I just went thru my horde of United tapes from this season and re-watched the season opener against San Jose.. One thing immediately jumps to mind in regards to the big game tomorrow.. United's starting X1 will be almost identical to the season opener, with one lone exception.. Bobby Convey is out and Christian Gomez is in, and with the production from Gomez that we have received, I would have to say that Peter Nowak and his staff need to be congratulated on a season long vision that manifested from day #1 all the way to the Cup final.. Some drastic changes were made and some big chances were taken right from the git-go that came up aces for this team.. 1. Jaime Moreno back in the fold - a lot of us were very skeptical of this move in pre-season, but Jaime and Peter proved us wrong.. Thank God.. 2. Alecko Eskandarian - given the chance that Ray " I love the veterans" Hudson wouldn't give him.. It's paid off handsomely as well.. 3. Brian Carroll - see #2 4. Ben Olsen to central midfield - a stroke of genius from the coaching staff.. 5. Earnie Stewart to outside midfield - another key move, mainly because it allowed Earnie to focus on one position instead of bouncing around from game to game in different roles.. 6. switch to the 3-5-2 - a key move in that this formation accentuated the strength of this team, activity and mobility in the midfield and forward lines.. Let's hope that the vision that Nowak and Co. saw in the pre-season will carry thru for Cup #4 tomorrow.. Damn, I can't sleep......
Also JP Dellasomething is doing the PBP just like he did in the opener. Did he do another ESPN telecast or were all the rest Stoner? At any rate, I like JP a lot more; it will be a decent commentary to the victory. (I'm a bit tired to say the least of Phil Schoen's voice from MLS Cup 99.) Good five minute recap of the season Chris. Okay I'm brain dead. Maybe I'll watch Saved! on PPV. It's hil...hil... funny as hell.
I think he might have done one or two other matches when Stoner had a National Team game to call the next day.
Good post. I think Ben has really played well all year and has obtained a lot of confidence in the middle. I wonder if Arena will call him up to play the Armas role in the midfield?. I think he deserves a shot at it.
It is quite amazing to see this dream come to life, it's be an awesome season, and there would be no better way for this season to end than for Nowak to put all the skeptics to bed. Definitely agree, Brian Carroll, Esky, Olsen, and even Gros, have made huge differences in the game and I'm glad Nowak stuck to his guns, even though the 1st half of the season was a little rough. VAMOS UNITED!
That has been my thought the entire season. He went from a fantastic winger pre-injury to an almost destroyer type role this season, but with more offensive firepower than Armas or Zev or Mastro.