For extensive grading scale explanations, scroll to the bottom

The Colorado Rapids drew with FC Dallas on Saturday night in what will certainly be looked at as a squandering of two points; we took a look at each player who took to the pitch for the Pids and placed them on our grading scale.

Man of the Match

Tim Howard – 7.5

Howard had a trademark performance. He saved just about everything in a challenging game and commanded the defense, as he always does. With his foot save on Michael Barrios moments after the tying goal, he avoided disaster. That might have been the play of the game, which is enough for the MVP.

Coaching Performance

Pablo Mastroeni – 5

Pablo had this game on a platter, no Urruti or Castillo and the lead at the half. Instead of trying to get a second goal, he tried to hold onto the lead and eventually got punished for it. Every substitution he made seemed not to pay off, and he probably brought Marco Pappa on twenty minutes too late. A missed opportunity, you can’t say he was out-coached, but he didn’t take advantage of the situation.

Goat of the game

Sam Cronin – 5

It seems unfair to give the captain this dishonor, especially after he was instrumental in limiting Mauro Diaz’s impact for Dallas. Cronin gets the games LVP because of the space he gave to Victor Ulloa on the goal. A man known for his feistiness can’t just sit back and give ten feet for a shot outside the penalty box. Add in the fact that Cronin never impacted the game offensively and was forced into a tactical yellow card. Not what you expect from your captain.

Mekeil Williams – 6

Williams played on a bum leg for almost the entire last 35 minutes of the first-half. He didn’t give up ground, and he even pushed forward on offense. An admirable performance.

Eric Miller – 5.5

Miller managed not to be seen when on the field in the second half, both good and bad. The important thing is that Miller doesn’t commit any mistakes in his first game back from his red-card suspension. Aside from avoiding costly mistakes he didn’t really do anything else of note.

Axel Sjoberg – 5.5

Looked to suffer a bit with the speed of the Dallas forwards, especially Barrios early on, but he used his length and played an organized game in the back. He committed a sloppy turnover in the 30th minute, not his best game.

Jared Watts – 5.5

A somewhat classic Watts performance. He did some nice things with the ball when pressed high, he also made a few mistakes in possession, committing a few turnovers early. He settled in and played a sound game, making some timely headers. Is it me or does it seem like Howard is only yelling at Watts at this point? As much as I like him, it might be time for Bobby Burling to be back in the starting XI soon.

Marc Burch – 6

He isn’t able to push forward or produce many positive crosses on the offensive side, but his game defensively is impeccable. Burch covered well in a tough test and even assisted in coming toward the middle and harassing Diaz. He did what he was asked, can’t ask for much more.

Micheal Azira – 6

Azira, much like Cronin, deserves credit for his ability to greatly limit Diaz in midfield. A typical Azira game, you don’t see him much on the ball, but the opponents feel his presence when they’re in possession.

Dillon Powers – 6.5

Played well for the first 75 minutes of the game. Tried to assert himself and even came to get the ball deeper to initiate play. Found Hairston on what could have/should have been a goal that just missed. Wasn’t excellent in possession but his passing was good. He even helped in covering on Diaz in midfield.

Marlon Hairston – 7

He’s the only other true candidate for man of the match with Howard. Hairston has now scored a goal in two consecutive matches after having been on a year plus goal drought. He was really the only attacker to get behind the Dallas defense, finding himself face to face with Chris Seitz on multiple occasions. He’s growing before our eyes; he gives the Rapids a speed element that no other winger/forward has on the roster.

Shkelzen Gashi – 5

Gashi has struggled to find the back of the net this year, but he’s still played well. Against Dallas, he was almost a non-factor, something that hasn’t happened very often this season. From a player of his quality, you expect more. His only quality play was the headed assist to Kevin Doyle that was blocked on the line.

Kevin Doyle – 5.5

Doyle did well in hold up play, even picking up the ball in deeper areas than usual. He never made himself dangerous inside the final third, though. He seemed to struggle to find the alleys of space in which he can be dangerous (in between the center backs), while never really facing goal and getting his shot off. Like Gashi, he needs to do more on this type of stage.

Luis Solignac – N/A

Despite playing almost 20 minutes, his impact was rarely felt. Still, it would be unfair to give him a grade as he entered at a delicate time in the game.

Marco Pappa – N/A

Playing less than 10 minutes, he never was able to get on the ball. Shame he wasn’t put in earlier.

Explaining the grading scale:

As opposed to the standard letter grading scale that is used in other American sports, we’ll be using a numerical grading scale 1-10. This is already the standard for MLS, though this is not some player index formula. What we are using here is the Italian grading scale, one that is used across European media for grading games.

Generally speaking, the scale is as follows:

10 – Historically great game, a truly special or monumental performance. This grade will rarely if ever be given.

9 – A dominant performance. Being a constant menace and producing.

8 – A man-of-the-match-caliber game.

7 – A very good game.

6 – A professional game. Playing per expectations but nothing more.

5 – An insufficient game.

4 – A truly awful performance, a fairly rare grade.

1-3 – are varying degrees of horrible, this will only be given if a player commits an absurd foul or several costly blunders.