How many soccer-related dreams can die in the same week? Hopefully just the USNT one, and this is ia win.
Don't hold your breath, Ish I have fears we come out sluggish because of the time off and the Savarino injury. I'm expecting a draw and fearing a late goal to the cRapids for a win to them. On paper, we should win this one. Those are like 3rd and long for a Utah defense... Lineup: Nicky Tony Glad Silva Acosta KB Luke* Lennon Rusnak Plata Silva Bench: VanO, Wing, Horst, Sunny*, Bofo, Hernandez, Yura
Sadly any hope I had for the rest of this season left with Savarino's injury. I like Lennon a lot but he is not dynamic enough and his one trick doesn't fit with how we play, ie blow past marker to the end line and cross it in. I think this is Petke's most important tactical test. If he makes adjustments to maintain our offensive effectiveness without Savarino than we make it. I'm not sure he is up to the task. IMO the adjustment I would make it to play Lennon higher and more central with Silva, have Rusnak and Plata play underneath those two.
An alternative solution would be to play a true 4-3-3 with KB, Luke, and Sunny all underneath Plata, Rusnak, and Silva. I fear we would get incredibly narrow in that setup, though. But it's an alternative and it leaves Lennon on the bench to provide a spark. Which might be the more scary prospect of him starting - who then comes off the bench offensively? If we're counting on Yura to come in and change the game, well...
jesus, it's been so long that I thought he served that suspension. So Horst jumps in and Schmidt/Shuler takes their spot on the bench.
One point of optimism is that RSL has been pretty good coming out of bye weeks this year. But missing Savarino is bad. Real bad.
I can't let myself hope for a win this weekend. I'm too gutted by the USMNT losing and Houston winning. I'm stuck driving home from Ephraim during the game, so I won't even be able to watch it unfold in real time. Someone message me if it's worth watching on my DVR after the fact.
I'll actually be at a family part during the game and unable to watch. Likely will just have my phone open for updates. This setup went really well when the US played Panama...
I'll be at work, so I'll be trying to watch via a pirate stream. Hopefully it's worth the trouble of pulling up.
Drink heavily and embrace any result - Colorado sucks ass - RSL will triumph. It’s the next game where failure will occur.