Quakes at Seattle, Wednesday, 5/28 I had thought about planning a business trip around this game but won't even bother now that we have 5 guys unavailable after playing Monday for the Nats (or at least on the roster). What about our lineup? Assuming no guest players, no Kinnear suiting up, no Dayak and none of our national team players playing since they have a game 48 hours earlier at Spartan, I predict: Saunders (maybe Conway if healthy) Waibel Robinson (can he play?) Roner Dunivant Mullan Lagos (he's too old for this crrap!) Russell (can he play?) Alveraz Walker Well, that only 10 so we'll need Corrales or Ching or a guest player or someone else to line up. Onstad at striker, anyone?!?
I was under the impression Ching and Donovan coming to Seattle was the main point of scheduling the friendly. That's how it's been billed up here anyway.
Agreed. I thought the whole idea besides the fact it was a MLS team coming to Seattle, was a Ching homecoming visit and for Golden Boy to make an appearance. It's all Landon needs given his recent schedule. Ching, OTOH, I'm sure can hack it. He probably won't play a full 90 - or anywhere close to it - on Monday anyway.
Well, it will be the Sounders 4th match in 7 days so this might not be a particularly memorable evening.
As long as he doesn't continuing doing this: "Ching immediately made his presence known in his first training session with the national team on Wednesday scoring two goals in a scrimmage."_ Boy just doesn't know how to keep himself out of a game.
By the way, I just noticed the Seattle Times adds that had read, "Do you want to see Landon Donovan play?" (or something to that effect) now read, "Do you want to see the San Jose Earthquakes play?" Could mean Donovan isn't a sure thing after all.
There's no way Donovan's doing much more than playing PKs with their mascot again at halftime, given a Nats game tomorrow and an MLS game Saturday. Maybe he'll sub in late, or make a token start and sub out early. Wouldn't be surprised if it's the same for Ching on his grand return.
Given that the Sounders have played 3 110-minute matches in the last 4 days I don't think Donovan or Ching will get any sympathy for being overworked.
Quakes at Seattle, Wednesday, 5/28 Sorry, but I'd hardly call it the same thing re: Donovan - the game vs. Mexico with nats; vs. Mexico with U23; vs. Wales with Nats; plus the MLS games aren't quite the same as A-league games. No offense to the A-leagers.
Re: Quakes at Seattle, Wednesday, 5/28 Well, that's partially true. You don't play 110 minutes in MLS. Otherwise, it's the same game - you run, tackle and get tackled. It's equally exhausting. Would you say something similiar if the Quakes were playing an EPL team? "Each of our teams have played X number of games in the last week, but you guys play in the EPL so clearly you're far more exhausted." I guess people in the Albanian 4th Division can be expected to play 7 90-minute games a week since at that low level there's no physical exertion whatsoever. Well, as I understood it Ching and Donovan playing in Seattle was part of the whole Ching to San Jose deal. Obviously if they're hurt then it couldn't happen. But I assume San Jose is in a position, based on the agreement, where they need to play both as much as possible, whatever that means.
The Sounders are advertising this as a "Guaranteed Win." If they lose, they're offering free tickets to a future game. Hmmm, marketing... what a concept! We'll let you know how it goes. Mike
Well, the game doesn't start until 7 but apparently Ching has already put the Quakes in front off of a Donovan assist. http://www.sjearthquakes.com/matchtracker/index.htm
BTW Donovan did not fly up with the team for the match. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/othersports/123869_ching28.html
Quakes starting lineup 30 Josh Saunders G 4 Chris Roner D 2 Eddie Robinson D 16 Craig Waibel D 17 Todd Dunivant D 7 Ian Russell M 21 Kupono Low M 23 Patrick Fisher M 26 Arturo Alvarez M 25 Brian Ching F 22 Jamil Walker F Reserves: 1 Jon Conway G 9 Brian Mullan M 11 Manny Lagos M 29 Johanes Maliza M 20 Nelson Santana M This has "loss" written all over it. Hopefully Alvarez will do something special so we'll have something to talk about.
That's Yves alias. We'll win 79-0. The game's a tossup. The Sounders are pretty worn with the intense game schedule. The Quakes are using a wide mix of A, B and C players. The backline is solid. Russell and Alvarez will be fairly effective on the wings. The question marks of course will be the center midfield duo of Kapono Low and Patrick Fisher (WhoTF?). Ching will make a courtesy appearance, and could likely be subbed out early. Walker will want to prove something. I think the Quakes could definitely win this one.