The Blueish are coming, the Blueish are coming... KC travels to NE 5p CT. I think MS has this one as does the SO package. Nice stagger for SO package owners as 7+ hours of solid coverage starts at 3p our time and goes to 10ish. NE is unbeaten through 4 and KC has gone 5. Discuss.
Fred Kfoury will be supplying me with photos from the game! I can't wait for Wade's camera to get repaired.
The Blueish are coming, the Blueish are coming... This from the Globe - Noonan highlited. http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/146/sports/Super_sub_Noonan_makes_big_impact+.shtml
Should be a good game against the St. Louis Revolution. The Wizards couldn't get much going a couple weeks ago. I'm sure some of that may have been due to a sparse crowd, but I think we lacked to speed up top to make space to work the ball around. When Igor came in it kind of opened it up a little. Plus, good possession will keep Klein and Quill from having to track Ralston's and Kamler's runs forward as well as forcing Ralston in particular to drop back farther than he would like. Hopefully Igor can go 90, and maybe Wolff can at least make an appearance. If Igor can't go the whole game, something like Wolff coming on for Igor in the 70th-75th minute wouldn't sound too bad. Nick won't be able to get into Twellman's head like he did against Ruiz. TnT is just a cold, calculating machine, well, before he scores, and then all bets are off. He's proving that he's the premier pure scorer in the league over Ruiz. Last year the knock on Twellman (compared to Ruiz anyway) was that he didn't score in clutch situations. Well, Dallas in the 84th to take the lead, KC in stoppage time to draw level, and 90th against Columbus to take the lead. They're finding a way to get him the ball without a Nowak-type player now so we need to make sure we get some goals/maintain possession. Bradley's prediction of a 3-3 barn burner sounds like a distinct possibility.
I posed this question on the NE pregame thread as well. Are we sure Preki is ok for the game this weekend? As soon as he scored last weekend he immediately called for a sub. On the mlsnet.com highlight it appears he is in pain as he calls for the sub. Knowing Preki hates to be subbed out, I'm wondering/worried if this was a bad sign. Hopefully not and God is still invinsible.
Looks like Joe-Max Moore, Rusty Pierce, and Shalrie Joseph out for Saturday according to Boston press reports. If that's the case then look for the following Revs starting line-up: GK: Brown RB: Heaps CB: Kante CB: Llamosa LB: Franchino RM: Ralston CM: Hernandez CM: Cullen LM: Kamler FW: Twellman FW: Harris or Noonan Tough game to predict, probably as much as the weather which suggests high's in the upper-60's and showers. The Magpie
Yikes, it's only Wednesday and all the negative waves are creeping out of the woodwork. Bagging on Bradley, rain, cold, 0-0 borefests, Preki hurt...what no famine and locusts? First the rain, when it's wet KC is generally horrible in history. That said, when the wet just threatens and does not come to pass, KC is actually pretty good including beating LA last week under purple skies. This doesn't mean squat, just an interesting little coincidence. A notable exception to this was KC's 1-0 win v NE in the monsoon several years ago. KC scored early and both teams kicked it around in the 8 inch puddles everywhere after the 20th minute. That is the only win I remember for KC when it was actually wet. KC has taken points in 5 straight league game and 5 straight games v the Revs, did win 4-2 in NE last season, 3-2 in '01, swept them in '02 and '01, and is 10-6-1 overall v NE. KC's wasting golden opportunities and is still somehow leading MLS in scoring. Meola's and the defense's play has been far better of late. Heck, KC is even still undefeated on the road at 1-0-2! NE is unbeaten through 4. Closer inspection of the teams played would put their schedule on par with MET. They have beaten teams that have not beaten anyone. Two exceptions in NE's case. 1)They tied KC in stoppage time and 2)Beat a floundering CLB team that has surendered 7 goals in 2 games. You have to beat who is on your schedule, but this is not the stuff of intimidation. The "spark" for NE last time out came from a kid named Noonan who had 2 late assists. According to their boards and other articles there isn't a natural place for him to start so he will continue to be a bench guy. Noonan might step in Sat. as Joseph is out, Moore is questionable, and Pierce will find a way to go. For KC, Burciaga is "out", Fabbro and Igor are questionable (I hope Igor is as questionable as last week), Guti and Wolff should see limited minutes. I'm not an athletic trainer, but stick with me on this. In playing volleyball, I always went up against guys carrying a bad ankle/shoulder/knee (sometimes I was that guy). Many, I knew well from playing indoor or outdoor against them often over time. One thing I noticed is when a guy is hurt and has a high level of heart, they always produce a high focus level if hurt but not injured enough to sit. They have to just to play. No question Pierce and Moore have heart in abundance. IMO, it's this intense focus that leads players to not only ignore the pain, but get beat eventually. If you can find a way to force a hurt player to make a decision and stubbornly commit his hurt body to a spot, then you can change that point late and exploit his determination and lack of ability to change. In volleyball that's showing one thing and then hitting to someone's weak shoulder or make them move in the most painful way. Specificly in soccer, Preki or Igor dribbling against a guy like Pierce with a hammy and hip is perfect. Furthermore, if Pierce lays off the space will be there, so that isn't an option. If others come to help double----> more space. The other side of the coin is that some rare individuals play so within themselves when hurt that their game improves. The focus becomes tracscendent. NE will be rightly favored at home so expect good odds on KC. I'll post them when they come out. This E Cup final is so boring. They should just ban Italian teams period.
Home opener 2001...like a tsunami and we beat LA 2-1. (had to consult the media guide, memory had it at 2-0 KC)
I remember that game. It was fun to watch but it was hardly anything I would consider soccer. One of our goals came when a ball was sent over the defense that normally would have bounced harmlessly to the keepers grasp. With the rain pouring and pools of water standing, the ball sputters to a stop like it caught a wire on an aircraft carrier. A Wizard (Brown I think) rushes in and drives this sitter home as the keeper watches in horror. The rest of the game was an attempt to keep the ball in the air as any attempt to pass the ball on the ground resulted in another carrier landing. Oh well... a win is a win. Improvise and overcome.
I would have liked to see what the goal keepers saw. I know I couldn't see to the other side of the field. How crazy would it be to not know there was an attack coming at you until it is passed the mid-field line.
Maybe Preki just realized that its the 89th minute, I just put the team up 2-1, I don't defend well, and I'm almost 40! Maybe growing a little wiser!
No appologies necessary, my fault. Good on Preki being healty, now if Pierce and Moore would definitely sit, that would be great.
game Hi i am steve,live in u.k. and been following and rooting for the Wizards for a couple of seasons.Get to see the wizards play from time to time on a u.k channel and like the look of their play.Will be following the game on the news net and hope Preki scores a hat-trick inside first 5 mins.(one day it may) p.s I am a Nottingham Forest fan ,go regularly to games and saw ben olsen a few times when he played for Forest...cheers ..steve
Re: game Welcome ForestWizard ... (one of my brothers lives in Nottingham) It should be one of the hardest matches of the season this weekend. Hopefully you'll get to see highlights of this one. It has the potential to be a high scoring affair. I hope Gansler allows the players to go forward in the way they did in the early part of the second half away at DC. Our tactics seem to have been to try and get an early goal. So I expect us to come out fast, New England being at home will want to do the same. My prediction on the REvs thread was for a 1-1 draw, but it could be more goals than that.
Re: game Welcome. I visited the City Ground in the summer of 1996 for a summer tournament. Saw Nottingham vs. Chelsea and Ajax vs. ManU. It was a great time.
Thanks for the welcome ,i,m looking forward to sharing the Wizards fortunes with you.Kopiteinkc ,does your brother get to any soccer over here because we have the worlds oldest club (notts county)in the city as well. BenC1357 i also went to the umbro tournament and saw some games,i thought Ajax were outstanding and the crowd really appreciate good football(the forest fans had Cloughie to thank for that)Any way Go you Wizards and take it to the revs!!
Re: Re: game You mean there's more of your yellow carded bloodkin out there on this planet? God save the shins.....
Cheers Steve, and welcome to the board. It's always nice to know MLS makes it into view of other people around the world. How did Forest finish the season? As mentioned KC at NE should be the match of the week.