Back at it after a week off, against Montreal. Does Klopas come and play the same way he had the Fire play here (make the game slow and play for 0-0)? Does he break the long held tradition of the Montreal manager getting kicked out here?
Yes. Yes, Montreal will try to bunker the shit out of Saturday. Especially since they have DiVaio, who is a counterattacking machine. Their midfield typically can't cope with Sporting's, and they seem to have lost a step or two in the offseason as well. I gotta expect Sporting will be out looking for blood, too, as May and June will be rougher to get points without some key players. Also, post-RSL frustrations. Hope Dovale starts. I don't want to say I'm optimistic about this game, because that's a lie and I'm not an optimist. However, I'll be disappointed if SKC doesn't walk away with a clean sheet and multiple goals. (Plus, the clean sheets are great for getting cheap pizza.)
Bieler or Dwyer? I say Bieler, and I hope he gets some consecutive starts at this point so he can find his rhythm. Let Dwyer 'Bulldog' things off the bench for awhile.
I agree on Bieler. I would like to see him start and get in a rhythm. Fully expect 3 points on Saturday.
Antonio Rodríguez Dovale. Does anyone know why he goes by Dovale? I thought the convention was that you use your paternal surname, which for him would be Rodríguez.
Why would he change his approach? Chicago was very effective at drawing us in KC (and sometimes winning). And he did that with Marco Pappa. Now, he has a much more skilled Marco. Really, who better to play bunker/counter with than DiVaio and Jack Mc? DiVaio is the master of the offsides trap, and Jack Mc has more pace than most. It's the perfect style for their team, given their issues with posession and poor midfield play. My guess is we'll see them come out in a 4-4-2 with two defensive midfielders and DiVaio dropping into the mifield to get service. DiVaio will then serve as a play maker to Jack Mc's pace. I'm not sure if this is a 3-0 win, or a 1-0 loss. I could see it go either way. Regardless of score, I'm certain we'll out posess them 70-30 and out shoot them something like 20-2.
I have been wondering about that, as well. I have not seen an explanation anywhere, but I wonder if it is simply because Dovale is a much less common surname than Rodriguez. I thought that he might choose to go by Toni, just like Rosell goes by Uri, but apparently not.
I am curious to see if Olum starts in Rosell's place, now that he is the second-string centerback. That would presumably require including Palmer-Brown in the 18. Another option would be to make Nagamura the defensive midfielder and put Feilhaber in the box-to-box role, with someone else--Zusi, Bieler, Medranda, or even Martinez--serving as the attacking midfielder.
I wouldn't expect EPB to start making the 18 till Besler is out for the World Cup. I would more expect Vermes to stack the midfield/wings so that he can, if he needs to, slot Zusi back and pop in Zizzo or Sapong or Saad or whoever needs to show up. I was wondering, though... with Zusi pretty much full-time winger, and with the existence of Saad, Dovale, Zizzo, and Peterson, if Sapong is more likely to see time as a striker than as a winger this year? Gotta say, by and large, with the guys we have right now, he's third choice on the left, third on the right (hopefully, anyways, he slots in ahead of Peterson, the one forward he is better than, in my opinion), and third in the center. I figure he'll make the bench because he's the only big guy Sporting has, but I doubt he'll start nearly as much this year.
Sapong is still out for this game; he just started training again. At this point, I prefer him as the third center forward over either wing position, but it remains to be seen whether Vermes is ready to give up on that experiment. Saad might be another candidate for attacking midfielder, but I would rather put Zusi there and Dovale on the left wing, or deploy Bieler as an "underneath striker" behind Dwyer to see if that arrangement can be as effective as it was at times during the preseason.
Jeez, if it weren't for the injury to Opara, this team would feel like the strongest I've ever seen Sporting. I can't think of a time when I was nearly this confident in our second and third stringers.
Palmer-Brown is with the U20s in Dallas for the Dallas Cup and is not eligible. I expect Olum to start for Rosell and if a defender goes down or is suspended he slides back and we have another midfielder go in.
It'll either be that or Nags starting for Rosell and Olum as the "break glass for emergency" defensive sub. I prefer Nagamura to Olum at d-mid, but Olum in the midfield gives us more substitute options. It's kind of 50/50 in my mind, and Vermes could very well leave that decision down to who's shown better in practice the last few weeks.
I actually prefer Olum in the d-mid spot. Nagamura is more of a poor man's box-to-box midfielder; he makes a lot more attacking forays than either Rosell or Olum ever do. Olum also seems to be more of a cooler head than Nagamura. In fact, has Olum ever gotten a card? He just seems to play exceptionally smart and clean. Nagamura is a little more on the wild side. I bet this is our starting lineup: -------Zusi-------Bieler------Zisso------ ----------Feilhaber---------------------- ----------------------Nagamura-------- -------------------Olum----------------- ---Sinovic---Besler---Collin---Myers---
I agree with a lot of your points. Nagamura is best when he stays at d-mid and doesn't go forward (which we all know isn't exactly Vermes' way of thinking), but he shores up d-mid better than anyone on the team and allows the rest of our midfielders/forwards to get forward more. For me, Olum is a serviceable back-up, but doesn't win out against Nagamura in a head-to-head competition for d-mid.
Vermes must of found a page in my notebook because tonight's starting 11 is exactly what I would have put out there.
Zusi needs to sit on the bench a game and remember that he is supposed to be good. Its like he doesn't know what to do anymore now that Benny is pulling the strings. Yay goals! Yay long throw ins!