So... Metrostars (2-0-0) vs. New England Revolution (0-2-0) Match Information Date: Sunday, April 25, 2004 Time: 4:00 p.m. ET Location: Giants Stadium Metro peeps list Woly & Magee as probable starters, though off his 2 goal, player of the week performance, if Taylor sits there will be a congressional investigation. Galvan Rey should be fit enough to put in some time, so I would expect him to get the second half. Revolution come into the game having conceeded 3 goals in their first two matches, losing 3-2 to LA and dropping their home opener last week 3-1 to the Earthquacks, but are undefeated in their last 5 against Metro. Metro come in hotter than the surface of the sun after winning 3-1 at Columbus and 3-2 against the DC Ad-Us. Gaven played 86 minutes on Wednesday in U-20 action, so he may not start or may only play a half. Guevara was called up to the Honduran National Team, but is expected to play Sunday. For the revs, Llamosa is out with injury. Shalrie Joseph is likely to start with a broken nose, as is Rusty Pierce who apparently hurt his quad in a shower accident. Okay, maybe not. Probable Starters MetroStars GK #1 Jonny Walker, D #3 Chris Leitch, D #30 Tenywa Bonseu, D #23 Eddie Pope, D #21 Craig Ziadie, M #24 Eddie Gaven, M #8 Mark Lisi, M #20 Amado Guevara, M #10 Joselito Vaca, F #15 John Wolyniec, F #7 Mike Magee Bench GK #18 Zach Wells, D #12 Jeff Parke, D #14 Kenny Arena, D/M#17Joey DiGiamarino, D/M#22 Tim Regan, M #2 Ricardo Clark, M #16 Michael Bradley, M #25 Gilberto Flores, F #9 Sergio Galvan Rey, F #13 Cornell Glen, F #19 Fabian Taylor I'm guessing 1-1....but hoping for a nice 4-0 rout.
Should be a tough game..NE needs to get a "W" ASAP. Metro does not want to lose (obviously) and I'm sure every player who was on the team last year remembers our inability to beat them. I'm guessing our midfield outplays theirs and our forwards continue scoring....Metro wins it 2-0.
I don't think the fact Gaven played on Wednesday is a reason to not start him. He's 17, and this game's a day later than usual. He should be fine, unless there's something else I'm not aware of. I guessing Metro 2-Revolution 1.
This game has letdown written all over it. Based on the stats alone, you'd expect an easy MetroStars win, but NE seems to have a tradition of slow starts and is way better than their 0-2 record suggests. The Revs have a lot of firepower as Pat Noonan seems to have the Metros number with 7 of his 11 goals last season coming against them. Throw in JMM, Taylor Twellman and Brian Kamler and this is not a bad squad. While NE has a swiss cheese defense, the Metros have their own problems on the backline. If DC United exploited some of their defensive lapses, it should have been 3-0 at halftime. Look for Taylor to be shadowed, leaving Wolyniec open with some good early chances. My prediction is a 2-2 tie, with Woly and Gaven scoring and Walker having a busy day.
sure they have the firepower, but ours is arguably stronger...just as important, our defense is stronger than theirs...overall, they're still a team that is hurting, and their midfield hasn't been getting the ball to their forwards very well...if we stick to our gameplan, it shouldn't be a tough matchup for us, but NE is definitely a team that could be dangerous later in the year..
Going into this season I expected NE to have the most dominant midfield in MLS. I never realized how bad their defense is though. Rusty Pierce aside is the only player who has been passable. We complain about Ziade? Imagine having that moron Heaps as our RB. Or Franchino at LB. Except for his sometimes dangerous free kicks, the rest of his game is very poor. The bad defense really kills the midfield. Noonan makes runs, but he doesn't have the final pass, and Twellman seems to be a shell, missing relatively easy opportunities at goal. For me this is a must win for the Metros. Why? Because it is at home. We need to make Giants Stadium the hardest place to win in MLS. Plus, whatever the crowd is at the game, a very good performance will entice them to come back. Hopefully we'll see Taylor out there and some Galvan Rey in the second half. I have no idea how Bradley keeps all these guys happy. He probably won't. Plus Pope should be a rock tomorrow. Last week was his first match in a while, today he will hopefully play as we are accustomed.
Magee would be a foolish star. Sorry Mikey, we love ya, but it's the bench for a while. The smart thing says Woly and Taylor, but I would like to see Taylor and Rey. Rey has a lot more talent than Woly, and I would like to see him play a full 90 against a suspect defense. I am hoping that he proves me right. I love Woly, but Rey could be a huge impact player. Any chance of Leitch on the right and Digi on the left? I am with Metrofever on this one. 2-2 draw, can't win them all.
Boston media reports are suggesting (as of Saturday A.M.) that both Rusty Pierce and Jose Cancela are likely to miss Sundays match due to injuries. There's also been some question mark as to the fitness of Daouda Kante who also picked up a knock mid-week. Carlos Llamosa is thought to be out for the season with torn knee ligaments. Shalrie Joseph is expected to play, but will be wearing a face mask to protect a broken nose he suffered in a recent scrimmage. As such, some major reshuffling is in order for New England. Brian Kamler's been getting some minutes in on defense in practice, and while Steve Nicol hopes to make a signing in the near future to help out in defense, there are a number of hurdles preventing an immediate signing. The starting line-up could resemble the following: GK: Adin Brown RB: Jay Heaps CB: Brian Kamler CB: Shalrie Joseph LB: Joe Franchino LM: Steve Ralston DM: Clint Dempsey AM: Joe-Max Moore LM: Luke Vercollone, Richie Baker... Bueller, Bueller, Bueller? FW: Taylor Twellman FW: Pat Noonan
Any more injuries for the Revs and Steve Nicol is going to have to pencil himself in as a starter. I don't think we lose this one.
Look, I expect to see Galvan Rey out there tomorrow. What is this crap about whether he's fit or not? He was fit enough to kick ass in the Libertadores a few weeks ago. The only way he's not going to be fit is if he doesn't see match action. He and Taylor can make a lot of noise. Let's see it. Woly isn't God, for those of you who haven't noticed. Galvan Rey wasn't acquired to sit behind that guy. And Eddie Gaven can sit, too. Anyone that wants Woly and Gaven starting before Taylor and Galvan Rey is, frankly, being foolish. This isn't the USMNT, okay. We're talking about the Metros trying to win a league title here. They've got off to a fast start. Get those veteran warriors on the field to keep this thing going.
Whever Bob decides to do, I just hope he doesn't have Ziade covering Noonan. Noonan was the Metro killer with 7 goals against Metro last year. Combine that with Ziade's inconsistent performance in the past 2 games and you have upset written all over it. Then again with all of our forwards trying to make the starting XI, our best defense may be a good offense (I hate that friggin phrase).
Are Rey or Taylor going to play on the left side of the midfield? I agree with getting Rey in the game, but that has to be for Woly, not Gaven.
I think you'll see Clark starting instead of Gaven and Taylor starting in front of Woly. I don't think Galvan will start, but will see the pitch at some point tomorrow
Wolyniec and Taylor up front. Keep the same midfield... and for the sake of my MLS Goal League Prediction...3-1 metro.
Gee, this has been a popular thread. Does it mean nobody's coming to the match? Can't wait to see what the attendence is.
I hope I am not indicative of the others. I'm swamped with papers and what not this weekend, and the short forseeable future....
River - C'mon. You know damn well that there are very few Metro fans on this board anymore. They have been chased away by all manner of idiots. It's pretty much metrofanatic.com or nothing at this point.
well, there was no one there. 101 was better than I thought, but the rest of the crowd was about 4k people, all scattered and up under the mezzanine. Blame it on the date, if it was played yesterday in 65-70 degree weather and sunshine, maybe you have a good turnout. Today, in 45 degrees and rain, it was pretty bad weather for being outside.