Another game on the road, this time in Chicago. We won their last year for only our second win there ever. Chicago tied San Jose in San Jose last week 3-3. Blanco and Rolfe are almost back from injury it looks like. The question is will either one start this coming week. They'll also have Thorrington back from suspension this week.
Don't know if this game situation differs much from last week other than there will be 10-12K fewer fans in the stands (though still probably pretty noisy). They have a solid team front to back, as they do pretty much every year. They allowed 3 goals against San Jose last weekend, so maybe their D has a crack in it that we can expose over the top. Hopefully we can keep up our good results and at least get a point out of this. McBride is en fuego....Jimmy will have his work cut out for him on air balls in the box. We need to do better on free kicks....hope to see maybe a change in that department this week. I am guessing we will see the same lineup, since CO won't change what doesn't need fixing (barring injury). Oh, and I hope Davy hits another long range rocket for FSC viewers!!
Everyone knows our history here but we got 3 points last year when we needed it. We have to control possession better, make wiser passes, and have a better first touch. If we cant do those three things, we wont get a result.
Chicago has looked good this year. I was surprised to see them let in three last game. I'd be happy to get out of there with a draw.
That probably has something to do with the fact that not only was Conde out, but Hamlett decided to make a 2nd change to our defensive line, inserting both Robinson and Prideaux into the back. They both played uncharacteristically bad games (though I would contend Robinson hasn't looked particularly good since 2007, before he was injured), and Soumare and Segares also had off-days. We should be back to Segares-Soumare-Conde-Ward for our back line this week. I'm concerned about Arnaud's long range abilities (3 really long range goals in 4 games is impressive), but this should be a win for us. That said, I would have said the same for Seattle last week.
A lot of Seattle fans thought the same thing last week, both about Arnaud and their feeling that they should beat us.
Jimmy's missed two headers that he normally wouldn't have so far. I'm feeling a set piece goal this week. The Conrad/McBride matchup should be a lot of fun. McBrides goal last week was sick. If they do score, hopefully it's something earned like that instead of defensive mixups getting the better of us. Seattle had 3-4 pretty good opportunities to score. McBride would've probably finished Marshall's missed header. PS - Play Wolff against his old team and Lopez against Blanco, but Espinoza needs to come in as soon as they show any signs of struggling. He and Harrington came in against Seattle and picked up the team a bit to close down that game. It will probably be Hirsig pulled for Espinoza, which might not be bad if he's still struggling with his fitness.
Remind me - was Hirsig injured before he came to Kansas City? Because if not, there's really no reason he shouldn't be fully fit by now. He's a 31-year old professional athlete, fer cryin' out loud. If he's not fit yet, I'd be asking why not?
There's a difference between just fit - running the 2 mile in under 12 minutes - and game fit - being able to play a professional soccer game for 90 minutes. Santiago Hirsig hadn't played very much in the last 4 or 5 months at least, which causes a player to not be very game fit.
IIRC he took a knock in the Seattle match, a knee to his thigh. I don't know if that's why he was subbed out or if it was more of a tactical move by CO.
Yeah, my thought was that he tried to run it off, thinking it was a charlie horse or something and he just couldn't run it off. He looked fine today in practice.
You could tell he needed to come off, as we would be playing down the wing and the winger would look to square to the middle and there would be absolutely no one there. He played well, but he definetly needed to come out when he did.
This is what Fire fans are hoping for in their pre-game thread: -----------McBride----------Rolfe------------ --------------------Blanco------------------- --Pappa--------------------------------Thor-- --------------------Pause-------------------- --Sega-------Conde-------Soumare----Ward--- -------------------- Busch -------------------- Gotta say, that's a scary tough lineup. However, they are thinking it will be Mapp on the left and maybe Rolfe or Blanco sitting for Nyarko. Either way, we'll have our work cut out for us.
I would have guessed they would want Mapp as a starter... Either way, we are going to have to work hard for this one. I think we can do it as long as our guys work together and keep possession. Lets hope Hartman has quick hands this week (and that he doesn't have to use them to many times)!
There's a lot of love/hate for Mapp. He can be a great midfielder at times but he can also be INCREDIBLY frustrating because doesn't play all the time. Pappa is a regular left sided player and has been on fire this season(pun intended). Either way Chicago will likely be sitting 2 of Blanco, Rolfe, Nyarko, Pause, Thorrington, Pappa, and Mapp
Some potential good news, Conde may be out for this game. http://www.examiner.com/x-4910-Chic...4d16-Conde-questionable-for-upcoming-matchKan