This should be a great game. San Diego will be coming off a game at home against Minnesota and with 3 points would be one point above RSL in the table. After 7 games would have expected that for either side? Pablo and crew will have some big decisions. Will he sit Solans for Olatunji? It's always interesting to see who gets in and out of Pablo's dog house. He can say that Solans in on a hot streak and how do you take him out but Moisa was doing great and somehow gets jumped by Dillon. Apples and oranges perhaps but always interesting how things play out behind the scenes. Who will be back from international duty and injury will play a part in setting the lineup as well.
Moisa was doing well, but Almiron was eating his lunch in the one game he was subbed out at half. Pablo obviously wants and sees something in the DM position that we don't. Ruiz is no longer on the injury report. Eneli is out for a good while. Caliskan seems a lock. Dillon is more of a defensive presence. Moisa has great vision. I'm guessing that PM wants to see Moisa bulk up a bit (if that's even possible?) and demonstrate more mature defensive instincts and positioning. But man! I would love to have another DM that can move the ball forward and pick out passes like Eneli, Moisa, and Ruiz. As if our attack wasn't already fun!
@goobx1 Any chance you can get some clarity on injuries? OUT: Emeka Eneli (knee) - we know this will be at least through the WC break OUT: Aiden Hezarkhani (groin) - HOW SERIOUS?!?!?!? OUT: Ari Piol (Achilles) - won't see him the rest of this year OUT: Juan Manuel Sanabria (not due to injury) OUT: Tyler Wolff (shoulder) - is this a repeat of his shoulder injury 3 years ago? How long for recovery? QUESTIONABLE: Juan Jose Arias (groin) - Is there a chance we see him play before the WC? QUESTIONABLE: Zach Booth (knee) - Is he going to stay playing with the Monarchs mainly? QUESTIONABLE: Kobi Henry (adductor) - Is he back to full training? QUESTIONABLE: DeAndre Yedlin (hamstring) - Is there a chance we see him play before the WC?
Pablo did a podcast on sports radio that I listened to during my commute and he provided some insight into some of the injuries and absences (Uruguayan camp etc). Sounds like Yedlin could be back sooner (for instance). He makes it sound like Solans has earned the starting role with his form, and Pablo praises the vets for coming off the bench. Ruiz was active and warming up Saturday, so I expect him to see time vs. San Diego. Chemistry wise, I'm really impressed with Diego Luna as a LEADER. He's young, but he's setting the right tone. It's impressive to see that from a 21 year old.
Getting rid of Goncalves was addition by subtraction. I think hie presence in last year’s lineup hindered Luna and probably every attacker.
It hindered everyone on the team in physical and team chemistry ways. The focus on bringing in high character guys was just as important, maybe more, as bringing in talented players. Having the most expensive player be the biggest piece-o-shit on your team had to be a chemistry killer of the highest order. If I'm a player on that team I would be pissed with everything, from coaches to the FO, that this guy is doing absolutely nothing for anyone. He probably needed help getting to the bank. Having Diogo play week in and week out made a mockery of everything that Pablo said he cared about. You can't go on and on about how effort is what makes or breaks a team and let the most expensive guy coast through games week after week. It's like starting a war to distract from your illicit sexual proclivities only to have your wife bring them up on national tv out of the blue. Just doesn't work. Dumping him was the best move of the season. By far. Hopefully it came with a little mia culpe from the FO stating, we goofed and we are sorry. We won't put up with that again. So far it looks like the club has found their way and headed in the right direction. Lets hope it stays that way.
They’re gonna miss again on DPs. Not a single club in this league gets those 100% right. Not even the clubs with pockets deep enough to mitigate a ton of the risk. what I hope the club learned was the ability to bench and remove a player, regardless of pay or roster designation. Diogo and chicho suggest the club didn’t. I hope it’s awhile before they’re tested… but they will be
For sure. Can't win them all and sometimes nice guys just don't get the job done. There is a balance to be had for sure. Talent can certainly cover a lot of douchebaggery. Results on the pitch can cover a lot of stuff off the pitch. Crimes, maybe not so much. This isn't the 1980's BYU football team anymore. We have the internet. Bringing in some "good" guys can go a long way to making the stretch or gamble on another Chicho a possibility sooner rather than later. I do like superstars but growing up here I more than fine with the blue collar approach. I would definitely be more of an Everton type than a ManU ManCity type fan. That's what attracted me to Crawley Town. RSL team is the star stuff. Don't get me wrong, I would take a Messi, or Zlatan, but I am more partial to teams than players. Probably a Utah, growing up in the 70's & 80's, underdog, Utah Jazz, type sports upbringing. Probably the same for fans in not so sexy areas of the country. So blah, blah, blah, they did a good job this cycle with players, so far, hope they don't miss again for awhile.
Still surprised Lozano is still with SD. Really impressed with the fact the that it has seemingly not affected the team like Chicho and Goncalves did for RSL. Speaking of needing a 2nd true DP, it'll be really interesting to see where RSL decides to add one this summer. I don't see a fit for one unless one or both of Luna/Gozo leave. Man, a DP wingback seems crazy.
It has not affected them, because he isn't with the team. He isn't practicing with them. He is not physically anywhere near the team. San Diego is refusing to buy him out, so they have to wait until an offer comes through that both Chucky and San Diego are cool with. So, the lesson here is that it is better to eat the cost or roster limitations to exile/get rid of a player instead of hoping things turn around. Hopefully Kreis will not let the team repeat this mistake.
I mean I'd take a Zlatan type person up front 1000% of the time. Great player with seemingly no controversy. I feel like if you're going to really spend on a player, it has to be someone up front, or an AM type of role But about Miami, I'm impressed Suarez hasn't bit anyone yet. Maybe he's finally done teething
Looks like SD will be missing a starting CB, McVey for this this one after his third(?) red of 2026. I like RSL's chances in this one. Not new injuries so far, right?
Will it make a difference now that Kreis is in charge? I always had the impression that he would bench anyone.
I think I’ve shared the story on here before, but I’ll state it again I was invited years ago as part of youth soccer coaches to attend a meeting with Kreis. The intentions being to share ideas and whatnot. During that Kreis shared a story of managing personalities. He mentioned that Fabian Espindola would train like dog shit but knew he was starting on the weekend because Kreis options behind him were limited
It is interesting to see how Pablo works around this. I think he sometimes uses the "works hard in training" excuse to put his "guys" in the games. In the end it's generally all a personality game when you get beyond the star players. And DP's you eventually pay to go away.
So this is the first of 3 games in 9 days so I expect the lineup to look different on Wednesday and next Sunday. There's lots of talk about Yedlin and Arias, I expect to see them sometime this week, if not start. I think planned subs for CBs (especially playing 3) is dumb. You can change 5 of the other 7 players, do that instead. However, lots of people aren't as impressed with Engel, so maybe he's at risk to lose his spot? I can't believe Quinton would lose his spot just because Yedlin is back, but weirder things have happened. Maybe Yedlin is more impressive in his (presumed by me) start on Wednesday (Junqua Glad Yedlin?, Arias starts vs the Galaxy?) and he gets it back? Really impressive to have 7 guys that could be starters at CB. Last I heard Hezarkhani and Sanabria will not be starting/available. Looking forward to see how they rotate in the next two and see if they can keep up the results. Based on what I know Friday morning: Cabral Quinton Glad Junqua Gozo Spierings Caliskan Katranis Guilavogui Solans Luna