Colorado Rapids vs. Swansea – Player Ratings

We spent quite a while around here talking about how awesome the Swansea City friendly was going to be, and we were gleefully proven correct on Saturday as the Rapids ended up winning an immensely entertaining match-up.

A lot of guys came onto the field to show their stuff against Swansea, and most of them had pretty good games. Swansea was clearly tired and lacked proper chemistry, but it was still refreshing to see the Rapids put together a solid game, especially with kids like Shane O'Neill and Davy Armstrong putting on strong performances.

On to the player ratings from the match, and a lot of player ratings at that! (Infinite substitutions tends to lead to a boatload of names on the final match report!)

Scoring Guide

0 – Awful, horrible, why is he even on the field!?

1-3 – Poor. Why is he starting?

4-6 – Decent. Played a reasonable game, but could have done much more.

7-9 – Great game! Did nearly everything right with few mistakes

10 – Perfect game.Stew Ceus – 7

There wasn't a whole lot of stuff going on around Ceus, but he made whatever saves he needed to, controlled his area well and made some solid goal kicks as well.

Hunter Freeman – 5.5

One of the better defensive performances this year from Freeman, it would be nice if he could parlay that into some league performances. Didn't do much on the offensive side.

Tyrone Marshall – 5

Marshall looked rejuvenated in this match compared to Salt Lake, putting in good defensive work all game.

Scott Palguta – 5

What's that? Palgta getting a decent score? What is this? Well, give the devil his due — Palguta didn't have much to do but he kept out what he needed to.

Luis Zapata – 6

Good assist on Akpan's goal and the usual solid defensive work we've come to expect.

Jeff Larentowicz – 5

I suppose that Jeff knew that no matter what he did in this game, he'd get no consequences. He was the chippiest player on the team, looked like he was going for a yellow card several times. Personally I found it hilarious, but whatever.

Joseph Nane – 5

His performance against Salt Lake was better than his performance against Swansea, but it's promising to see that he's playing much better than he did last season in general.

Jaime Castrillon – 5.5

There were some good moves and some good stolen balls in the midfield by Castrillon, though offensively he didn't create much more than some early stuff on the Akpan goal.

Jamie Smith – 6.5

A great game for the Scotsman, got the hockey assist on Akpan's goal and had good moves all night long around the area. Not bad service, either.

Kamani Hill – 7.5

That was an absolute golazo by Hill, a rocket from 25 yards out. He did well in just about everything he tried, but that goal was the signature moment and the game winner.

Andre Akpan- 6.5

Fun fact about Akpan — he has now scored goals for the team in Open Cup play, CCL play, league play and International Friendly play. I'm pretty sure he's the only Rapids player in history who can make that claim!

SUBS

Ian Joyce – 5

He didn't have much of a chance on De Guzman's goal, but he may have been able to get it on a better day. Didn't need to do much else.

Davy Armstrong – 5.5

After being shuffled around and around positions under Gary Smith, Pareja's team immediately made him a right back and it looks like that was a great move. His defending was solid, as were his runs forward. He looked like a bright future talent at a position we need some at, not bad.

Tyson Wahl – 5

I've been very impressed with Wahl since he joined the Rapids, and the Swansea match was another notch in his belt.

Shane O'Neill – 7

I was expecting good things from O'Neill, but my goodness he broke expectations with that debut. He could very easily have had a goal and roamed the entire field with confidence and strength. If he's the heir apparent to Larentowicz's throne, we're probably in good shape.

Wells Thompson – 5

Wells was his usual chippy self, and he kept Swansea frustrated in the midfield. He seems to be finding himself in the holding midfielder position under Pareja.

Tony Cascio – 5

Had a good header on a corner kick, didn't really get much other than that.

Omar Cummings – 5.5

There were some solid runs from Omar and some decent work on the ball, but nothing turned into a goal. Of course, it didn't matter in the end.