Yes, it's getting ahead of ourselves, but this just in...both Mastroenni and Beckerman saw red tonight against New England, and their next game isn't until, you guessed it, 10/1 vs. Chicago. Later, COZ
Man, was that a crap game. Why are the nationally televised games always crap. Great chance to advertise for soccer and we get that. (I'm not allowed to say the score, right?) Anyway, yep, they'll need a new centre midfield paring when they play us. Good stuff. We were lucky in the Open Cup match, I thought, so I'm happy they'll have to reshuffle. That Nate Borchers is looking like a good prospect, and they have good options going forward. But we can take 'em, no prob.
Bump. Again, our record is much better in big games, so the Dallas and New England results may not mean much going into this one. Of course, the Open Cup win pretty much cleansed the palate there, anyway. And I don't know if, like the "new coach bounce," there's a such thing as a "new owner bounce." Later, COZ
Only game I sat in Section 8 for this year, and by far the most enjoyable time I've had. "We love Fraser"
Has Fire regrouped? OK Starting with the NE shellacking, the Fire has has had two different faces. First our NE and Dallas disasters and the more satisfying teams that played LA. Have those LA wins put us back on track? It seems to me that the team has to start building towrds the playoffs. The Supporters Shield may now be a stretch.... but the Open Cup and Playoffs are definately there. I see this Colorado game as crucial to the future confidence levels of the team. CO has been playing well lately and a win at Ivesco would be a huge kick. So who starts? 4-4-2 or 3-5-2? Razov - Ralph Beas - Mapp - Marsch - Armas Gray - Boca - Jimma - Whitfield Thorton
Re: Has Fire regrouped? 4-4-2 lets Mapp and Beas run the flanks without having to track back, but I like having an attacking centre mid behind the strikers, so I still go with 3-4-1-2 and the same line-up as last game. Of course, this includes Perez, but if that lets DMB concentrate on offense, I'm okay with that. Mapp could play on the left if he worked on his defending, but DMB is better than him in the middle. If CJ was back, I'd play Gray at left wing-back. If we need a spark, we can bring in Bolanos for Perez and push DMB back. But I say with start where we left off.
You aren't the only one. What would be the reasoning behind holding him on the bench at this point? Granted we did beat L.A. but we have been doing that all year. He has to have over a month of training with the team by this point.
Re: Re: Has Fire regrouped? MLS still lists Mapp as doubtful (as well as CJ) http://www.mlsnet.com/library/injury.html
Right, so the game is today! I'll be watching on Yahoo, and I want to see some more good stuff. If Mapp and CJ are out, then I wouldn't mind the same line-up as the cup. Bolanos should figure at some point, because it can't be too soon anymore, and without Beckerman and Mastroeni, there should be space in the middle. This will also set the tone for our next meeting at SF (and lets hope it's not a break-peoples-legs tone...). The Open Cup match was good, and close, and I'll be impressed if we hold them to 1 goal. Nat Borchers is good and Fraser looks solid (especially his goalscoring!) so Damani and Razov will have their hands full. I want the boys to prove that they can play against other teams than LA these days. FORZA FIRE!
Okay, here's the lineup I would expect: G Thornton D Whitfield Curtin Bocanegra Gray M Williams Marsch Armas DMB F Razov Ralph Playing on the road against a dynamic offense, I think we may have to go four in the back. We definitely need to get Bolaños in at about the 60 minute mark, especially if we might lose Mapp and Williams to the U-20s and Jamaica, respectively. And Jaqua will have to get some time as well. With Mastro and Beckerman out, this is a game where Andy Williams has to prove that he's got the goods, otherwise it's on to the next guy. And based on recent form (i.e., his last couple of shots have actually been on frame), I wouldn't be surprised if Chris Armas gets a goal. Later, COZ
For those of you staying home to watch the match tonight, The Fire Alarm's chat room will be open tonight for live discussion of the match. The room will be open at 8:00pm CST. Hope to see you there. Bill Q. www.thefirealarm.com
No coverage in either major paper today. Thank you SCrubs!! Good ol' Daily Herald: http://www.dailyherald.com/sports/fire.asp CHI-CA-GO!!!!!
No offense to the Fire, and this may be some kind of landmark, but the Fire aren't even going to be on my main tv tonight. I'll be dragging the second one in to the living room but though it's important, it's squarely my secondary concern at least this evening
You could have kept this to yourself or posted it on Big Baseball.com. I didn't know you were such a big USWNT fan, have fun with the WWC.
I just thought it was unusual for me was all. I can't recall a day when a Fire game got second billing for me, and that's only slightly and due to overlapping time (so it may only be the first half). In the words of Dema Kovalenko, "Is playoffs". Um, no thank you.
I may be there but only if Mirek does not show this in his restaurant. Let me know if you are going. I will bring your tickets then. Marcin