Rhode Island FC played against a heavily rotated side from USL League One on Friday night, but the 4-1 drubbing was just what the doctor ordered. I don’t want to get too carried away off of one result, but saw a lot of encouraging signs from this performance beyond just beating up on a mediocre, lower-league team.

Rhode Island FC remain atop Group 4 in the USL Jägermeister Cup and have put themselves in a very strong position to advance to the knockout rounds, pending results from this weekend and, of course, in our final group stage match against Hartford on July 26.

After criticizing Khano’s tactics and lineup last week (that’s right, criticizing!) I have to say that he absolutely nailed it last night. It must have been that tactical view from the roof of Tidewater. I guess even Khano recognizes that real ball knowers sit in Section 205.

Khano returned to the back four, dropped Maxi deeper into a double pivot with Clay, and returned Noah Fuson to the floating number 10 role where he thrived last season. It seemed to FINALLY unlock Rhode Island FC’s offense, and get the best out of several of our players who have been underperforming.

I can’t say enough about how sky high the vibes were after the match. We watched the players move through Autograph Alley after the match, and my wife couldn’t stop commenting on how kind and friendly the players were to all of the kids who were looking for autographs and pictures. Ourselves and a few Tide Talk colleagues (and their families) may have literally been the last fans to leave the stadium, as they basically had to politely kick us off the field… I honestly just didn’t want to leave, or the night to end.

For those who are interested in comparing these ratings to other matches this season – here is a document tracking all of my player ratings for the season so far.

Rhode Island FC Player Ratings:

Jackson Lee (GK) – 6/10

Jackson made one sensational save – and Portland didn’t challenge him much outside of that. I want to score higher off of the one save alone… but I’m fighting the urge in order to remain consistent.

Enjoy one of Lee’s best saves of the season so far – and keep in mind that this team has been struggling defending set pieces (including just last match), so this was a big moment:

Karifa Yao (D) – 7/10

The Karifa-ssance continues. Yao was asked to do basically nothing on the ball in this matchup, but was almost perfect defensively. He led all players with 10 duels won, including – of course – 6/7 aerial duels won.

He probably could’ve done better to close down Titus Washington on the Portland goal… but, we were up 3-0 and I think the whole team was a bit switched off at this moment. It was eerily similar to the goal that Washington scored against us in the US Open Cup as well in Lewiston, back in April.

Rio Hope-Gund (D) – 7/10

Another great performance from Rio as well where he was defensively sound (and, like Yao, barely lost a duel on the night). Rio’s pass accuracy was a bit down at 76%, but I actually saw this as a positive as Rio was attempting much more progressive and ambitious passes than we’ve seen from him previously. Here’s an example of a great ball that did come off for Rio:

Also, every team needs a defender who celebrates saves and defensive plays or clearances as if they were a goal – and ours is Rio. Go back and check his reaction after Jackson’s save and Maxi’s challenge on the loose ball.

Aldair Sanchez (D) – 8/10

Probably the best performance of the season so far for Aldair – and perfectly timed, after back-to-back rough games for him where he was targeted on the defensive end.

Aldair finished the match with a pair of assists, and was heavily involved in the build up to Dikwa’s third goal as well. Aldair’s chemistry with Jojea Kwizera was great down the left-hand side all night long, and they also connected incredibly well with Dikwa, Fuson, and Rodriguez to work the ball around Portland’s defenders.

To be fair, this ball to Dikwa for Sanchez’s first assist of the match is one that he’s put in many, many times this season – we just haven’t been able to finish it a lot of the time.

Frank Nodarse (D) – 7/10

Frank was also nearly flawless in defense as the primary central defender alongside Karifa Yao. While Yao hogged most of the defensive statistics from this match, Nodarse was more involved in build up play, and reliably kickstarting our attacks from our own third.

Maxi Rodriguez (MF) – 8/10

This ball won’t get the same attention as Maxi’s earlier assist to Dikwa, or his goal-saving challenge in the 6-yard box – but the placement and weight on this pass were mesmerizing:

The best part was, Maxi was spraying passes like this all night long from his deeper position in the midfield. I think deploying Maxi in this position (this has been a frequent point of debate amongst my peers at Tide Talk and I’ve been firmly on the “drop Maxi deeper” side of the argument) got the best out of him and freed up Noah to play more centrally and more freely without fear of them overlapping.

Do you require evidence of how well this really worked? Maxi led all players with 17 passes into the final third (the next highest had 10), led all players with three chances created, led all players with 10 accurate long balls, AND chipped in with a healthy seven defensive actions. We haven’t seen numbers like this from Maxi all season.

Clay Holstad (MF) – 6/10

I think Clay played his role perfectly last night – he probably played the most thankless position on the field, as he was in the double pivot with Maxi but stayed at home a bit more regularly to allow Maxi more attacking freedom.

Noah Fuson (MF) – 7/10

Yes. He’s so back. We finally saw Noah playing in a more central area (with freedom to drift out wide) behind Dikwa, and he looked much more threatening compared to the rest of the year so far.

He had a shot rattle off the crossbar in the 18th minute, and Rhode Island FC scored on the very next sequence. Noah completed four dribbles (out of an attempted six) which was two times more than the next highest player – it was great to see him playing with this confidence again, but also not be afraid to recycle possession when the attack wasn’t on.

Of course, his best moment came in the 85th minute when Noah capitalized on a slip from none other than former Rhode Island FC player, Nathan Messer – leaving Noah alone with the keeper to kill off the game with a fourth goal.

Jojea Kwizera (F) – 6/10

We’ve said all season that Kwizera has looked less dangerous when Noah Fuson is playing on the opposite wing, as they can’t play off each other in build up. With Noah playing a more central role and aiding Kwizera on the left wing as needed (along with Aldair Sanchez), Kwizera looked much more comfortable.

There’s still room for improvement (lost eight out of 12 duels, and completed zero out of his four dribble attempts), but I think it was a positive performance overall. Kwizera attempted five crosses, which is an encouraging sign – including, of course, this cross to assist Dikwa’s hattrick goal. This is sensational build up from Jojea, Aldair, and Chico, as well:

Albert Dikwa (F) – 9/10

It’s only fitting that the first ever hattrick in the USL Jägermeister Cup coincides with Dikwa’s first ever 9/10 rating (and only the second ever in our player ratings – any guesses who received the first 9/10? Find out here).

This is the Dikwa we’ve all been clamoring for all season long. It has been a major storyline this season – maybe THE storyline this season – that Rhode Island FC can’t score goals, and Dikwa has bore the brunt of that criticism due to his role as the primary striker while JJ Williams is out injured.

But if Dikwa can have games where he plays well but doesn’t score, and we all say “well great, but his job is to score goals”, then we HAVE to give him his due credit when he buries three.

I love the variety of finishes on display by Dikwa on the night as well. His first goal was a one-touch chipped shot, his second was a tidy redirect inside the 6-yard box, and the last was a strong headed finish. The clips are embedded throughout this post, but here is a clip of his first goal – a beautiful finish, and the type that you expect to see from a confident, in-form striker (which I am optimistic that this description now applies to Chico).

Joe Brito (F) – 6/10

Good effort and good work off the ball (as always), but relatively low involvement for Brito – he did put some dangerous crosses into the box, when given the chance.

Subs

Daniel Rovira (MF) – N/A

I’m not going to score the subs since we were pretty content to just kill the game by the time they came on, but I think Rovira has looked bright since starting to get some minutes with the team.

Marc Ybarra (MF) – N/A

Incredible to see Ybarra back out on the pitch – and I actually thought he had some really promising moments both defensively and showing off his passing range from the holding midfield position.

Isaac Angking (MF) – N/A

Angking has picked up right where he left off last season as a high energy, impact sub who you can count on to push the ball forward and give 110% effort.

Kevin Vang (F) – N/A

Taimu Okiyoshi (MF) – N/A

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Rating Scale:

• 1/10 – Abysmal. You might as well have me on the pitch.
• 2/10 – Very bad
• 3/10 – Bad
• 4/10 – Below Average
• 5/10 – Average. The player did their job.
• 6/10 – Good
• 7/10 – Very good
• 8/10 – Great
• 9/10 – Outstanding
• 10/10 – Transcendent performance. Watch out, because Real Madrid may come knocking.