A difficult game is coming up this weekend. No doubt that Columbus has been playing well and should feel confident to get Marshall and Rogers back from Gold Cup competition. The Rapids will also get Clark back on the pitch after sitting for most of the last month on the Gold Cup squad. Moreno is still probably out with a groin strain and Schelotto might be out with a hammy. Those are two key players that might be missing for them. However, they beat TFC without both and scored 3 goals in the process I think. The Rapids forwards versus the Columbus back line will be an interesting match up to watch. Marshall is very good and can negate balls in from wide positions. Here is how I would start the game --- Casey --- Cummings ---- Clark ---- Mehdi --- Pablo --- Kimura (Smith will prob start Peterson) Harvey -- Gibbs -- Palguta ---Ugo ----------Pickens----------------
Not surprising to see how different the Crew pre-game thread is compared to the NYRB one last week. No one expects the crew to lose. A full third expect a 2 goal (or more) win. A confident crew for sure. The game will be a tough one. A point will be okay with me. Some Crew fans don't expect Marshall to play since he's doing All-Star duty while us Rapids fans are expecting Casey to start and make an impact. A simple reflection on results without them in the line-up, I suppose (read depth). I expect murphykicks line-up (with the GS change) will start the game.
Should be a good one. First time you guys will be at full strength, or at least Casey, Cummings, and Clark, in a long time. I know we are playing well now, but I think folks at the Crew board are a bit over-optimistic. We usually struggle at your place, and GBS and Moreno will still be out, and I doubt Moffat will be ready to start at CM yet. But I do think Marshall will start. If I had to guess, RW will go with: -------------Hesmer------------ Hejduk--Marshall--Brunner--Padula ---------Carroll---O'Rourke------ Gaven---------------------Rogers -------Lenhart----Garey---------- Subs: Ekpo for a winger; Moffat for a CM (with O'Rourke back to CB), + ???. Could go much more offensive with Gaven as a CM, Ekpo at RM, and O'Rourke at CB. Moffat starting at CM is also a possibility, but Denver is probably a poor place to try and go 90 for the first time in 3 months.
Oh, maybe you're right, I got them switched based on their availablity last week (which had to do with Smith's visa, not his fitness). If Smith is 60 minutes ready or more, he could start then, but I wouldn't be shocked if Peterson started on the right instead.
In response to TrewCrews thoughts above... There are a few matchups here that are interesting. Casey/Marshall is one I want to keep a close eye on. Rogers and Peterson or Smith would be interesting as well. The reason I would love to see Kimura on the right half is that I believe he would negate Rogers offensive contributions and would make Rogers work on the defensive end as well. Kimura doesn't have the skill that the others might have, but his workrate is phenominal IMO. I really think the game will come down to those two match ups. If we win them both I think we'll win the game. For as bad as we have looked in the past few weeks, I think getting the full team back for the first time since June 1 will help us.
Yes indeed. I think the Rapids and Casey need to avoid matchups with Marshall in the air in favor of 1v1 and quick ball movement.
Or near post crosses with the runs to meet them. I think we agree that looping balls to the back post won't be effective. Obviously I don't know the ins and outs of Smith's game but Cooke-like crosses are his specialty I would just as soon wait til next week to see his debut.
Nice post. Murphyskicks, I think you are right about the line-up, with the corollary that I expect Kimura to be platooning with Peterson, until Smith is ready, and continue doing that if Smith gets a start. I still believe that LaBrocca could get the start in place of Ballouchy. GS is even more reluctant to sit Nick than he is Mehdi, and with Cummings and Clark back, there will be plenty of attacking players with firepower on the field. And yes, the front line will provide interesting match-ups, but recall (newbie) Palguta's failure to account for Schellotto in the away match. Can our back line be mistake-free? David James is right to say we can be satisfied with a draw here, but C-Bus beat us at home last year and the Raps stole a point at Crew Stadium in May, so 3 points is what I'm holding out for.
casey tore it up tonight, was in the middle of everything good and was unlucky to not be on the score board. hope he's not gassed for sat.
+1 on that impression, I hope some of the USMNT N&A posters were watching and now have a better appreciation of his abilities. Better than Ching? Yes(imho)!
Let's say, for the fun of it, that a carload of Crew fans were coming to the game. Let's say they wanted to join in your tailgate and share a few friendly pregame drinks. How would they go about doing this? And what kind of beer should they bring?
Join us in the VIP lot - save your money on beer - but maybe you could bring some food to share. We have hotdogs and soda and a keg - and everyone brings other food to share with everyone else. http://nofanalone.com/tailgate.shtml
Show up at the VIP lot (the one on the right in this picture). Tailgate begins at 5:30. As for beer, I'll let others answer.
This weekends game will tie Pablo Mastroeni with Marcelo Balboa for number of games started. Smith played and assisted in yesterday's scrimmage. May play this weekend, if everything, "goes right".
I will be in that carload of Crew fans. Looking forward to the 20hour drive! Good luck to both teams though obviously, for biased reasons I hope Casey eats bad sushi and the rest of the team quits to join the broncos (lord know they need the help)
After watching Casey on Wednesday night, I have a little more confidence in Saturday's game. Sometimes he makes it easy to forget, but he can be dominant when he puts his mind to it and gets some balls served into him. I am considering retracting my previous statements about how the Rapids shouldn't even try to send in balls from wide positions. Marshall is good, no doubt. But I am feeling inclined to take my chances with Casey doing some damage in that match up.
Would love to see Clark out perform Rodgers in this game. I think Clark could of done just as well as Rodgers on USMT if he played more. Rodgers was constantly getting knocked off ball. Too bad they will be on opposite sides of field.
Rogers had an awesome first match in the Gold Cup and coasted all of the rest of the way through with sub-Clark performances. Speaking of "sub-Clark" apparently that was a meme that Robo-Bob just didn't get. ;>)