On this episode of the Caleb Porter Crew Soccer show, we begin the tournament arc. Up first for our heros in gold is minnesota, a team with some familiar faces. a tough test to start for our noble protagonists. Can they overcome some injuries and advance? or will their strong showing in group play be all for naught? Will the Crew stave off DOOM?
A piece detailing the injury situation from Massive Report: https://www.massivereport.com/2020/...-injury-bug-in-2020-eloy-room-youness-mokhtar Basically it looks like: Long term out: Wormgoor (ankle) Short term out: Room (hammy) Likely out this game: Mohktar (muscle strain) Knocks: Zelarayan (ankle) Still have not made bench: Francis, Hamilton. Minny has Finlay & Schoenfeld. Rested Molino for the last game. They are really good on set pieces. We have an extra day of rest.
As I said in the Other Teams thread, playing against former Crew players has usually gone poorly for us. But @DGA57v2 grabbed me by the collar and pulled me on the Optimism Express while yelling, "We kept Manneh and Jahn off the scoreboard this year!" Crew by one in regulation.
I want to make clear that my vote in the poll is the standard "Lose by 2" which was sacrificed somehow. Therefore I went with the closest option - Minnesota in regular time. I would think that @LaMacchia will be just as confused and might vote the same way.
Porter has said the first round games mattered. The others don’t. I expect an open cup type lineup. Though with our injuries, we’re already there in some positions.
Paging the pessimistic department of pessimism. Yikes. We gonna win the day and we gonna make a scene.
Huh? The first round is over. And we have no idea when the next matches will be once the tournament is over. There's really no reason to do anything other than go for it.
How awesome LAFC is without Vela, of course. No way we don't field a near first choice XI, or as best we can given injury/fitness issues. I expect Mensah, Nagbe, Zardes, Santos, Artur, & Afful to start. Zelarayan if his ankle can go 60+. 50/50 on Jimenez/Valenzuela. I could see Hector starting & moving to MF late.
I believe that he'll go with the top lineup possible. Tardell starts in goal for Room. Afful, Mensah and Keita from right to left. Valenzuela gets the start at the left and plays 45-60 with Jimenez coming in. Nagbe and Artur start at the 8 and the 6. Santos starts on the right with one of the Z's in the middle and the other Z on top. I believe that he'll continue with the "Santos goes in, the opposite side goes wide" so Etienne gets the start outside left.
I'm going to be mixing sazeracs all day striving for perfection, so I'll bring the mess to Orlando's hot and we'll make a scene.
Four wins into the CCL plus a cash prize, right? For all the coaching staff knows, the fifth game out is in 2021. There's no time like the present.
I expect Porter will use these games to test some lineups, see who has better game chemistry together, etc. Also, my wife saw online, Ethan got an inch wide, very deep cut in their last game, apparently ran into a virtual signage board. Not sure if that will keep him out of the game, I expect he has stitches in that.
Based on the #MLSisBack bracket, #Crew96 could get LAFC or Seattle in the semifinals. That appears to be a switch from the initial bracket. Winner of Game 48 has been switched with Winner of Game 47.— Jacob Myers (@_jcmyers) July 24, 2020 at this point, its just embarrassing