This is a very tough match to call. I think it may very well be one of the classic matches in MLS history. Its a matchup of two very well coached, very tactically "aware" teams. Both are playing well. Both are playing good defense altho KC has an edge here, and both are attacking well altho DC has an edge there. Important Matchups: * DC's Defense/KC's Strikers - Wolff and Arnaud can cause us severe problems with their speed, but its going to really depend on the service they get from their midfield and backline. Nellie/petke/namoff haven't had many problems when the passes towards opposing strikers have been predictable. For example, esky pressures an opposing defender into hoofing the ball up the field, its an easy header for our D to clear. Or an cross from the touchline when the defense is set in the box and waiting. But, where they have gotten into trouble (which hasnt happened much recently) is when the passer has a clear line of sight and time to pick where he wants to lay the ball in the path of a strikers run. For example, take Twellman's goal last week where the passer had time to look up and pick out Twellman's run. These passes usually occur between the midfield line and the 18, where the runner has a chance to run onto a ball played into space. My feeling is this matchup is too close to call... * DC's Midfield/KC's Midfield - A Chilean friend of mine always used to say "The magic is in the midfield" and i wholeheartedly agree with that. I think we have a very clear advantage here. It will be interesting to see how they deal with gomez/dema/earnie/benny making runs from deep. Will they turn the runner over to the defenders? or will they track them as far as they go? I would guess that they will switch off of them, which on any other team may cause confusion, but i dont think that will happen with KC. will they try to man-mark gomez with either zavagnin or guttierez? how will we play against them? will we see earnie flying down the wing from deep to beat their offsides trap like he did against NY? or will we keep everyone more or less even and play in front of instead of trying to get behind them. It will be very clear early on as we see how many runs gomez makes and how far he makes them. defensively it is important that we deny service to their forwards from this group especially zavagnin who is *very* good at playing thru balls *DC's Strikers/KC's Defense - Obviously one of the better defenses (if not the best) in the league. The key is going to be whether or not KC plays us straight up, or if they try and mark Jaime out of the game. this tactic worked to an extent with NY. They double/triple and sometimes quadruple-teamed jaime at various times which slowed him down, but other players stepped up and made them pay. I really dont think KC needs to do that, but its tought to say what gansler will do. I also wonder how KC will react to DCU's midfielders running from deep and how far upfield their outside back will roam. Lots of questions on both sides of the coin, and no way to answer them until gametime. I'm really looking forward to this game more than any other final DC has been involved in. I think both teams have a great chance to win, it will be decided on which team imposes their style of play on the game.
I expect KC to swarm Moreno, as NY did, to prevent him from laying the ball off. We might be able to benefit from that by using him as a decoy. This means someone else will have to be making strong runs into the box besides Esky (and possibly Gomez/Adu). My choice would be Dema, who showed a nose for the goal in the NY match. As for countering KC's speed up front, while only Namoff can be called truly fast among our back three, Nellie and Petke can nullify their speed with anticipation and intelligence. Petke was fabulous Saturday night! But Elconjito is correct, if KC is given time to spot the front-runner and drop a long ball in his path, it could be a difficult night. If we are lucky, Moreno might get another chance to bury one if KC plays him to pass, which is what he usually does these days. He got his near-post goal against the Revs because the last thing they expected him to do was shoot.
great news. We know DC always comes up big in the rain, and if you remember last year's final at HDC in the bright sunshine - it was very difficult to see what was going on every time the play transitioned from the sunny to the shady areas of the field. An overcast day would help the telecast for those of us relegated to watching on TV.
I am not the only only that thinks Lorrie Fair is super hot, right? And does anybody else see Dema going crazy viking berzerk in this game? This is gonna be his first title game, right?
No, he was with Chicago when they lost to... umm... someone: http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/mls/events/mls_cup/2004/history/archive.jsp?year=2000&content=cup
Meola may play? http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20041110&content_id=18622&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp
Let's hope he starts! B.O. (boy, that acronym stinks!) has had all the minutes lately and all those donuts weigh heavily on an inflamed achilles. GM
I don't know about super-hot but pretty with a nice rack. Anyway, back to the game and my quick, fairly useless analysis. We have our preferred line-up back with Nelsen and Dema, we have Freddy and Gros on the bench with Quaranta and Prideaux and we probably have the crowd on our side too (considering KC is the team that knocked LA out, and of course the traveling supporters.)
No, you are not. I always liked Wynalda (in a weird sort of way) The players pick DC, the talking heads pick KC, interesting. At this point there is no way the game can equal the feelings and intensity I have looking forward to it.......
Lorrie Fair is SMOKING HOT in my opinion. The only reason i watch the ESPN broadcast is in the hopes of even a brief glimpse of her. Oh, and for the soccer too...
to sorta guide this back on track a bit. i was thinking of how KC might come out of the gate. I think they may try and push for an early goal so they can lock it up on defense for the rest of the match. This plays to their strengths of being organized and compact defensively and gives their speedy strikers some room to manuver against our backline. The other, less likely (IMHO), option is for them to initially sit back and wait and absorb some pressure while looking for counter opportunities.
MLSnet.com: D.C. quotes from Wed. practice Nowak, Moreno, Olsen, Stewart, Nelsen, Rimando, Eskandarian, and Adu answer questions.