******** 'em Hamid Franklin Birn Bos Kemp Sarvas NDL Acosta Sam Mullins Neagle Dunno if Sam/Neagle are fit, but Nyarko first if not, then Kennedy if both
Sarvas is out - yellow card accumulation. We'll see Jeffrey again, probably with Nicky and Acosta in the middle.
Even when these teams are horribly mismatched, it's usually a 0 or 1 goal game - this has another tie written all over it. Which will piss me off, so I predict the soccer godz will give me a break finally and we win this one 3-1 Will be interesting to see if the "new guys" see the field for Filly tomorrow. I hope we stay more organized in the back than we have been lately and that we see some good offensive runs. Score early and score often (which for us is more than once) will be the key to a victory. Warning: there is a baseball game Sat evening as well so be aware of traffic on the way in.
We've been cleaning the house, and I have several DC United flags (freebies) to give away. One is for @stonesean , and the rest will be first-come, first served. If you want one, or more, shoot me a PM.
I will be interested in seeing which of the Jeffrey/Nicky pairing plays the more attacking role. When it was Jeffrey/Sarvas vs. Montreal, Jeffrey was clearly playing the more advanced position and Savras stayed behind. Jeffrey is referred to as a DM, whereas I've not heard Nicky so described. That said, I would prefer Jeffrey as the more attack-minded, because I think he is the more likely to actually put the ball in the net, based on what I've seen from him. (Also, I don't want him playing well back and making stupid fouls near our goal, a la Toronto.)
We still have at least 20 games at RFK I think. I'm not sure our shooting is that bad even if last week was tough to watch.
These home games are starting to feel like must win games. We can't afford to keep pissing away points at home. We've been blessed by a relatively week conference. Just putting together a 2-3 game winning streak can put us right back in contention for a top 4 finish which I think can still salvage some feelings of success for this season. Aiming for 5th or 6th place won't cut it because we simply are not the sort of team that's built to get wins on the road. For me personally I don't feel like you can really claim to be a playoff team until you qualify for conference semifinals and anything less should be considered a failed season.
So are Bedoya and Davies playing tonight? I like Bedoya -- liked Davies too until he turned out to be a diving bitch party boy who lawyered up. Just saw Ben on CH8 news. He believes this is a playoff team. I believe his belief is, uh, not believable. I think at best we get a point. At worst, we get blown out 4-0 or 4-1. The good news is I have a six-pack of Lagunitas IPA.
Looks like a 4-1-4-1 -------------------------------Hamid Franklin---------Birnbaum---------Boswell---------Kemp ------------------------------Vincent Sam--------------De Leon-----------Acosta----------Nyarko ------------------------------Mullins bench : Worra, Robinson, Opare, Buescher, Saborio, Igboananike, Neagle Big question mark in the middle with Vincent. Tough week for Sarvas to get suspended on the same week that Jeffrey injures hammy. On the bright side Sam and Neagle are healthy which provides us with a lot more depth in attack. We have more firepower on our bench than Philly does. Hopefully we don't have to burn any subs on injuries because we can bring in Igbo, Sabo and Neagle off the bench. All three could be difference makers if used correctly.
Oh Mullins ... Had Acosta open for a tap in and he goes for the difficult half volley. Gotta love the striker selfishness, but that has to be a goal.
What a punch in the nuts ... Going from a potential 2-0 to a tie game. Right at the end of the half too ...
United squanders that second goal on the regular. Hopefully they just run Philly off the field the second half.
A mix of good and bad ... Kemp great going forward, but it feels like he's being picked on when Philly has the ball. We're also missing Sarvas's ability to get a hold of the ball and allow the team to move forward. Vincent is just in too much of a hurry to get rid of the ball without any positive purpose. If we get anything out of this game it'll come from Acosta and Nyarko. Both have looked dangerous every time they touch the ball. Sam looks a little bit flat ... I would bring in Igbo for him ASAP. Maybe give Mullins another 15-20 minutes, but eventually Saborio has to also come on.
lol ... Boswell just watched that entire counter attack happen. Not attacking the ball and not defending anyone ...
Acosta showing his youth and inexperience with that turnover. And Pontius sticks the knife in ... It's so fitting for our crap team to be undone by one of our rejects.