So no Clint, Timmy, Eddie, and some other guy we saw very early in the season called Jaime. Wolyniac(woohoo) should be back to partner Magee. Will Bob make changes to the defense? Digi to come back? Fire will be without Beasley, Armas and Bocanegra but still have good players in Razov, Mapp and Thornton. Another interesting side note will be the return of Rodrigo Faria and Andy Williams.
Wolyniec's still suspended. I have a feeling this could get ugly. The glue that anchored the back of the team (Howard and Pope) and the front of the team (Mathis) is all gone. We're going to end up with only one forward (an 18-year-old rookie) and none on the bench. I don't like the looks of it.
This game should be rated "R" since it's going to be on National TV (ESPN). With people blowing by Ziadie, Arena standing still and Regan looking confused last week, this has all the makings of a blowout. Grafer may see more shots on goal in this game than he will all week in practice: Fire 3 (Armas, Razov, Williams) Metros 1 (Magee) Will there be a video tribute for Faria and Williams?
ahh pessimism.... while i'm not comortable w/ magee as the lone forward....i'm sure bradley will have guavara playing a forward type position. both argentines will be playing as well....while it won't be a flowing game by any means, i predict an ugly 3-2 win for metro.... razov is not that fast, faria can't score and williams dribbles too much.... as for thornton....shoot low.
Very true. The backline in front of him will be shaky at best - Jolley and Ziadie have to step it up and provide the leadership and organizational help missing now that Eddie's gone. I'd expect to see Forchetti in the mix at some point, either starting or off the bench. As for the offensive side, Bradley really has no choice but to start Magee and Guevara up front, and Galvan and Lisi in the midfield. If so, expect Clark to be given more offensive duties. The only other option is to go with LeBlanc partering Magee. No, but there will be one for Perez.
I suppose he's not likely to start but Nugent (he of the infected great toe - how great can it be if it's infected?) has been upgraded to questionable.
possible lineup:4-5-1 GK- Paul Grafer D- Craig Ziadie, Steve Jolley, Kenny Arena, Juan Forchetti M- Jose Galvan, Richie Williams, Ricardo Clark, Mark Lisi, Amado Guevara F- Mike Magee subs: GK-Clint Baumstark, M-Jacob LeBlanc, D-Joe Addo, D-Tim Regan, M- Joey DiGiamarino, We only have one forward in the little guy, everyone else is injured or with the Nat. team. I would like to see Addo get a shot instead of Kenny Arena and Juan Forchetti for Tim Regan. Will it happen ? doubt it, this two seem to be a mistery to us, I mean how bad can they be . I have faith that we won't be blow away if Bradley plays his cards right, after all the Fire lost 2-0 to DCU last Sat. They will be witout Carlos Bocanegra, Chris Armas and DaMarcus Beasley all with the Nat.team and Jesse Marsch injured.
Actually this doesn't sound bad, but Magee is not strong enough as the lone striker. It would have been nice to do, give and gos back to our mids off the lone striker. MaGee is not the right guy for that. MaGee needs help from one mid attacking as well. That would be in this case Amado or Clark. I wish these guys have found a way to score before this. They get shots off , but have not finished as yet. They both better do that, and finish this Saturday or it is all over for this game.
I don't think Magee as a lone striker would be effective. Also, given our lack of depth at forward, is there any chance they'd bring Eddie Gaven up for the game? He's young and underdeveloped, but he's 6'0", and this might not be a bad time to get him some late game minutes.
so how is the weather shaping up ? i am taking 4 people who never been at a Metro game, plan to go early and barbecue, kick a ball around in the empty parking lot
any 4-5-1 will be in essence a 4-4-2, but that 2nd striker position will be more flexible. Guevera could stay back while another midfielder goes forward, etc. I'm interested to see if Gaven actually starts. I could see Bob doing it, but in a 4-5-1 so that he and Magee don't bear the entire load of scoring. Guevara is the key to the Metros for this match, wherever he plays he'll have a LOT more offensive responsibilities, while at the same time having to deal with more defensive pressure individually. It'll be interesting, no matter what the starting XI...
Last I heard, the rain should finish up in the morning. At least I hope, as I'm planning to BBQ in the Swamp too.
Fire/Mets As a Fire fan I have every unfortunate confidence Bob will have the lineup which overacheives.
Any chance they'd bring Chewbacca up for the game? He's a little hairy, but he's gotta be well over 6'0" - he towers over Han Solo.
ESCers...what lot are we meeting up in??? I"m getting there around 11, and i'll try to get into 16...but they are holding some stupid thing at the arena at 1, so they might shut the lot down...
bad luck, fella The Weather's gonna be rotten, looks like: http://www.weather.com/weather/detail/07073?dayNum=1
The rainier the better, I say. Teach them early on that soccer is all about bitterness, resentment, discomfort and bad weather.
True, true. Michael K., am I wrong in thinking you also follow QPR? That might explain the resentment part... Bitterness? Yeah, that's a Metro thing. Far worse than the weather might be all the hoopla over the Devils across the parking lot. They were just warning of congestion around the Swamp (traffic, not sinus related) on the morning news. The Devils celebration starts around 1:00, I think. Guess it will rain on their parade. Anyone think they'll burst in on the Metros pregame or half-time? Is that just a YankeesNets thing, or will they ignore the soccer crowd? I'm a Rangers fan, so I really don't care one way or the other, but it seems they'll seize any opportunity to show off the Stanley.
I'm definitely concerned about this lineup. I have a feeling it will be a game where the team that makes the fewest mistakes (and there will be many,many of them in today's game) will be the victor - if you consider a draw at home a victory. I'm predicting a 1-1 draw with goals by Faria and Magee - at least one of those being from a freak play...