When: Tuesday, April 9, 2019 at 8:00 PM TV: Flo baby! What's Special?: it's Cherry Blossom Night! Good news: Piatti and Urrutti are both out Bad news: So is Rooney No more cute baby animals. After last week's "example", I believe the Soccer Gods punished us. So, is it Amarikwa, Segura or Lucho in the Rooney spot?
I'm hoping for Amarikwa. I thought he was active and physical Saturday and looked to be thrilled to be on the pitch. I would keep Segura in mind as a sub in any one of several spots (e.g.; wing if/when Arriola gets gassed after an exhausting match Saturday, even LB (!). And I don' think Lucho would thrive up top. If he doesn't get Rooney-like service (and he won't, as Senor Wayne is out) he's likely to start sulking,
This team needs to make a statement in this game and come away with all three points. We've got the talent -- even without Rooney -- so anything less is going to be a loss IMHO.
FWIW, B&RU suggests a lineup with Segura at LB and Pines for Brillant in the middle. I hope that doesn't happen. You can't put two new players in the back four and expect anything good to happen. Olsen needs to nail down the LB spot in Mora's absence, once that is set, then rotate in the middle. Now, after reflection, I think I would sit Moreno for Durkin. Not that Junior had a worse game than Canouse -- he didn't -- it's just that Durkin's game is more like Moreno's, you need the Canouse to occasionally crunch players, something neither Moreno nor Durkin want to do.
Thanks for reminding me why I don't read that site. DCU had a bad game, not a "Holy shit, the end is nigh, I should coat myself in protective human shit and hitchhike to Alaska!!!" game. Taïder has been Montreal's best player this season by a long distance. If you take him out of the game, you've already won.
(No sarcasm) And he has the ego-wackjob hair of a good striker. We could use that . . . [Adler ducks]
Last Saturday was a complete and total collapse across the organization. Its a Tuesday night (late) game. Nobody will be there and frankly rightfully so after Saturday. This game is about the coaching staff and the team's spirit -- without Rooney. Its about heart (not bite). If they're a serious team they'll find a way to win this game. Canouse will bounce back. Lucho will keep his head in the game. Some of the others will pay attention. Someone will need to step up, but also we need some sort of reasonable tactical plan, as our "best 11 will be good enough" clearly hasn't worked since Mora went down. The team needs to pull their shit together. Lucho will command a higher price if the team is doing well (yeah, he's going to go). Everyone will do better. But if we come out flat or confused and get beat tonight then go on the road... well that'll be a problem. BTW, any chance we see Steiber? Has he been sent to Loudon or something??? Can he even play in this system?
There's no reason to rework the lineup over one bad game where LA clearly exposed a tactical hole. Tactical holes have tactical fixes, and that might involve changing a guy out, but might not. Both Jara and McCann were exposed on the counter because LA targeted a certain phase of our buildup, so you can't really say it was one or the other of them. They were just following the plan. Maybe trade out a DM for Durkin, but I'm not certain he improves the midfield under pressure. He does however give us the ability to outlet the ball through a different channel. If Ben was anybody but Ben, however, I'd have expected even before the LA game we sit at least 4 starters for Montreal for rotational purposes. We have the depth, and more importantly, we need to give the depth game time. The Saturday-Tuesday window is a good enough reason to do that. Personally, I think guys like Arriola, who seem to have boundless energy, tend to look worse in circumstances like this, since the short window doesn't give them proper recovery time, and that energy is such a big part of their game. I'd like to see Stieber, Segura and Durkin get starts. Maybe Ward. I'll be disapponted if he rolls out our traditional best 11 minus Rooney, but I expect to be disappointed.
I'd like to see Benny try something like this tonight: Here's the teamsheet for tonight's game and we are absolutely furious because Sydenham have fielded their players to spell out "SRFC ARE SHIT". We know this for a fact because Dane Francis, a striker, is wearing number 3. Hope the league committee throw the book at them for this. pic.twitter.com/SU5uszGbiQ— Streatham Rovers Football Club (@StreathamRovers) April 9, 2019
We're in a bad funk. Rooney is suspended, and Acosta is pouting. Doesn't look good. Another horrid loss at Home.
DC United's Facebook page said Segura is starting, but no one else has been listed yet. That's...random.
Acosta needs to pass to everyone, not just Rooney. A couple times already he’s kept the ball instead of changing the point of attack or getting it out wide.