Grading the Revs: Despite sitting 11th at midpoint, some players giving all - and there is still work to do

FOXBOROUGH -- Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Philadelphia marked the official end of the first half of the Revolution’s season. At the midway point, New England’s favorite soccer sons sit 11th in the Eastern Conference out of 12 teams. And even with the run of form the Revs are on in the last month-plus — 2-0-3 in the league since Brad Friedel’s sacking — there’s still loads of work to do over at Patriot Place.

That all being said, it’s time to reveal my first half marks for the team.

Reminder: This is a look at the first half of the season as a whole, not little spurts here or there, or good performances in one game.

Acceptable/Passing

Carles Gil, Juan Agudelo, Jalil Anibaba, DeJuan Jones, Tajon Buchanan, Brandon Bye, Scott Caldwell, Matt Turner

Pound for pound, Gil is one of the best technical players on the ball, and has grown accustomed to the rough-and-tumble nature of MLS midfields. He’s drawing defenses to him, and in many ways, making them look silly.

Agudelo has come on as of late, and some may question his inclusion here given the lack of production earlier in the year; but go back and watch his hold-up play and his ability to create opportunities. His move to the No. 8 role has been tremendous.

Anibaba, from moving into Michael Mancienne’s slot in the season opener to the way he approaches each attacker’s move, mainly with a lunch pail work ethic that every Bostonian can appreciate, might be one of the better defenders on the Revolution. With Mancienne on the sidelines and Antonio Delamea struggling to find the XI, Anibaba’s play during the first half has cemented his role — and has justified his salary bump. And don’t forget the goal he scored earlier this season.

If you look at where Buchanan and Jones fell in SuperDraft — Buchanan No. 9, Jones No. 11 — one would believe that Buchanan would get the most minutes between the two; there were some who thought Jones wouldn’t see that many minutes as the No. 11. Hell, one Boston soccer writer — I wonder who that was? — saw Jones as a potential defensive player before SuperDraft, and has seen more minutes there thanks to the ineptitude of the front office/prior coaching regime who “like(d) the players we have.” Both have played well when inserted; would like to see more from Buchanan, because his skill on the ball is high.

Bye may have had a poor preseason, but he’s had some solid outings. We love his crossing ability.

Caldwell has a motor; some may question why he’s receiving a passing grade given that he may not improve his skill level — some have even called for the team to move on from him — but you know what you’re going to get, and that’s a bulldog mentality.

And Turner, when not plowing over English internationals, continues to show why he’s the best goalkeeper New England has at the moment.

Needs Improvement

Teal Bunbury, Cristian Penilla, Brad Knighton, Cody Cropper, Antonio Delamea, Juan Fernando Caicedo, Andrew Farrell, Luis Caicedo

We need to see more from Bunbury. He’s come along during the last month or so — three goals, including two in the Open Cup win over the Red Bulls — and hopefully that’s a sign of good things to come. He's such a streaky player, and now is the time when he needs to have the streakiness set to on.

Penilla is also coming around, but he’s in the needs improvement due to the way he played — when he played — in the first two months. Couldn’t get out of double teams, didn’t look for the open man. He can do so much better. We’ve seen him play so much better. Hoping the first half is a blip.

Knighton has only had a few run-outs and has played well, but his distribution needs work. See also: the Cincinnati game.

Cropper needs more time in keep; he did well when out there, and needs to be more focused — see also: the Montreal home game.

Delamea saw his time reduced via a concussion, and has had difficulty in working his way back into the XI.

J.F. Caicedo struggled early as he came off a muscle injury, and he’s scored some solid goals. But we want to see more of it. We saw some flashes of a nose for goal last week, only to be denied by the goalkeeper and the post. Hoping for more, with a little more luck.

Farrell as a center back? We love it. He’s making less and less errors in this important role, but we expect him to make better decisions in the latter stages of matches.

Luis Caicedo does things subtly. We want to see him have more of a hand in the defending when out there.

Unacceptable/Failing

Diego Fagundez, Wilfried Zahibo, Edgar Castillo

This has not been Fagundez’s half, I can tell you that much. Eight starts entering Wednesday with no goals in 12 appearances, and we don’t remember the last time’s put a shot on frame. He’s had four so far entering Wednesday. He can be so much better than he’s showing right now.

We said it the other day: We don’t see the appeal of Zahibo, outside of his physicality in the defensive midfield. He did play well Wednesday, and Bruce Arena said he needs more time out on the pitch.

Castillo, while he tried to get into the offense, has seen most of his passes into the box blocked. He has two assists this season. His defending has, at times, been poor. For a former US international, we expect more.

Incomplete

Isaac Angking, Nicolas Firmino, Justin Rennicks, Brian Wright, Zach Herivaux, Michael Mancienne

With Wright and Herivaux, we’re happy they are getting minutes in Birmingham; of course, Herivaux is with Haiti now, and he is getting minutes there.

Angking has obviously been saddled with a knee injury, but he has been healthy enough to make the bench against Red Bulls in the Open Cup, and has seen some minutes at the Academy. We’re hoping to see him more often in the second half of 2019

Firmino has only played the Chelsea game, and played well. He’s been playing with the U19’s in the Academy lately.

Rennicks has made three senior appearances — against Columbus in league play, against Chelsea, and against Orlando in the Open Cup. Another we’d like to see get more minutes with the first team, now that the U20 World Cup is done and dusted.

To be fair, Mancienne has not been at full health this season; he’s missed most of the last two months with plantar fasciitis and missed the first game of the season with a lower back injury.