit uncharacteristic of him, and his distribution accuracy was a bit lower than normal (76%).
Anibal Godoy – 8: Won the ball that set up Hany Mukhtar’s run for his first goal. His 51 touches in the midfield were a big part why Nashville was able to create a lot of opportunities.
Alex Muyl – 6.8: Put in some solid crosses from the flank, including one early on that could’ve easily been another goal for Hany Mukhtar.
Hany Mukhtar – 9: Mukhtar was on an absolute tear the entire match. The San Jose defense could not contain his dribbling, and he continuously found himself in scoring position. Although he finished with a brace, he certainly could’ve had more.
Randall Leal – 6.3:  Had a nice layoff that Mukhtar should’ve finished early on in the match. Also completed 50% of his dribbles.
CJ Sapong – 7.3: Sapong had a great flick on Dave Romney’s long throw to a wide-open Mukhtar on the back post for Mukhtar’s second. His distribution as a hold-up 9 was much better, and he logged a big chance himself.
SUBS
Taylor Washington (on ′73) – 6.5:  Washington came on as a like-for-like sub for Lovitz after Lovitz picked up his yellow card. Although he did not have a ton of touches, he did win his lone aerial duel.
Ake Loba (on ′80) – 6:  Only had three touches in 10 minutes plus extra time of action. The great Loba conundrum races on….
Dax McCarty(on ′80) – 6.5:  McCarty made his return from his two-game suspension as a sub. He completed 93% of his passes and had three recoveries. Will he regain his role in the midfield with the way Godoy and Davis are playing?
Brian Anunga (on ′88) – 5.8:  Came on as an enforcer in the midfield
Luke Haakenson (on ′88) – 6:  Picked up a yellow during his limited minutes.
MANAGER
Gary Smith – 6.8: A pretty underwhelming draw for Smith’s side against one of the worst teams in the western conference where, although Hany Mukhtar had ample chances to score multiple goals, they were outshot (17-8), out possessed (66-34) and outperformed in xG (2.19-1.89). Perhaps that’s a silver lining that the Boys in Gold picked up a point after being outplayed, per say, but Nashville is too good a side to be pushed around by a team who has yet to win a match. The first seven matches being played on the road could certainly play a role in this result, but the good news is we’re only two week away from the home opener.
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.
