[Hattrix]

This game needs its own thread.

vs.


Toyota Park
Saturday Nov. 14 @ 7PM

The Fire is on back to back wins at Toyota Park; we've not lost to RSL this season, and our home playoff record is outstanding. After the Superliga final, I dread the possibility of PKs. And Findley will be a handful. Still, I really like our chances of heading off to Seattle to win another star on our shirt.

[fire428]

I see a 2-1 win for the fire. I would like to see CJ play almost as a sweeper to help offset the speed of RSL. If Thor has another game like the last one there is no way we lose.

[tacologic]

Let's carry this momentum into next week. Let's attack, thwart their chances and play inspired soccer again.

GO FIRE!

[TinManJoshua]

I watched the second leg of the RSL-Columbus series, the one thing I noticed was that once Cbus scored two, they sat back hard, and RSL did more than just capitalize on the extra space.

Hamlett cannot pull back on this team once we take the lead. When Cbus was bringing the heat early, their defense looked disjointed and their attack was non-existent. Robbie Russell is a real weak point in their backfield, we should be looking to go through Pappa often, and 2nd half straight swap with Mapp around the 75th.

[Stella FC]

RSL fan here....There will be a few of us making it to the match (4 so far) and we're loking forward to the "hostile" environment The crowd looked amazing against NE, and I would expect it to be the same for this match. Slightly off topic question, but anyone have any recommendations on where to watch the WCF match on Friday night and any pubs open early on Sat to watch the US v Slovakia match? We're staying downtown near the loop and we should be able to get around fairly easily. Cheers!

[Tmagic77]

The backline from the NE game will have trouble with Findley and Movsisyan I think. They're too fast and/or physical. If Sega and Conde were healthy I'd be very confident. As it is I think Thor and Pause will have to do well in the midfield again so Williams can't send through balls in. Olave can probably handle McBride, but I think otherwise we should be able to attack pretty well.

[ratdog]

Originally Posted by Tmagic77

The backline from the NE game will have trouble with Findley and Movsisyan I think. They're too fast and/or physical. If Sega and Conde were healthy I'd be very confident. As it is I think Thor and Pause will have to do well in the midfield again so Williams can't send through balls in. Olave can probably handle McBride, but I think otherwise we should be able to attack pretty well.

Our back line when we beat them 1-0 at our house: Brandon Prideaux, C.J. Brown, Bakary Soumare, Gonzalo Segares. As you can see, there's not much speed there and yet we still shut them out.

Our back line when we tied them 1-1 at Rio Pinko: Dasan Robinson, C.J. Brown, Wilman Conde, Mike Banner. OK, we let in a late goal but it was scored by their defender Olave, not either of their attacking danger men. I don't expect a lapse like that on Saturday.

So, even if our back line is Prideaux, Brown, Robinson, Banner, all of them have had experience playing against RSL and should know what to expect. As much as I'd rather start Conde over Robinson, I actually still like this back line. It has experience, toughness and speed and size. If we start Woolard again, however, I'll be really nervous given how Daniel is still applying aloe vera to the burn marks he suffered while getting repeatedly torched by Nyassi last Saturday.

My main concern is scoring goals. We can't just leave it to our midfield to score and I just don't see the RSL defense making the kind of half-assed mistake Osei made. McBride has been very quiet in the last several games and his shooting has been ice cold. We'll need him and Rolfe to have big games on Saturday.

[Hattrix]

Originally Posted by Stella FC

RSL fan here... Slightly off topic question, but anyone have any recommendations on where to watch the WCF match on Friday night and any pubs open early on Sat to watch the US v Slovakia match? We're staying downtown near the loop and we should be able to get around fairly easily. Cheers!

Very near the loop, you can get to Fado Irish Pub, which will have both. It's around Grand Avenue. For a better atmosphere, however, you should look into getting up to the Globe Pub, at Irving Park and Damen. It's about 15 minutes from the loop. Take the Brown Line north to Irving Park, then walk West a block or two, and you're there.

Toyota Park, you will find, is very far from the loop, but it is often the case that both of the bars listed above run busses out to the games, and there is a shuttle bus from the Midway stop on the Orange line to the stadium.

[burningfire]

I think key to win this match will be the battle of mid field ..
Pause and Thor needs to shut down Beckerman and Andy ..
RSL attacks with four/fives players behind the ball ,we just can't sit back and defend ...main concern is our RB and LB will get torched ..so we got to attack and keep the pressure up top...
Beside Olave their back line is weak and Fire should be able to score

ATTACK

[A-Zilis]

Originally Posted by Tmagic77

The backline from the NE game will have trouble with Findley and Movsisyan I think. They're too fast and/or physical. If Sega and Conde were healthy I'd be very confident. As it is I think Thor and Pause will have to do well in the midfield again so Williams can't send through balls in. Olave can probably handle McBride, but I think otherwise we should be able to attack pretty well.

It's fair to worry about speed . . . Findley is going to be a handful for our backline . . . but I wouldn't worry about Robinson and Brown getting outmuscled in the physicality department. We're really going to have to cut off service to their forwards from the midfield. If Thorrington and Pause play like they did on Saturday, we should be able to score more than they do.

I just hope the team isn't looking past RSL to MLS Cup. This is not a done deal, despite RSL's poor road record. Last year, everyone thought RSL would beat NY at home to advance to MLS Cup and they lost. RSL won't forget that, and neither should the Fire.