Maybe they should not be the same thread, but there's a week to go and we can relish having taken down Chicago, Colorado (USOC), Metro, and Los Angeles, and get some vicarious joy from having San Jose slapped around on national TV on Soccer Saturday. Oscar is out for next week's Rapids game for bad-boy points. Opens up some interesting line up alignments.
Interesting lineups I have all kinds of visions dancing through my head inre: how to lineup for the next 3 games, but I think it is our duty to ixnay the publication of insider knowledge. At this point in the season. There are those of us who follow the team so closely that, in spite of our "amateur" status as couch coaches (although we actually stand through games), we do in fact have the ability to predict with some degree of precision certain moves by our esteemed leader. Damian talked to (the only reporter from a local paper who stayed on the McKinney stadium story) and got a heads up from MJ on plans for next Sunday/Tuesday but I'll say talk to him offline if you want to know what he said. Here's a topic of certainty: I'll put $1000 on either KC or Columbus hosting the USOC final. Any takers? If the Burn lose to LA next Tuesday, the bet is off. -bs
Don't you think we could get better turn out than KC? I think if we put the word FINAL in a publication we could get a good turnout.
http://www.3rddegree.net/preview/index.htm as always I will be updating this page as I get more info throughout the week....
Anyone else scared of the absense of Pareja in this one. If Kreis picks up a card he's out for the Metrobra game, we'll be able to deal with that better though. But no Pareja has meant no wins for us this season. Rapids coming off a confidents boosting win against the 'Quakes, you never know what could happen.
I think without Pareja and the fact that the team has a semi-final Cup game two days later will spell doom for the Burn against the Rapids. Colorado needs this game bad and if they win on Wednesday, it would mean overtaking us. Plus the altitude makes it even more difficult. I would be happy if the Burn get a tie, but I think even that will be difficult.
Colorado is having a real up and down year. After beating San Jose 3-0 Saturday, they lose last night to New England 1-3. Chung is the guy to watch, he is playing well this season. Once again, I think we can win this one if we get off to a good start. Scoring first would'nt hurt. BURN-2 Rapids-1...
Too bad it isnt on TV.. . Becasue I am betting you see a srub lineup now that the Rapid lost Wednesday night... I think you will see Bussey, Morrison, Vallow, Ronald, O'Brien, Bentke, and other benchers for this match. too many need a rest, and this is the one game of the upcoming three that the Burn can blow off.
A Rapids victory over the Burn on Sunday would put them at 39 pts while the Burn would stay at 40 pts. That's a little too close for comfort if we want to end up in the Top 4 and enjoy home field advantage during the 1st round of the playoffs. I'd like to see the Burn concentrate their efforts on Games 1 and 2 of the three game killer stretch. Winning at Colorado would give the Burn 43 pts, and put them at least 6 points ahead of any of the non-Galaxy pursuers. And of course making the Open Cup finals would be a worthy accomplishment that would monetarily benefit the players as well.
I disagree. As long as we're operating under the assumption that we can only take two of the three games seriously, I think we should concentrate our efforts on the Open Cup semifinal (of course) and the league game at home on Thursday night. The way I'm thinking is this: Our two biggest competitors for the West crown and the #1 seed are two teams that are almost unbeatable at home and dreadful on the road. If we want to keep pace, we gotta take care of all our games at home, because the Quacks and Gals are damn sure going to take care of theirs. Now, the road games are a different story. Frankly, the only reason why we're in the position that we're in is because we've managed to eke out at least a point in most of our road games. On the other hand, we're 3-4-5 on the road, so we're not THAT great. In 75% of our road matches, we've either gotten one point or nothing at all. Point being is that road games are tough, even with our full lineup. And I'll remind you that we wouldn't have our full lineup on Sunday night because of Pareja's suspension. LA and San Jose probably have the same opinion about road games, considering that they have two of the worst road records in the league. So if your competitors aren't going to get many points in their 14 road games, you might as well sacrifice one of your 14 because it isn't going to hurt you that much. Now granted, on Monday morning, we might be back in third place in the West because LA's got a home game against the Metros on Saturday night. And Colorado would be a single point behind us. But we would still have a game in hand over Colorado. Meanwhile, LA would have only a single home game left and two road games in Chicago and San Jose. Speaking of San Jose, they may be crap on the road, but they're playing at DC United on Saturday. They could get a win there, which would put a serious damper on our ambitions for the #1 slot, especially since they've got two home games left. Still, we'd be in good position for the stretch run against the #7, #9, and #10 teams in the league, with #7 and #9 at the Cotton Bowl. And who knows? Things may work out well for us this weekend. We might steal a win in Denver, DC might beat San Jose at home, and the Metros might actually beat LA in the Rose Bowl. Then we'd be sitting in first place on Monday morning, with San Jose a point behind and LA four points behind.
Dallas clinched a playoff berth with Colorado's loss to New England this past Wednesday ... and Practice observations are up... http://www.3rddegree.net/ injuries and suspensions have also been updated... http://www.3rddegree.net/preview/index.htm
I've a question for the next three games. How fresh is EJ (and to a lesser extent Stone) gonna be after playing five games in the last week with the U-20's? If I am not mistaken, EJ started and played (90 minutes) in all five games and Stone was a sub in all but one of the games. Thats five games in six days. I've seen numerous comments stating these two would/should get considerable PT in the next three matches. Any comments?
Well, they will be a little tired (don't forget about the travel also) but neither played every game. EJ played more but definately sat out one full game and his sub scored 4 goals that game.
You are correct that Johnson played all or almost all of every game in Spain. He was subbed out at the end some to prevent retribution-hacking from the other team. The games were 80 mins not 90, and none went into OT. He's definitely gassed, and I wouldn't anticipate him playing the first game when he returns. And, there is no way an MLS player can play 60+ minutes one day and then play another 60+ half a week later and have fresh legs. Every game over the last several years that we've seen a side have two games in a week they have looked very very sluggish the second game, usually lost and always underperformed. This is why I anticipate that the first game will be the starters and the last game will be the starters, with the Open Cup game having the majority of the subs. The first game will likely see all three subs early--i.e. around the 60-65th minute. The second game should see late subs as these guys are basicly going the distance in the Open Cup aside from a 10-15 minute burst for a late goal. The third game will have subs as needed, with one being held late. Johnson will not play the first game, but I expect 90 minutes from him in the Open Cup. Stone can play the full 90 the first game and be a sub the other two games. Despite wanting to win the Open Cup, Jeffries is focusing on beating San Jose. If he gets home field advantage against them, he feels he can win the MLS championship, and I do too. The Burn can take a point or even a win in LA and Colorado, so they're really only playing aganist San Jose at this point. Expect Vaca to replace Pareja in central midfield for the first game, and to start at right mid for the last game. O'Brien will start at right midfield the first and second games, and be a late sub for the third game. Expect the defensive lines to be alternated with no subs and no mixing-matching. The starters will play two games, dunno which two. Don't expect too much attacking from the flanks in the first half of the first game. After that all bets are off. -Tron
Tron, no offense but where are you getting your info on Jeffries mindset? Everything we are hearing and seeing around here is very different than what you are saying.
My, what a detailed prediction! If you were trying to parley all those picks in Vegas, you'd be going for the 1000-1 score. I'm looking forward to seeing how it all turns out. Indeed, the best strategy to get the most wins in this stretch would be to field all reserves for the middle game, but it's essentially a one game playoff for a guaranteed cash prize at this point. There's been talk about that by the players on Inside Soccer, and with Jeffries being such a "players coach" supposedly, I can't see him coasting there. So I figure it's between the other two games. Colorado is an away game with the Rapids playing on only 3 days rest. NY is a home game with no need to rest players because they'll have over a week off anyway after. Colorado just seems to be the logical choice to me. We'll see what Jeffries thinks.
Here's a guess... Vallow Bussey-Bonesu-Morrow-Olivares Stone Zarco Behnke O'Brien Rhine Cerritos Jordan, Suarez, Broom, Deering, Vaca, Chivas, Pareja and Kreis all play against LA on Tuesday. T-Bone, Morrow and Rhine sit against the Metros on Thursday after playing the first 2 games.
Peet, as you know, EJ played Wednesday and Thursday, is traveling from Europe to Denver, would be playing in a high altitude, and playing in a first division game. If you're right, how could one not wonder about this particular coaching decision? I'm not assuming it's incorrect, however, can you explain the logic of playing EJ on Sunday? Assuming, of course, that a coach wants to win and to do so needs to put his players in a position to be able to play at their best and not get injured. Sleepless in Big D
t-bone is about to get a Uganda call up.. and will miss Metro game becasue of it... deatails are not final but it should be announced soon....
HELL YE!!!! D.C. 4-2 San Jose now waiting on the L.A. game, we have a chance for first place now, wow thanx D.C.