Player Ratings Part 2; Impact play to deadlock vs Crew

This is the follow up article to Player Ratings Part 1. Here are my ratings for this week's performance against the Crew for the Impact's attacking four as well as the subs.

Starting 11:

Dominic Oduro: The speedy Ghanaian did not have an Impactful game. We all know that Oduro's #1 asset is his blistering pace. In Saturday's game, Oduro did not have the opportunity to use the best aspect of his game. His inability to find space to run into can both be blamed on the lack of service towards him as well as Oduro not placing himself correctly to receive the long ball. Oduro was a non-factor offensively but he still managed 16 successful passes for only 3 incomplete passes. Performance Rating: 6/10

Johan Venegas: Mauro Biello gave Venegas the opportunity to audition for the #10 position. The Costa Rican's performance was not impressive enough to force Biello's hand in the future. Venegas was present on the counter attacks but sometimes he lacked that all-important final pass. On one chance in particular, Venegas was on a 3-2 with Lucas Ontivero and Didier Drogba. Venegas' pass to Ontivero that would have sprung him free on goal was a bit too heavy and the Argentinian could not reach it. End of the counter attack. Performance Rating: 5.5/10

Lucas Ontivero: Ontivero was one of the most active players in the Impact's attacking four on Saturday. The Argentinian winger created a few opportunities for the Impact including their most important one of the match. This scoring chance came in the 68^th minute after Ontivero recovered possession deep in the Crew's half. Ontivero then successfully dribbled past Michael Parkhurst before letting a shot rip with his dominant left foot just to the left of the Crew's net. Performance Rating: 7.5/10

Didier Drogba: Obviously, this was not Drogba's most impressive performance in Impact blue but the blame for that is not solely on his shoulders. Over the course of the 90 minutes, the Impact attempted 12 crosses. Out of those 12, only one found its way to an Impact jersey. Clearly, the service to our physical striker is lacking in execution. Drogba did also help out defensively on set pieces. Performance Rating: 6.5/10

Subs:

Patrice Bernier: The Impact's captain made his entrance to Mapfre Stadium in the 69^th minute for Johan Venegas. The Brossard native took over the #10 position for the remaining minutes of the match. Bernier was able to infuse a bit of creativity to the Impact's attack but was not able to break the deadlock. Performance Rating: 7/10

Michael Salazar: Salazar's entry for Ontivero in the 83^rd minute was a last minute attempt by Biello to try to spark something offensively. Evidently, nothing caught fire. Performance Rating: 7/10

Harry Shipp: In the 89^th minute, it was Harry Shipp's turn to take to the pitch. He entered for Dominic Oduro. Shipp did not touch the ball much since he only attempted 4 passes, 3 were successful. However, during his short presence, the Chicago native managed 2 successful dribbles. Performance Rating: 7.5/10

Well, those were my performance ratings for the Impact's attacking four and subs in the 0-0 draw versus the Columbus Crew in Ohio. Both teams were playing with a depleted roster. The Impact were without Laurent Ciman and Ignacio Piatti and the Crew without Frederico Higuain. All in all, the Impact had a strong defensive showing but lacked offensive creativity. Piatti is supposed to be back from injury next week when the Sporting Kansas City visit Saputo Stadium on June 25^th and hopefully, he will reanimate the Impact's attack.

Question of the Week:

When Ciman returns, who would you like to see playing next to him?