2012 Player Rating And Review - Kosuke Kimura

Through the month of December, Burgundy Wave will do a short review of every player who received even a paltry sum of minutes in 2012. We start with the goalkeepers and then move our way up to the forwards. Today, we'll cover Kosuke Kimura.

Name: Kosuke Kimura
Number: 27
Appearances: 12
Stats: 1 goal, 2 assists

Alas, Kosuke, we barely knew you!

In what was no doubt the least popular move of the season, Kosuke Kimura ended up traded to the Portland Timbers for the allocation money and international slot that ended up turning into Hendry Thomas. Kosuke was a fan favorite and a pretty solid attacking fullback under Gary Smith, so we kinda liked the guy.

Unfortunately, he apparently couldn't outdo Hunter Freeman defensively. He had approximately one good game, the first one against Columbus, this season but then completely lost his ability to cover anything resembling an opposing player. His attacking influence dried up as well, and so followed his appearances. Eventually, that led to the trade. (Hendry Thomas is better by leaps and bounds so why anyone would ever be torn up over this I don't know.)

Considering how hilariously inept he looked against the Rapids in his homecoming game with Portland -- and really, most of his games with Portland -- it looks like he really might have just been a product of Gary Smith's midfield coverage system and nothing more.

PLAYER RATING: 4

.GIF TO SUM UP HIS SEASON:

Well, it started off all right...