We have a couple of odd matches comming up in the next few days. On Weds. we head out to Long Island to square off against the Crew....then on Friday we are in Atlanta for a friendly against their A-League club....then only a few more days after that on Weds. we host the ever infamous Chivas of Mexico. With the oppurtunity of having two friendly matches and an Open Cup... I wonder how Oz will handle the playing duties. I really think the Open Cup is ours for the taking this year. Hopefully we'll have a full team against the Crew out in Mitchell Field....however I think the next two matches should be used to rest some of our over worked players. This would be a great time to sit Petke and Jolley. They need the rest and the same could be said of Howard as well. Send the likes of Grafer, Alvarez, and Moore out to play for the matches against Atlanta and Chivas. Here's how the schedule looks for Aug. : http://metrostars.com/schedule/index.htm Here's the stats on the other guys : http://www.atlantasilverbacks.com/game/stats.shtml
The only problem with sitting both Petke and Jolley is who fills? Addo for Petke, but... I think we need to focus on the Open Cup to the detrement of league play right now. We need some sort of hardware.
Yeah, it wouldn't be a bad idea to put some extra focus on the Open Cup. It may be the only way we can bring home a trophy this season..
What's so odd? We have 1 match that counts and 2 that do not. Doesn't seem that difficult to figure out.
I wonder if the match in Atlanta will be on the A-League match of the week on Fox Sport World. I've been watching them nearly every Friday. They start anywhere from 8 pm to 11 pm depending on where the game of choice is being held.
Don't remember saying anything was hard to figure out..but if thats your take, then that's cool. I really do hope that we take the Open Cup seriously...it'd be nice to fill the trophy cabinet with something. As for the next few matches, I would of thought the Metros would of pushed the Atlanta match back a few days or weeks. 3 games in a week is going to put a strain on our roster. With no mentioning of Tab or Clint comming back and with three other guys nursing some minor injuries, you'd think we would try and keep our health for the playoff drive. Friendly or not the match against Chivas is going to be the usual US-Mexico hack fest and I am pretty fearful that someone is going to go down in that one. Sure it's only a friendly match but our previous two against Cape Cod and Boca we a little too chippy. I'd like to think that Diallo will be kept out of the Atlanta match, especially with having to travel down south with only a day to spare. Petke should be dropped from the Crew match and the same for Atlanta...let him try to find his feet again against Chivas. Jolley should be rested for the Chivas match as I can just see him starting the fire in what could be a very heated match. Anyhow...we need to keep a cool head in the few games, put a huge effort in against the Crew and then take it very easy in the next two matches. With the shape of the team right now everyone is a key player, we can't afford to lose somone else.