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How RSL community ratings fare against match stats

Do the player stats match the community player ratings? Here’s an evaluation for comparison.

By Kreg Asay
MLS: Seattle Sounders FC at Real Salt Lake Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

You’ve seen, and hopefully voted on the player ratings we put up after every game; but what do the raw statistics say regarding who is the best player for Real Salt Lake? Do they match your ‘eyeball test’ or are we missing some finer details? Hopefully this can answer some of those questions.

To start with, I’ve taken the average player ratings from both the Community Player Ratings that we do here on the Soapbox, and the ratings from Who Scored (the only other site that does game-by-game ratings). The top 5 players for RSL would be:

  1. Damir Kreilach - 6.62
  2. Marcelo Silva - 6.41
  3. Pablo Ruiz - 6.33
  4. Aaron Herrera - 6.3
  5. Justin Meram - 6.275

The next part gets technical. Using statistics from mlssoccer.com, and FBref.com I’ve taken key elements and broken them down into a metrics of Positive Actions (PA), Negative Actions (NA), and Defensive Actions (DA). So which players are the top 5 for each area?

Positive Actions

A “positive action” are things related to attacking play. It includes goals, assists, shots on goal, fouls suffered (leading to free kicks) and key passes. Totals are weighted.

  1. Mikel Chang - 15.04 in 391 minutes. With 1 goal, 3 assists, 3 SOG, 5 fouls received and 14 key passes.
  2. Albert Rusnak - 18.78 in 751 minutes. 2 goals, 1 assist, 5 SOG, 12 fouls suffered, and 20 key passes.
  3. Damir Kreilach - 19.6 in 882 minutes. 5 goals, 1 assist, 12 SOG, 20 fouls received and 7 key passes.
  4. Kyle Beckerman - 19.91 in 219 minutes. No goals or assists, 1 SOG, received 9 fouls and made 1 key pass.
  5. Justin Meram - 20.67 in 558 minutes. 2 goals, 1 assist, 6 SOG, 2 fouls suffered, and 6 key passes.

Negative Actions

A “negative action” essentially covers anything that gives the ball away. Offsides, causing fouls, receiving yellow/red cards, failed tackles and incomplete passes. Totals are weighted.

  1. Erik Holt - 5.8 in 203 minutes. No offside, 5 fouls, 1 card, 1 failed tackle and 28 incomplete passes.
  2. Donny Toia - 5.96 in 900 minutes. No offside, 11 fouls, 1 card, 10 failed tackles and 129 incomplete passes.
  3. Tate Schmitt - 6.15 in 160 minutes. No offside, 3 fouls, no cards, 1 failed tackle, 22 incomplete passes.
  4. Sam Johnson - 6.32 in 196 minutes. 2 offside calls, 6 fouls, 2 cards, no tackles, 21 incomplete passes.
  5. Justen Glad - 6.39 in 761 minutes. Offside 2 times, 19 fouls, 4 cards, 12 failed tackles, 82 incomplete passes.

Defensive Actions

A “defensive action” is anything that prevents opponents from scoring, that isn’t also a negative action. It includes tackles won, blocks, interceptions, and clearances. Totals are weighted.

  1. Erik Holt - 9.67 in 203 minutes. 80% successful tackles, 5 blocks, no interceptions, 12 clearances.
  2. Justin Portillo 10 in 80 minutes. 100% successful tackles, 2 blocks, 2 interceptions, 3 clearances.
  3. Marcelo Silva 10 in 540 minutes. 61.54% successful tackles, 7 blocks, 5 interceptions, 34 clearances.
  4. Jeizon Ramirez 10.33 in 31 minutes. 100% successful tackles, 1 block, no other stats.
  5. Justen Glad 11.03 in 761 minutes. 57.14% successful tackles, 14 blocks, 7 interceptions, 32 clearances.

Goalkeepers

Stats for keepers are usually direct. How many goals against per minute, how many saves per minute, etc... Here are those, plus a few other interesting items.

  • Andrew Putna - Allowed a goal every 37.5 minutes. 1 save every 32.14 minutes. 50.53% pass completion, 62.11% of passes were longer than 40 yards with 29.17% of those succeeding. Blocked no crosses into the box.
  • Zac MacMath - Allowed a goal every 77.14 minutes. 1 save every 38.57 minutes. 63.27% pass completion, 51.84% were longer than 40 yards with 28.39% reaching an attacker. Blocked 20.51% of crosses into the box.

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